Page 208 of Reign

I stare at the ink until the names begin to irritate me.

Four safe names and the three I added because four made it too obvious I wasn’t trying.

None of them feel right.

That shouldn’t matter.

This arrangement has an ending. Elena wants to understand herself before her brothers choose a husband for her. I agreed to train her because the alternative was letting someone else do it, and that was never going to happen.

Unfortunately, I also agreed to help her find a man when we’re done.

That part of the arrangement sounded considerably less irritating when I made it.

I close the pen and push the notepad to the side.

Then I get up and open the freezer.

Her berries sitting there all frozen and waiting.

I take them out, put them in the bowl she uses, and add coconut water until it pools beneath the frozen fruit. It’ll turn slushy at the bottom in a few minutes. She likes it that way, though using a fork for this is objectively ridiculous. A spoon would make more sense. Any reasonable person would choose a spoon.

I open the drawer and take out a fork.

Then I sit at the kitchen table with her breakfast in front of me and wait.

That is worse than the fork.

I’m waiting for her.

I glance at the stairs again.

If she doesn’t come down soon, I’m eating one.

The notepad sits beside my hand, face down now. Seven names hidden beneath white paper while I sit here with frozen berries and coconut water. This is the man I’ve become now.

I even know the exact amount she likes.

Footsteps sound in the hall.

I keep my gaze on the bowl for one more second before I look up.

Elena walks into the kitchen with her hair pulled into a ponytail, fringe framing her face, and a guarded little expression that makes the room feel colder than it did a moment ago.

She’s wearing leggings.

Unfortunate.

I would have preferred bare legs. Not only because I like her legs, though I do. I want to see her ankles. Check the skin where the silk held her open last night. Make sure there are no marks she’s hiding from me out of stubbornness.

The leggings cover too much.

Her wrists are visible.

I check those immediately.

No bruising. No swelling. A faint pinkness, maybe, but nothing that concerns me. She moves carefully, though. Sore, but not hurt.

Good.