She nodded weakly. “I should have told you the night we met, but I was afraid if you knew who I was, you wouldn’t help me. I was afraid you’d kill me.”
“You’re damn right I wouldn’t have helped you!” The venomous response matched the poison in his expression.
“Everything else I told you was the truth,” she said desperately. “I ran because I was supposed to marry Knox. I didn’t know that my father —” She stopped, realizing in dismay that everything she’d told him wasn’t the truth. “My father wasn’t an adviser to the council,” she admitted. “He was a councilman. One of the founding members of the GC.”
A muscle twitched in Connor’s jaw.
“But his main job was commander in chief of the Enforcers. Dominik is in line for the position once he can’t work in the field anymore.” She swallowed, remembering the final truth she’d kept hidden. “I’m an Enforcer too, at least unofficially.”
Those cold eyes landed on her wrists. “You’re not marked.”
“Yes, I am.”
Her heart pounded as she swept her hair back. Avoiding Connor’s gaze, she wet the pad of her thumb with her tongue, then rubbed it vigorously over her nape to wipe away the makeup. Her thumb came back stained with flesh-colored powder, and then she angled her head so Connor could see the compass rose on her neck.
He released a vicious expletive.
“It’s just a title,” Hudson said miserably. “I was never officially trained or sent into the field. I think my father only marked me because he didn’t want me to feel like Dom was better than me.” Desperation rose again. “I worked in the hospital, just like I told you, and I escaped because of Knox, just like I told you. The only part I left out was my father’s real position and that Dom is my brother.”
Connor stared at her for one long, terrifying moment.
Then he exploded.
“Your brother killed my wife!”
She swallowed. “No. Knox did.”
“Same fucking thing!” He yanked his pants on and zipped them up, and when he noticed she was still naked, it only seemed to make him angrier. “Put your goddamn clothes on, Hudson.”
She got dressed in a frantic rush, her body shaking so wildly she was surprised she was able to stay on her feet. She’d expected Connor’s fury. She hadn’t expected the hatred.
“Please don’t look at me like that.” Her voice cracked at the same time her heart did. “I’m still the same person I’ve always been. And I know my brother has done awful things, but…” A lump filled her throat. “But I think the new commander might be drugging him. Max told me —”
“Who the fuck is Max?”
“The trainee. When I talked to him this morning, he said the commander is injecting the Enforcers with aggression drugs. It’s screwing with their minds.” Tears welled up, making her voice wobble harder. “Dominik didn’t used to be a killer. He used to be fair to the outlaws —”
“Fair?” Connor roared.
She flinched as if he’d struck her. “No, not fair, but he never murdered them without provocation before. He’s…” A few tears trickled free. “I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.”
“Jesus Christ. Do you expect me to feel sorry for that bastard?” His razor-sharp tone cut her straight to the bone. “Have you seen how people live out here, Hudson? Hiding and running and struggling to survive. The Enforcers either drag our asses to that prison they call a city, or they kill us if we choose not to go. Because of your father and the ‘system’ he implemented. Because of your brother, who fucking enforces it.”
“My father and my brother,” she echoed. “Not me. You said so yourself – I’m an outlaw now. I’m one of you.”
He stared at her.
“I’m not like them.” She tasted salt in her mouth as the tears fell harder, coursing down her cheeks and catching on her lips. “I help people. I care about people. I care about you.” She wiped her cheeks with both hands. “No. I love you.”
Stony silence was the only response she got.
“I love you, Connor,” she said fiercely. “And I’m not like Dominik. You know that.”
“I don’t know a goddamn thing apparently.”
“You know me,” she insisted. “I never lied about how I felt for you, and I know you feel it too. This thing between us is real. I promise you it’s real.”
“Yeah? This is real?” Acrid bitterness oozed from his every word, his every pore. “Then prove it.”
“What?”
“You want to convince me that what we have is real? That you actually give a damn about me despite the fact that you lied about who you are?” His lips tightened. “Then fucking prove it.”
“H-how?”
“Take me to Dominik.”
Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. “What?”
“Take me to him, Hudson. Knox too. Stand by my side while I wipe their sorry asses off this sorry excuse for a planet.”