20

VICTORIA

I wanted to make it up to Devon. Rejecting him was not my original plan, but I panicked. I really wanted him to love me for me. Not forced by the stupid mate bond. What I didn't expect was to feel so empty after he accepted. I planned a whole romantic date at my secret safe haven. I wanted to be honest. I wanted him to know who I really was, and if he chose to walk away, so be it. But when he reached over and asked me how I felt about never having children, I didn't know how to respond because no one had ever asked me that before. No one really asked me how I felt about anything. Sure they would ask my advice on how to kill someone or hack into a secure facility but how I felt about anything was never something I had faced—that easy task of just shoving it down and not feeling anything. Yet when Devon touched my hand and asked me. I was momentarily stunned before our food arrived. I didn't know what to say. I had them prepare the best seabass and garlic fried rice and vegetabl