I look around, finding everyone glaring at me, and I have no choice.
I smile. “Sure.”
She looks between me and him, clearly confused. Probably questioning if this is a part of the plan. I want to scream and have her kill him herself, but then Adrian holds out his hand.
“Keys, brother.”
I reach into my pocket, grab the cuff keys, and stab them into his hand. He smiles, then turns to Aurelia and releases her handcuffs.
Punch him in the face. Punch him in the face. Punch him in the face.
She doesn’t hit him.Unfortunately.
She takes his arm, glancing back at me for reassurance I wish I could give her.
Chapter 64
Aurelia
Is this a part of the plan? Nikolai looks tense, and I can’t tell if that’s because things are going right or wrong. I’m still in shock that Adrian is at my side right now.
He takes my hand and spins me into him, the air between us charged, his palm rough and too warm against mine. My breath catches—not from surprise, but from his sick familiarity.
“Hi, gorgeous,” he murmurs, low enough to scrape against my skin.
I look up at him with pure disdain, the flickering light catching the edge of his jaw, that smug little curve of his mouth that used to make me smile.
He leans into my ear. “You seemed to like me more when you thought I was dying.”
“Yeah,” I spit, the word trembling out of me, “because I thought you were a prisoner.” I look him up and down. “You’re a good liar.”
“Yes.” He hardens, but there’s a crack under it. “They had me pretend to be your friend so I could get information. But it became real for me.”
My laugh is humourless. “Aw, yay. That’s great.” The sarcasm burns my tongue.
He turns away, shoulders tense, a muscle twitching in his cheek. “It seems you and Nikolai have gotten… close.”
“Were you lying about him, too?” I ask. “Was this some kind of vendetta?”
“I hate him,” he says simply. “That part’s true. He’s the brother I told you about.”
The room feels too hot. The music thrums low and dirty through the floor, a reminder that people are watching—waiting. I glance around, irritated, half-wishing the walls would swallow us both. “So, whose side are you on right now?”
“Yours, and they need to see you’re not attached to him,” he says, dropping—more lethal. “That you’d be with anyone. It makes it easier for them to see you as less than them.”
I bite back a bitter laugh. “That’s super misogynistic. And I’m not interested in being with them and won’t play into that delusion.”
“Kiss me, Aurelia.”
I blink, stunned. “Are you fucked in the head?”
He smiles—slow, knowing, infuriating. The kind of smile that used to mean trouble.
“You are,” I whisper, my pulse thudding painfully in my throat. “I’m not kissing you. You’re a liar.”
“I’m a liar,” he says, stepping closer, his scent wrapping around me, “but I care about you, Aurelia. Let me help you, like you promised you’d do for me.”
We lock eyes, and I still can’t tell if he’s lying. His gaze doesn’t waver—steady, calm, he’s daring me to call his bluff. The noise of the room fades until it’s just us and the pulse pounding in my ears.
