I only have an hour—less—to decide. Do I run? Can I run in a manner my father won’t find me, or do I hide in Win’s shadow? “You lied to me.”
“No, kitten. I never lied. Not once.”
I look at him then, emotion clogging my throat. His face is hard, unreadable.
I try to play back what he’s said to me, but I can’t remember the details in this moment. Maybe he hasn’t lied. Win is the strongest, most rigid man I know. He doesn’t need to manipulate to gain power.
I can read his expression as my eyes mist with tears. “I’m the sacrificial pawn.”
“Yes.”
I blink back my tears. “Do you intend for me to die?”
“No. I don’t intend it.”
But he’s considered the possibility. I tremble, Win’s hands pressing harder. “I told you, you are my father’s dream of the perfect match. We could?—”
“Under different circumstances, luring your father to England by faking an engagement would work.”
“But not under these circumstances?”
“No. He knows I’d never marry his daughter.”
I choke because this is the man who lay on top of me last night. Who… “Tell me.”
“Not here.”
“Where?” for the first time since I walked through the door, irritation pulses through me. I cling to it, I need it. I’ve gone soft and then scared. But if I’m going to survive this, I’m going to need to be filled with rage.
And why shouldn’t I be? Win is just another man attempting to use me, manipulate me, and then throw me away.
“On the way home, if you insist on knowing.”
“I do.” And then I spin in his arms. If he wants to stop me, he’ll have to cause a scene, which means, he lets me go.
I keep my head high as I make my way out of the door I just entered.
The parking attendant sees me, and radios for the car to come back. Win and I must have been notable that the attendant doesn’t need to ask who I am.
Then I feel the hand at my back.
Win.
“I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to hear your story. I don’t care what happened in your past.”
“Too late. I’m telling you mine and you’re telling me yours.”
“No.” I can feel the tears I try never to let fall filling my eyes. Double damn him. Not only has he completely double-crossed me, now he’s made me cry. I hate him.
Hate his guts.
“You don’t have a choice, kitten. You know as well as I do, that your best chance for making it through a war with your father is at my side.”
“Do I know that?”
“You’re more strategic than most, so I know you’ve figured that much out.”
I don’t answer. There is nothing to say.
