“Then you’re doing it for him too, right? He’s so mad he looks like you? Let him know this was done to you. You never had a choice, and you don’t deserve any of what they’ve put you through.”
“Don’t I, though?” I insist, sounding so much more broken than I ever realized.
“No, you do not, and it’s killing me to let you keep suffering and punishing yourself when you don’t deserve it. When that bitch…” She trails off when the anger is too much to keep going.
“I’m not ready to tell my brother, but we agree on the rest.”
She nods slowly, and while she doesn’t seem to like it, I know she won’t let me down.
CHAPTER 50
SABLE
Soren slipped outof my new room earlier, and the intensity of our secret love affair has kept me tingly all day. Soren loves me. The man I thought didn’t want me loves me. I hate Arabella for what she did to him, and I’m not sure how I’m going to stop myself from murdering her when I inevitably run into her, but I promised Soren secrecy, and I intend to keep that promise. I could stay in here all day—that sounds safe—and I could do things on my own terms, but it also sounds boring and lonely.
I lock the door behind me but quickly hear footsteps in the hall. It’s hard to tell which way people are walking with the hall shaped in a circle, so I accidentally run the wrong way and wind up face-to-face with Orion and Lex.
“What are you doing over here?” Lex asks as he gives me a suspicious look.
“Looking out the window,” I say immediately, pointing at the window I pulled Soren down from.
“Okay,” Lex says, but still seems a little suspicious.
“We need to speak to you,” Orion says. “Also, where did you sleep last night?”
I smile, fighting the blush as hard as I can. “A girl has to have her secrets, right?”
“Wasn’t me,” Lex answers with a distinctly annoyed tone. I know they’re all desperate for time with me, but as long as they’re refusing to accept Soren, my attention will have to be split.
“Which one of those lucky fuckers got to have you last night, Parker or Hadrian?” Orion asks.
“Do you want to talk to me or question me, because I’m only available for one,” I answer, glaring at the two of them.
“Talk to you,” Orion wisely decides.
“Lead the way,” I say, gesturing for them to go ahead. I follow them back to Lex’s room, and once we’re inside, Lex starts peeling off my bandages to check the wounds below. They still make me sick to my stomach, but I have to admit they’re looking a lot better. He gives me a doctorly smile that tells me he agrees.
“Do you need to remove the stitches?” I ask.
“They’re mostly dissolved already. You should be able to leave it uncovered soon,” he says. Then seems to rethink his words and cringes.
“It’s fine, Lex, I can’t wear a bandage to cover my shame my entire life. I’m going to have it lasered off as soon as I have access to my money anyway. Uncle Carl is dead now, so it’s just me, right?”
“Right, but there’s no need to wait. I’ll pay for it right now.”
“No, me,” Orion argues.
Lex rolls his eyes. “Can you grow the hell up?”
“No,” I insist. “I will get my money, and I will get it removed.”
“I’m going to make the appointment,” Orion says.
“Don’t bother,” Lex tells him. “Her consultation is three weeks from tomorrow.”
My mouth hangs open, and I’m pretty sure what I’m feeling right now is profoundly loved. I finally manage to clear mythroat and say thank you. With all that out of the way, they show me what they found and the real reason they came to talk to me.
“I’m an honest-to-goodness Bellthorn student right now?” I ask, not able to believe what they’re telling me.
