Page 299 of Reign

This is punishment.

Not for Elena. For me.

He remembers every deliberate misunderstanding when he came to me about Adriana. Every question I forced him to answer. Every moment I made him admit how deeply he wanted her while pretending I couldn’t see it.

This is repayment.

One final night with Elena before I’m expected to hand her over.

I can almost respect it.

Almost.

“Nine is acceptable.”

Angelo’s satisfaction falters.

He expected anger. Resistance. A threat.

He doesn’t understand that resistance is only useful when the outcome is uncertain.

This one isn’t.

“You’re taking this surprisingly well,” he says.

“I understand the arrangement.”

“That doesn’t mean you’ll do what I said.”

“No.” I rise and adjust my cufflink. “It doesn’t.”

His eyes sharpen.

I turn toward the door.

“Castillo.”

I stop with my hand on the handle.

“She isn’t yours.”

I think of Elena asleep in my bed.

Her clothes beside mine.

Her designs spread across her very own office.

The way she trusts me with her body, then curls against me afterward like there is nowhere else she wants to be.

Angelo is right.

Elena isn’t property. She isn’t his to remove or mine to own.

But she chose my home.

My bed.

My hands.