“Not a coincidence. Scarlett’s here with me.” Brayden’s voice was edged with warning.
“Can I come in and say good morning?” James’s voice rang with false innocence.
“No chance, dipshit,” snarled Brayden as Scarlett yelped, “No!” from his bed.
“Nice to see you two are exploring the connection,” said James, amusement in his voice.
“Is there something you need, or are you just here to be an asshole?” asked Brayden.
“I’m leaving for work in an hour. Scarlett, I heard you’re a vox,” he said through the crack in the door. “Do you want to come to work with me today? You could learn more about your valor and do some networking.”
“Ooh—yes!” called Scarlett from the bed.
“Dad’s looking for you, by the way.”
“Thanks. Now fuck off, please,” said Brayden as he shut the door.
Scarlett already had her pajamas on. “I’m going to go find Manon.”
“Before you go…” He reached for her as she pulled the trench coat on over her pajamas.
She threaded her arms around his waist. “Yes?”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “After last night…”—he kissed her on the mouth—“I hope you’ll stay in Clair de Lune longer than you planned. I want you to stay.” He searched her face.
She stiffened in his arms and looked up at him, wishing she could do what he wanted in good conscience. It was tempting. Of course she wanted to stay with him. But heknewshe couldn’t. Sure, he’d given her three orgasms last night, bringing her lifetime total up to four, but that didn’t give him the right to ask her to stay. He didn’t even have the decency to phrase it as a question, and for one unholy moment she was reminded of Alastair and all his pushy opinions about whathewanted her future to be.
As Brayden waited for her answer, his gaze dropped to thefloor, and he took a step back, folding his arms over his chest.
She took a deep breath, calming herself. Brayden wasnotAlastair. He just believed they were North Stars—whatever that was—and was letting himself get a little too protective. Normally, she’d adore that coming from him. But she had to go back to Soleil. There was no other way, or else she’d be damning her country to a magicless existence, and her stepmother would go free. She wasn’t about to let Laylani and whoever she was working with get away with what they’d done. If Scarlett didn’t believe her presence could make a difference, she’d pack it all in and stay in Clair de Lune for good. But in her heart of hearts, she knew she could change things. And if her gut was right, she could also get revenge for what Laylani and Moira had done to her and her family.
“I can’t,” she said finally, her tone firm but her expression pleading. “I love you, but—” She stepped closer to Brayden, but he moved out of reach.
“You won’t put your own safety first? For me? It makes me sick, the idea of you going back there.”
“Iwantto put you first. I’d marry you to get you into Soleil.” The words slipped out of her mouth without hesitation.
His eyes blazed with anger. “You’d marry me to get me into Soleil? The proposal I’ve always dreamed of. You’re only suggesting that because you can’t have meandrevenge, so you’re compromising.”
He was right, but she hated the way he was throwing it in her face.
Brayden exhaled loudly. “My options are to let you risk your life alone or have a visa wedding neither of us is ready for.” He spun away from her. Running his hands over his face, he snapped, “We shouldn’t have slept together.”
“You regret sleeping with me?” It had been the best night of her life. His regret was like a knife to the heart.
He pulled a T-shirt over his head and then fixed his gaze on her. The hurt in his eyes was a mirror to her own. “I underestimated how hard this would be. Finding out you’re my North Star—myGoddess-blessedNorth Star—and having you for a night, just long enough to realize how fucked my life would be without you, and now you’re going back without me? You’ll be alone in Soleil with your little brother and the stepmother who tried to kill you, and I won’t be able to save you when they come for you again. I regret having you for one night only to lose you.”
Her heart ached. “It’ll kill me to leave you, but I have to do the right thing. If I walk away from Soleil, I’ll hate myself.” She blinked back her tears, refusing to break down. “You’re right—we shouldn’t have had sex last night,” she said in a tight voice, her stomach in knots. She only regretted it because he did, but it was regret all the same.
Before Brayden could say anything else, she fled. Maybe she’d found the flaw in their so-called fated compatibility after all. If this ended them, he couldn’t have been more wrong about what it meant to be North Stars.
But being right wouldn’t make losing him hurt any less.
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
Scarlett flung open the door to her room. She was eager to change and possibly cry before her grandmother found her. But before she could do any of that, her gaze met Manon’s.
