Page 77 of In Love and Revenge

‘I only have to pretend for a little longer, right? I figure you get one song, and then we go back to hating one another,’ Aurora says.

‘Sounds perfect,’ I reply, my eyes glued to her face.

We dance in silence for a minute, my feet unscathed.

She feels like perfection in my arms.

I can’t help myself. She’s the perfect height for me to lean a touch closer so that my lips rest in her hair as we move. She keeps dancing like she hasn’t noticed, and I push my luck further by inhaling slowly, drinking in the scent of her. The softness of the blond strands are like golden silk against my skin.

The song changes, flowing into a slower one.

She sighs in my grasp, her head turned to one side as she watches the other dancers. ‘My father taught me to dance to this song. He and Mum used to dance to it in the kitchen at night when they first moved in together.’

I stay silent, scared that if I speak, if I alert her to the fact it’s me she’s talking to, then she’ll stop talking. Because despite knowing this is dangerous territory, I’m hanging off her every word like a starving dog being handed a scrap of meat.

‘And that’s where he taught me too. Not that we could do it easily. That kitchen was tiny. The whole house was.’ A small laugh falls against my chest from her lips. ‘Dad always promised that when we moved we’d have a huge kitchen. And he kept his word. The one in Chelsea made our old one look like a postage stamp.’

‘I’m sorry you lost it,’ I say.

But of course, I don’t mean it, do I? People like George Thorne, who steal others’ hard-earned money, deserve to lose everything. And being his daughter, who can’t have been blind to it all, Aurora deserved to lose her home. They have my money stashed away somewhere, hidden in an offshore account, or somewhere the authorities can’t find it, just waiting for the day he’s freed and they can cash it all in. The two of them will probably be laughing all the way to the Cayman Islands once he’s released.

Laughing atme.

Regardless, I still wince as the words land heavily on my tongue, because the lie feels like the most honest thing I’ve said all evening.

Aurora sighs. ‘I’m not. Not really. I’d trade anything to go back to our old house. Before my father got his new job, before he started earning good money, if it meant that he’d not be where he is now. He tries to tell me it’s not so bad when I visit him, but I know he’s only trying to make me feel better. I wish more than anything I could dance with him again now and not have to wait years until he’s finally free.’

She twists her face up to look at me. ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I think it’s because you don’t look at me in pity like most people do when I tell them my father’s innocent. Like they think I’m delusional. At least with you, I know what you think of us both. You’re an honest arsehole.’

I gaze down at her. ‘A complimentary insult. How did I get so lucky?’

She snorts. ‘Keep behaving like you do. I’m sure you’ll get more.’

As she looks around the large room, her brow creases. ‘It’s weird being somewhere like this. That’s how I felt in the house in Chelsea. Out of place. Like I didn’t really belong. You know, my father and I went on holiday to Menorca when I was ten. He saved for months to take us to this three-star hotel and was so excited.Then when we got there the hotel had been downgraded so the tour operator had to offer us an alternative at no extra cost. We ended up in a five-star resort. They served these really delicious posh fish cakes that we ate every night. My father kept saying how lucky we were. He couldn’t believe it.’

She pulls her lower lip past her teeth, biting it, like she’s channelling all of her anxiety into that single move. And I want to gather it all up and toss it into orbit, where it can never reach her again.

But instead, I do something reckless. Something stupid. Something that suggests I’m moved by what she’s telling me. That a part of me actually bloodycares.

I look into her eyes and open my heart a little.

‘And it made you think youwerelucky. That you shouldn’t have been there. That you didn’t belong,’ I say, understanding Aurora Thorne more in this moment than I ever have before.

She looks at me like she’s both surprised and impressed that I get it. That I gether.

She nods. ‘Exactly. Because I didn’t belong there.’

‘No ... Aurora.’ I take her chin between my thumb and forefinger and tilt her face up.

‘What?’ She searches my eyes, and I tighten the grip I have on her lower back, melding her to me.

I need to stop this. I need to ...

She leans into me, feeling so right inside my arms.

‘You belong wherever the hell you want to be, okay?’ I whisper softly.

She licks her lips, gazing at me. ‘Easy for you to say, Mr CEO of a multibillion-pound company.’