Page 7
He asks every morning. Sometimes he asks before the man delivering his breakfast has crossed the threshold.
I knew he would come for her. I had seen enough in the way he watched her before the masquerade, and enough in the way he watched me afterward. Taking her gave him a reason to stop being careful.
He found the cabin. He ignored the men telling him to wait. By the time Hunter’s people knew where to look, I had both of them in the van.
Ari has known me for years. He helped build the Vipers. He knows what loyalty costs, and what I do to men who decide they no longer owe me.
He still came.
That should make him easy to understand. He wanted Liv back, and he was willing to risk his life for her.
I understand that part perfectly.
I understand less of what I want when he looks at me. The contempt should irritate me. Instead, I find myself waiting for him to stop looking away.
I have watched him charm a room without appearing to make an effort. I have seen him turn that attention toward Liv. Knowing the man has never made me immune to him.
Having him here has made it worse.
On the counter beside the pastries sits the first edition of Wuthering Heights. Three small volumes, acquired at considerable expense and delivered yesterday.
Liv mentioned it while she was telling me about a book she’d read. She caught herself halfway through, as though she needed to correct the fact that she was enjoying a conversation with me.
I asked her to finish.
She did.
I place the books on the cart and push it toward the stairs.
By the time I reach her suite, sunlight has begun to warm the corridor. I pause outside the door and listen.
Water runs in the bathroom.
I unlock the suite.
Liv steps out as I push the cart in, tying the belt of her silk robe. Her hair is loose, her temples damp.
Her eyes go to my hands first, then my face.
The tightness in her shoulders eases.
There. Before she can decide what she wants me to see.
“Morning.”
She glances at the cart. I watch her recognize the smell of the coffee, then the croissant.
I take everything to the table by the window and pull out her chair.
For a moment, she stays put.
I wait.
She crosses the room and sits.
I prepare her coffee and place it in front of her.
“You slept well.”
