“It’s been six years.” I stop a few feet away from her, close enough to see the pulse jumping in her throat. “You disappeared for six years. No explanation, no contact, nothing.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Then make it simple. Who are you really? Because Catherine was a lie, wasn’t it?”
She swallows hard. “My name is Aurelia Vance. You already know that.”
“I know a lot of things now that I didn’t know then. I know your family grabbed you off the street during the Petrov shooting. I know Victor hid you somewhere for six years. What I don’t know is why.”
“My family was protecting me.”
“From what?”
“From you.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
“From me,” I repeat.
“You killed someone right in front of me, Cassian. What was I supposed to think?”
“You were supposed to trust that I had my reasons.”
“I didn’t know you. We spent one night together, and then you murdered someone in public. My family took me home. That’s all.”
“That’s all? You expect me to believe that Victor Vance kept his niece locked away for six years just to protect her from me?”
Her jaw tightens. “Believe what you want.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care.”
We stare at each other, and I can see her trying to hold it together. Trying to keep the mask in place. But her hands are shaking, and her breathing is too fast, and she’s terrified in a way that doesn’t match her words.
She’s lying. About what, I don’t know yet. But there’s something she’s not telling me, something bigger than just her family protecting her.
“Why did you lie about your name?” I ask.
“Because I was running. I didn’t want anyone to know who I was.”
“Running from what?”
“An arranged marriage. Victor wanted to sell me off to some eighty-year-old business associate, and I refused.”
“So you ran. Dyed your hair, wore contacts, hid for two months, and then boarded a plane back to New York.”
“Yes.”
“And you just happened to sit next to me.”
“It was random.”
“Was it? Or did you know exactly who I was when you got on that plane?”
Her eyes widen slightly, and I know I’ve hit something.
“I didn’t?—”
