What could Pavel give him at all?
“There.” Lyra pursed her lips, brow furrowing slightly. “You’re distracted again. What are you thinking about so hard, hmm?”
“It’s really nothing.” He cleared his throat and glanced around at the empty room. “Where is Ansel?” She’d replaced Samuel within a couple of days and hadn’t mentioned him since that first night.
Though it helped that the man she’d hired to fill his position was none other than her current lover.
“We had an argument,” she pouted, her fingers tracing circles against Zane’s skin. “He stormed off and won’t answer my calls. You’ve never treated me this way, Zane. You’ve always been so good at navigating my moods.”
She might not have the same afflictions as her brother, but Lyra wasn’t exactly…normal. No one who’d grown up with a diamond spoon in their mouth, who could have anything they wanted, including people, at the flick of their wrist, could ever hope to grow up common. Lyra wasn’t like her subjects.
She didn’t just expect things to go her way, for everyone to bend over backward to make her happy, in her mind, there truly wasn’t any other outcome. It was like trying to tell a person they might wake up one day with blue eyes instead of brown. Impossible and confusing.
In many ways, she was childish because of that.
“If he isn’t a good fit in the position, fire him,” Zane suggested, knowing she wouldn’t like hearing it. “Keep him as your lover. Things seemed to be going well for the two of you then. Why mess with a good thing?”
“Is that really what you think?” She tipped her head, fingers dancing higher, skating up his side before sweeping over to the center of his chest. She traced the straight line down between his pecs to his navel. “Don’t you think I might have made a mistake by taking him at all?”
“No.” Zane caught her wrist, careful to keep his hold gentle and his expression light. “You’re very happy with him, don’t you remember telling me as much?”
“Aren’t you upset about that, even a little?”
“Do you need me to be?”
The corner of her mouth tipped upward. “You’re the only person who isn’t afraid to tell me what you think. Aside from my brother and sister, of course. It’s refreshing. I know I don’t always appreciate you the way that I should. I’m remorseful for that, I promise.”
I.
I.
I.
All she ever did was talk about herself and expect him to roll over and kiss her feet for howgenerousshe was.
He often wondered if she knew he could see through her. If she knew that he merely played along. If he had to guess, the answer would be yes.
She was twisted like that.
“Lyra,” he sighed, forcing the sound to come out exhausted and edged with hurt, “you basically broke up with me, remember? You told me he was better suited and you no longer wanted to be with me. Our sexual relationship ended, and you’re the one who ended it.”
“Well, what if I realize I made a mistake?” She stood, standing far too close for comfort, her head tipped almost all the way back so she could keep their eyes locked. “What if I told you I’ve finally figured out what I really want?”
“You don’t want me.” This time, his sigh was a little less forced.
“You don’t know that.”
“Lyra.” His grip tightened ever so slightly. “If you need to use me to make him jealous, that’s fine. But he isn’t here. This is a waste—”
“No it isn’t,” she interrupted, and something else flitted across her features, there and gone in a flash, like she didn’t want him to see it.
A feeling of unease began to creep up his spine and Zane held his ground. “What do you mean?”
“He doesn’t have to be here for me to make him jealous,” she said. “All I have to do is make sure the cameras are turned on.”
“The…” Zane didn’t want to look when she motioned into the corner of the room with her chin, but his head started to turn as if of its own accord. Sure enough, now that he knew what to look for, the tiny black circle set into the corner of the room, just beneath the intricate mural on the ceiling, was obvious. “How…How long have those been there?”
“I had them installed when you were twenty,” she explained. “You were spending so much time in here, it helped me feel close to you. Why?” Her hand flattened against his stomach. “There couldn’t be something you’re trying to keep hidden from me, right, Zanie?”
