He turns back.
“We’re not friends, Princess.”
Is he calling me that to remind me I’m his slave? Such a mean guy.
“I’m well aware, master.” I load the last word with enough sarcasm to sink a ship.
“You don’t like being called Princess?”
“I only like it when my dad calls me that, because he loves me. Unlike you and your people.”
“That love is the reason you’re here.”
I hold his gaze. “Would you not have taken me if my father didn’t love me?”
He nods.
I frown. “And how do you know that he does?”
He turns off the stove, only then do I notice the milk has boiled. I got too lost in the conversation to notice.
“That’s none of your business.”
I scoff. “It’s not exactly difficult to guess. You did a little digging, learned some basic facts about me and my family.”
I know he only knows the basics; he doesn’t know Uncle and Avi well enough to notice the difference between me and her.
“I know more than just the basics, Princess.”
A laugh escapes me at his confidence. I want so badly to tell him how wrong he is.
“Oh, really?” I tease. “Such as?”
“You were set to marry Roxion Marco.”
My confidence crashes to the floor.He knows about Roxion and Avi?
He studies my face—the color draining from it—then speaks, his voice harder now. “Want to know how much more I know about you?”
I nod, stiffly. My heart hammers against my ribs.
“You like him,” he says in a cold, low voice, but his words calm me instantly.He doesn’t know much.
“That’s like saying I like water. Everyone likes Roxion. He’s the sweetest man alive.” Even I like him, and I’ve never met him.
“If he’s so sweet, then why did you call off the wedding?” He bites out the words.
Why is he getting mad about this?
“I called off the wedding because...”
Oh God. I was about to say because I love someone else.Which is true for Avi. But telling him that would be handing him the key to destroy everything my sister has barely begun to build.
I plaster more confidence onto my face and continue. “Because he’s not my type.”
I think his face softens—just barely. The shift is so slight I’m nearly convinced I imagined it.
“What’s your type?”
