Those sincere words, combined with the earnest love on his face, wrung a sob from her. Damn you, Omira. How could her sister have hurt someone who loved her so much? Even after what her sister had done to him, he still cared. What had Omira been thinking?

His own tears gathered steam as he saw hers. “No, Sumi… she’s okay, right?”

She couldn’t look at him and that sweet, desperate childlike hope. How could she tell him what Omira had done? She couldn’t think of a single way to break it to him.

All she could do was shake her head.

“Please don’t tell me she’s dead.”

She pressed the back of her hand to her lips as her sobs came more forcefully. “I’m sorry, Fain.”

He pulled her against him and held her close as she cried. She felt his hot tears on her neck as he let out his own anguished grief. “Did she suffer?”

“No. She died in her sleep.” At least, that was what the doctors had told her. And she liked to believe them.

His arms tightened around her as his shoulders shook. She rubbed his back, wishing she could make it better for him, and knowing she couldn’t. Nothing helped this kind of pain, and anyone who said that time dulled the loss of a loved one was a total idiot. Even now, she would sell her soul to have her sister with her again. If for no other reason than to beat her for being so selfish and stupid.

She wasn’t sure how long they stood like that. But Fain finally pulled back. He wiped his tears and then hers.

“Whatever happened to her baby? Was it a boy or girl?”

Sumi winced as she remembered Omira terminating her pregnancy. She’d told her at the time that it would be an Andarion monster, but now she knew better. “She lost it,” she whispered, not wanting to hurt him any worse.

Wrapping his arms around himself, he cleared his throat. “I know you probably hate me, Sumi, but I swear to the gods of all planets that I never wanted to hurt her or cause her any harm.”

“I know.” She patted his arm. “Dancer told me that she cheated on you.”

He flinched and nodded. “I didn’t react very well to the news. I probably could have done better had I at least suspected it. But it came out of the blue. Until I caught her, I had no idea she was sleeping with a human male, too.”

“You didn’t kill her, Fain. Or hit her. How bad could it have been?”

Fain glanced away from her. “Words are harsher than blows.”

He was right about that. Though her experience said she’d rather be called names than deal with a busted jaw.