Three Alpha Bikers Wants An Open Marriage Chapter 185

Riley’s POV

"A sin against you"

The mont those words left Carian’s mouth, my heart started pounding so fast it made it hard to think straight, and I could already tell that whatever she was about to say next was not going to be sothing small or easy to deal with.

She didn’t continue imdiately, and that made everything worse because now I was just sitting there, waiting, watching her as she turned her back on like she was trying to decide how to say it or if she should even say it at all.

"Carian," I called her na for the first ti, my voice firm because I didn’t want her dragging this out, "just say it."

She stayed quiet for a few seconds, and those few seconds felt longer than they should have, like she was holding sothing back that she knew I wasn’t going to like.

Then she finally turned to face again, and her expression had completely changed. She didn’t look soft or emotional anymore, she looked serious and focused, like she had already made up her mind.

"We were close," she began, her voice steady. "Even though we were different in a lot of ways, we still cared about each other."

I didn’t interrupt her, but I watched her closely, trying to match what she was saying with the flashes of mory I had just started getting back.

"There was soone who used to visit us often," she continued. "A friend of Mom’s, and she didn’t co alone. She always ca with one of her sons."

The mont she said that, sothing clicked in my head, not fully clear but enough to make pay closer attention, because I rembered sothing Alia had said before about being close to my mother. I didn’t say anything, I just let Carian continue.

"I noticed him first," she said. "I liked him, and I didn’t try to hide it."

I raised a brow slightly but stayed silent.

"He didn’t feel the sa way," she added. "He barely acknowledged , and when he did, it was like I didn’t matter at all."

There was no hesitation in her voice, no attempt to soften it, she was just stating it exactly how it happened.

"He was cold," she continued. "Completely uninterested, and it didn’t matter what I did, he didn’t respond to ."

I folded my arms slowly. "So you kept trying anyway," I said.

"Yes," she replied without hesitation. "I thought if I pushed enough, if I kept trying, I could get him to notice , maybe even change how he saw ."

I shook my head slightly. "And that didn’t work."

"No," she said. "It didn’t."

She paused for a mont, then continued. "Then Mom noticed."

That made straighten slightly. "What happened?"

"She got angry," Carian said. "Not just a little angry, she was furious."

I frowned. "That doesn’t sound like her without a reason."

"There was a reason," Carian replied. "I just didn’t know it at the ti."

I stayed quiet, waiting for her to explain.

"One day she caught trying to talk to him again," she continued. "She dragged away from him and she hit ."

I blinked, caught off guard. "She hit you?"

"Yes," Carian said. "It was the first ti she had ever done that."

I didn’t like that at all. "What did she say?"

"She told to stay away from him," Carian replied. "She said he was dangerous, that he had a bad temper, and that I should never go near him again."

I frowned deeper. "That still doesn’t explain anything and why she would hit you."

"There’s more," she said.

I nodded for her to continue.

"She said there was only one person allowed to be close to him," Carian added.

Sothing in tensed imdiately. "Who?"

She looked straight at . "You."

I blinked, confused. "Why ?"

"I didn’t understand it either," she said. "And that made it worse for ."

I shook my head slightly. "This doesn’t make sense."

"It didn’t make sense to either," she replied. "But I still saw what was happening."

I leaned forward slightly. "What do you an?"

"I beca jealous," she said. "Even though it was obvious you didn’t know what was going on."

I didn’t like where this was heading. "What did you do?"

"I started using you," she said.

Her answer was direct and imdiate, and it made my chest tighten slightly.

"What do you an you used ?" I asked.

"I put you in situations where you would be around him," she explained. "I made sure you were always close enough for him to notice you, and it worked."

I stared at her. "You set it up?"

"Yes," she said.

I didn’t speak for a mont because I was trying to process that properly.

"You don’t rember it now," she continued, "but you will when your mories co back fully."

That didn’t make feel better at all.

"He started paying attention," she said. "But not to . To you."

I clenched my jaw slightly. "And that wasn’t what you wanted."

"No," she said. "It wasn’t."

I took a slow breath. "Then why did it happen?"

She went quiet again, and I could already tell this was where things were about to get worse.

"Carian," I said, my voice more serious now, "why did he focus on ?"

She looked at , and this ti she didn’t avoid it.

"Because you were his bloodhost," she said.

The words hit imdiately.

I didn’t even need ti to think about it because my mind jumped straight to one mory, the mont Gunnar lost control and almost drained completely.

I swallowed slowly. "That’s why," I said. "That’s why he couldn’t stop himself."

"Yes," she replied. "That’s why he was drawn to you and not ."

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to process everything because now things were starting to connect in a way that made uncomfortable.

"So all of that," I said, "everything that happened back then... it wasn’t random."

"No," she said. "It wasn’t."

I exhaled slowly. "There’s more, isn’t there?"

"Yes," she replied.

I looked at her again. "Then say it."

She hesitated for a brief mont, and that hesitation made fidget a bit again because it ant whatever she was about to say next was worse than everything she had already told .

"After I found out," she said slowly, "I did sothing I wasn’t supposed to do."

My heart started racing again. "What does that an?"

"We were young, I was young," she said. "I wasn’t thinking clearly."

"That’s not an answer," I said. "What did you do?"

She looked at , and this ti there was no way to ignore the tension in her expression.

"I did sothing forbidden," she said.

I took a step closer. "Carian, stop going around it and just tell already."

She didn’t respond imdiately, and for a second it felt like she might actually refuse to say it.

I didn’t move. I didn’t look away. I just waited.

"What did you do?"