The eliminations wrapped up. The contestants dispersed in clusters, muttering, swapping gossip and alliances. Staff began quietly clearing the leftover decorations, sweeping up glass, resetting furniture.
Mei gave Chrissy a tiny nod on her way past. Chrissy turned toward the staircase.
She thought she was going to her room to rest, recover, and maybe steel herself.
She didn’t know she’d sealed her fate.
I stepped forward from the line of staff and let my voice drop low, Jacob’s gravel pulling across my throat.
“Chrissy.”
She stopped like she’d been hooked through the spine, turned, and met my eyes.
Her eyes widened just slightly, enough for me to see the conflict she didn’t want anyone else to notice. Gratitude. Fear. Longing. Confusion. A pulse of heat she tried to swallow.
Good. That would be useful later.
“I need a word,” I said, pitching my tone soft enough that it wouldn’t carry.
She glanced around, checking for Henry, checking for cameras, as if I wasn’t the one controlling all of them, then she nodded.
I led her down the hall, just far enough that the others wouldn’t hear. Close enough that she couldn’t forget she was still in my world. Still in my house. Still under my rules.
Her breath hitched when I turned to face her.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I murmured, letting Jacob’s concern bleed through Ben’s intent.
She lifted her chin.
“I wasn’t going to let her take the blame.”
“You don’t know what he does to people who stick their nose where it doesn’t belong.”
She swallowed.
“I’m going to find out, I guess.”
She was such a reckless, stupid girl… a girl who didn’t know I loved stupid girls, the kind who didn’t know how to keep their hands out of danger.
I stepped closer, just enough to loom. Just enough to let her feel Jacob’s warmth and Ben’s danger beneath it.
“You know what’s going to happen tonight because of what you did today.”
Her breath hitched and her cheeks flushed.
She did. Every muscle in her body said she did.
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“You think you can handle it?” I asked.
Her pulse fluttered in her throat like a trapped bird.
“Do I have a choice?”
A smile ghosted across my lips… Jacob’s softness hiding Ben’s hunger.
“Everyone has a choice, angel. But you did make yours… didn’t you?”
