I’d worked long enough to know that nothing stopped a servant from getting to her mistress. Not a blizzard, definitely not a death.
“I choose no one.”
“Turn around.”
“No.”
He gripped my shoulders and spun me to face the black window. I stepped forward and he yanked me back by the shoulder, holding me in place, forcing me to stay.
We reflected in the window as if caught in a lake’s nighttime waters, glossy and spotlit by the
moon.
He pulled at the first set of laces, tugging gently. “Have you given thought to my proposition, Angel?”
Sleep in his bed?
It was on my mind. Maybe I didn’t have to choose him, maybe I could just sleep beside him and steal his phone, figure out a way inside.
It would be better than doing nothing.
But I stayed silent.
Another lace was pulled, and my dress loosened further.
Tug. “I won’t force you, Angel. In time, I think you’ll find me the best option.”
I held in a scoff.
Tug, pull, tug, pull.
Until the final lace slipped through his fingers. He didn’t move away, his fingers tracing my bare spine. I ground my teeth.
“You must have questions after tonight,” he said, voice rough.
I was filled with them. But—“You think I’m going to ask you, West?”
I spun around, my dress hung loosely off my shoulders, cleavage bared. His eyes fell to it, but I pressed on. “You think I want answers from you?”
His jaw twerked, eyes flashing to mine. “Why not? I have them.”
“Because I want the truth.”
He stepped forward. “I’ll give it to you—”
I let out an incredulous laugh. “From you? You don’t know how.”
“Well,” he laughed, bitter. “Your truthful knight in shining armor has been keeping a lot of secrets from you. I thought you told each other everything, yet…I proposed this truce a day ago.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, refusing to give him the reaction he wanted.
After a minute, West kicked off the door. “Get used to the new normal. We’re on the same team now, Angel.”
Twenty-Three
STORY
The problem with Grayson Crowne wasn’t that he’s a liar, it’s that he is a knight in shining armor, a savior, an Atlas. He refuses to accept any reality where he can’t save me.