“Maybe that would have been better!”
A gentle hand touches my shoulder. “Sophia?—”
I yank away from Zara’s grip.
“It’s alright,” Theo says, looking over my head. “She’s just upset.”
Just upset?
An inhuman wail erupts from my mouth, composed of nothing but loneliness and pain. I launch myself at him. My fists pound his solid chest as I screamYou promised!over and over.
After a moment, Theo restrains my wrists.
“I hate you!” I yell. “I hate you! Get off me!”
“God,” Lucas said, interrupting my reverie. “And I thought my side was bad.”
“Your sideisbad, and you’re avoiding the question.”
“I’m sorry.” He drew his knees up and draped his arms over them. “I was too distracted by my absolute revulsion. What did you ask?”
“Why don’t you report your information to Harrison instead of me?”
He cocked his head. “How would I go about that, Sophia?”
“Well, I mean, how did you contact him in the first place?”
His smirk appeared. “You didn’t ask him?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
The chuckle that burst from him had me stiffening. “I’m not surprised.”
Embarrassing for Theo then?
“You could’ve met him here,” I said.
“He would’ve never allowed that, which is laughable, considering he let you traipse in here with no escort. Wouldhe be upset if I murdered you?” He threw a hand up. “No, don’t answer. I don’t want to know. If he’d come here, he would’ve brought a dozen people as backup. He’d have the whole neighborhood swarming. It would’ve raised alarms, and we’d be discovered. And even if he hadn’t, what if I was followed? How would I explain meeting secretly with the general of the Defiance?”
“You couldn’t, I guess.” I studied his face, his guarded expression. “You’re a planner, huh?”
He nodded. “I didn’t want physical evidence, and I needed a mediator of his choosing so he could trust her. I wanted someone who wasn’t on the front lines so she’d outlast me.”
Outlast.
I shook off that word. “And you wanted a woman.”
Something off-putting lurked deep in his eyes. “Yes.”
I wanted to ask him why, and he waited, eyes gleaming like he knew my thoughts. But I couldn’t do it. What if the answer was the obvious one?
It seemed unlikely, but possibilities sifted through my mind. Maybe he thought if I trusted him, I’d be more into it. Maybe he was trying to seduce me so I’d give him information. Maybe he liked my second-guessing everything.
Or maybe he didn’t want anything at all.
Then why was he doing this?
I straightened my spine. “Do you have information tonight?”
