All Chapters of Awakened For Sin: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Blake’s POVI saw then what I hadn’t let myself look at before. The deep grooves bracketing his mouth. The way his shoulders sagged when I had first entered the room. Guilt, yes. But not just about me. About every decision he’d made on this ward for three decades.“No,” I said after a beat. “What I want is simple. I want you to admit you don’t know what’s going on in there.” I jerked my chin in the general direction of Cassie’s room. “I want you to stop talking about her like she’s a chapter in a textbook. Start looking at what went wrong.”He exhaled slowly. “We are not pretending to have all the answers, Mr. Huntington. We’ll… review our processes,” he said. “I can promise you that.”“You’d better,” I said. “Because if you ever tell another family there’s no hope when there is, and I find out you haven’t changed a damn thing, I will bring every lawyer I own down on this place so hard they’ll feel it in the basement.”That, at least, was familiar ground. Consequences. The language of

Blake’s POVI should have let go the second my hand closed around her wrist.That was my first thought when my brain caught up to my body. Not I’m glad she didn’t fall. Not she shouldn’t be walking around without help.No. Just: let go. Don’t touch her.Instead, I dragged her closer.One heartbeat later she was right there between my knees, bare legs and flimsy gown and wide ice-blue eyes. Cassie’s face. Cassie’s mouth. Words died in my throat and I did exactly what I swore I wouldn’t do again.I kissed her and she kissed me back.Her mouth opened under mine like it was the most natural thing in the world. I felt that bolt of heat go straight down my spine to my cock, like my body had been waiting six months for this exact contact and my fucking brain had forgotten who Cassie was.It pissed me off.I pulled away from her just in time.“You will not pull me in again, Cassie.”My voice didn’t sound like mine. It sounded like it had gravel in it, like every argument we’d ever had was lodg

Fawn’s POVThey would have had a visit from the police by now. Some polite man or woman in uniform standing awkwardly in their tiny living room, hat in their hands, saying words like tragic and accident and we’re so sorry. Dad would’ve gone quiet in that scary way he did when he was trying not to fall apart; Mom would’ve gone straight to busy, making tea, asking if the officer wanted something to eat while her world cracked in half.Their only daughter. Gone.My throat closed. I looked away from the ceiling blinking away tears.Blake must’ve sensed something shift inside me, because he said, without looking at me, “You’re frowning.”“You’re observant,” I said. My voice came out rough. “Put that on your business profile.”He didn’t rise to the bait. “What are you thinking about?”“Nothing helpful.” I forced a breath out. “If I tell you, you’ll ask for a psych consult again.”“I already signed for one,” he said. “You passed.”“Barely,” I said. “They stamped chaotic on my file and moved o

Fawn’s POVHis eyes flicked to mine at that last part. Something like recognition moved there before he smothered it.“You think I’m a control freak.”“I think you’re a man who signed off on his brain-dead wife’s life support, then slept in a plastic chair so no one could unplug anything without you double-checking it yourself.” My gaze didn’t waver. “No judgment. That’s exactly what I’d do if the positions were reversed.”“You wouldn’t have married you,” he shot back.I snorted. “You have no idea.” I’d already stated this body was pretty hot. I could see men like Blake falling for Cassie. Certain men couldn’t see past stunning features. Take Richard as a case study, Gemma was gorgeous, though not quite at Cassie’s level. He was only interested in her body, not her brains, because he was shit out of luck if he was, because she didn't have any. Now knowing what Blake's wife had looked like, I wonder if that's why Richard had lost interest in Fawn in the first place. In some sick competi

Fawn’s POV“Fine,” I said at last, because silence makes me itchy. “If you’re going to ‘handle me’ and I’m about to be dumped in your fancy sky-cage, we should probably get to the fun part.”His brows pulled together. “I’m almost afraid to ask… what’s the fun part?”“Orientation,” I said. “The Cassandra Huntington crash course. 101. Maybe 201. Everything you think I should know before I step out there and accidentally call your mother Karen.”He huffed out a breath. I could see he didn’t believe I didn’t know anything. He thought this was an act. “Her name is Elise.”“See?” I pointed at him. “Already worth doing this.”I could see he didn't believe I didn't remember his mother's name. He scrubbed a hand over his jaw like he was resisting the urge to walk out and let me wing it. Then he stood, moved around to the other side of the bed, and dragged the visitor chair closer so he was near my shoulder instead of at the foot like some disapproving judge.“Where do you want to start?” he ask