“Trust me, so is she. She knows the second Linus dies, she’ll be out on her ass, to put it bluntly.” His blue eyes are intent. “And Linus is not young. Which will just leave…”
“Me,” I murmur softly.
“You,” he echoes.
As our eyes hold, the air between us starts to feel charged again, that inescapable electrical current running back and forth from him to me. He’s a dozen feet away, but I swear I can practically feel his warm touch on my skin.
“We should probably get to bed,” I whisper.
Maybe it’s my imagination, but I’d swear his eyes flare with heat as he watches my mouth form those words. He quickly smothers the look under a mask of cool indifference. Rising to his feet, he stands in the threshold with his back to me, pausing for the briefest of moments.
“Put some ice on that damn hand.”
He’s gone a second later, slamming his door with finality. I hear the lock turn over and let a long-held breath rattle from my lungs.
“Goodnight,” I whisper to the empty hallway.
The long walk downstairs to the kitchen does absolutely nothing to calm my thundering pulse. And later, when I climb into bed, swollen hand cradled against my chest… I dream of bright blue eyes that somehow always look straight through me, down to the dirty, shattered soul beneath.
Chapter Twelve
It’s11:55 a.m. and I’m pacing outside the closed parlor doors. I refuse to step into that room until it’s absolutely unavoidable.
“She bamboozled you into this too, huh?”
I look up at the sound of Chloe’s voice and see her leaning against the wall, watching me ping-pong back and forth. Judging by the warm look on her face, she’s not holding a grudge about the Owen incident.
I smile back at her. “Bamboozled is too nice a word for what she did.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better or worse?”
She laughs — a light, clear sound, like the water in a winter stream. “Neither. But it’s the truth. After a while, you’ll develop a sort of sixth sense for Octavia’s schemes. And once you can anticipate your opponent’s moves… it’s much easier to evade them.”
I shake my head tiredly. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this life.”
“No one’s ever ready for anything. You just suck it up and do it and hope that eventually the pieces fall into place. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.”
“That’s your best advice?Suck it up?”
“Hmm…” She thinks about it for a moment. “Yep.”
“Chloe, have you considered a career writing greeting cards? Since you’re such a fountain overflowing with heartwarming wisdom?”
“You never know, it could be my true calling.Watch out, Hallmark, I’m coming for you!” Her head tilts. “And, as a side perk, can you imagine the look on Octavia’s face if I told her I was getting a job? An actualjob?”
I gasp. “Like a common peasant?”
“A working schlub!” She throws a hand over her heart. “The outrage!”
“The scandal!’
“The horror of it all!”
“Oh, the humanity!”
We both dissolve into giggles.