A pause. Then a slow, amused smile curves his lips. “I assumed if I asked you to join me, you’d say no out of spite.”
I bite the inside of my cheek so hard I taste blood.
Because of course he thinks that. Of course my boundaries, my grief, my gut-punched betrayal couldn’t possibly be mine—they must be some petty rebellion. It must be spite. As if my existence revolves around him.
Arrogant, insufferable ass.
“Luckily, I was already informed about the banquet. I’m borrowing your coat to see if someone can fashion a dress before tonight. Something dramatic. Blood red, maybe. Or funeral black.”
A flicker of emotion dances across his face—amusement, maybe, but it’s chased quickly by curiosity.
He takes a step forward, and I swear the room gets smaller. “And you decided to go rifling through my clothes yourself? You could’ve sent someone.”
They’re not your clothes,I think, biting back a scoff.You’re not Lord Lockhart. You’re just very good at pretendingto be him.
But that’s the game I’m playing too, isn’t it?
“I could’ve,” I say, lifting a brow. “But then I wouldn’t get to see that look on your face when I take what I need without asking.”
That gets a real smile—crooked and slow, like it’s wrapping around something filthy in his mind. “Careful, sweetheart. You say things like that, and I’ll start thinking you enjoy this.”
I let the silence linger, feel it crawl up the back of my spine. Then I turn, slowly, and lift my gaze through my lashes like the heroine of a sad, manipulative romance.
I guess that’s exactly who I am.
“I was wrong last night. About…everything.”
He blinks, then pushes away from the doorframe. “You’ll have to be more specific. You’ve been wrong about a lot of things lately.”
A thousand retorts press against my teeth like the edge of a blade. I could slash him open with the truth. But I don’t. I swallow the metal, wrap my lies in velvet, and keep going.
“I thought I could do this alone,” I say, voice quiet, carefully frayed at the edges. “But I can’t. I need you.”
He crosses his arms, his expression unreadable. “That’s a change in tune.”
I look away, chewing the inside of my cheek like I’m trying not to cry instead of trying not to puke. “You’ve always been there for me. Protected me. And I—” I force a breath, blinking fast like I’m holding back tears. “I took everything for granted. I tookyoufor granted.”
He’s silent, gaze sharp enough to cut through bone. “Just like that?” he says finally, voice low and skeptical.“You wake up this morning and decide the world’s too scary to face alone, so now I’m suddenly the answer?”
Shit.
I swallow, heart skidding in my chest.
For one awful second, I think he’s not going to buy it. That he’ll call my bluff and walk away, and then all of this—all the risk, all the venom I choked down to pull this off—will be for nothing.
So I do what I always do with him. I act. Only this time, I know from the start that I’m acting. I’ve spent so long pretending with him, twisting myself into the version he wanted, the one who adored him, needed him… The part is so easy to step into that it’s hard for me to understand how I never saw it before.
The only time I’ve actually felt real is when I’m with the man who looks just like Alder but couldn’t be more different.
I blink up at him. “You think I like this? Begging for forgiveness? You think it’s easy for me to admit I was wrong?” I take a step closer, as if drawn to him. “But I was. You were right.” My voice thickens with desperation. “I can’t survive without you.”
Alder takes a slow step toward me, eyes gleaming. “Say that again.”
I grit my teeth so hard my skull aches. But I make my voice small, cracked. “You were right. I can’t survive without you.”
“Hmm.” He circles me, a shark scenting blood, then laughs softly, but there’s steel beneath the sound. “And now you’re here to make it right with a few pretty words?”
I offer him a small, trembling smile. “I’m here to askfor your help. I need you to save me like you always do.”
