"Everyone has secrets," I manage. "Even you."
Something changes in his expression. That almost-smile again.
"Yes," he agrees. "Even me."
He holds my gaze for a long moment. Long enough to feel the weight of everything we're not saying. Long enough for me to wonder what would happen if one of us moved, if one of us closed that last impossible distance.
Then he releases my chin.
Steps back.
"Dinner is at seven," he says, his voice cool again. "Don't be late."
And then he's gone.
I sit there, not moving, barely breathing, my hand pressed against the pillow that hides Abigail's journal.
He knows I found something. He knows I'm hiding it. And he let me keep it anyway.
I pull the journal out and clutch it to my chest.
I'm not a bride. I'm a transaction.
Abigail's warning was never finished.
But somehow, some way, I'm going to find out what stopped her.
Chapter Five
I PICK UP MY FORK.Put it down. Pick it up again.
Devyn is watching me do this. I can feel his gaze like a physical thing, steady and patient and probably cataloging every nervous tic I have. The candles flicker between us, casting shadows that make his golden eyes look darker, deeper, full of things I can't read.
"We should discuss expectations," he says.
"Expectations," I repeat, like an idiot.
"For the marriage."
Right. The marriage. The thing happening in two days. The thing I keep forgetting about because I'm too busy cataloging the exact shade of amber his eyes turn in candlelight.
Not something a normal person does, Bailey. Stop it.
I clear my throat. "So, um, about that—”
“It’s not up for negotiation.”
Seriously?
“It’s illegal to force—”
“I am not forcing you to do anything. You have a choice. Marry me and live. Do not marry me and die.”
SERIOUSLY?
“Shall we continue with our discussion?”
I almost ask him if I have a choice...when I see the way his eyes are gleaming, andugh.I already know he’s going to tell me I have a choice again.Continue and live. Do not continue and die. I’m honestly tempted to call his bluff. Like 99% tempted. But since 1% of me isn’t completely convinced itisa bluff—
