“But then why were you so nervous at the gala?”
He’s silent, and when I turn toward him, he’s already watching me with a soft expression.
“Because you looked so beautiful.”
He lets out a shaky breath. And then he’s leaning toward me, and I’m leaning toward him. The night air is cold, but there’s a light breeze, just enough to rustle the leaves. His lips are almost on mine, and I open my mouth and—
“I’m conning you.”
Rook freezes. Then leans back.
“You’re conning me,” he echoes, like a question.
I nod, unable to meet his eyes. “I needed your money. To do this job. Because my brother died, and I knew, like, in my heart or whatever that I could bring him back. But I’d already used all the family money, and I didn’t have enough to finance the rest of the job…” I wince. “So I took advantage of your grief to get you to back it.”
Rook is quiet for a moment, then stands slowly, shaking his head. “But I came to you. I had toconvinceyou—”
“That was part of the con.” I bite my lip, tracking him as he starts to pace. “I made sure my name got back to you, and then I had to make you believe the whole thing was your idea.”
He stops mid-stride, brow furrowed. “Were you ever going to resurrect Credence?”
I stand, resisting the urge to reach for him. “Yes, actually. That was the trial run. We’d resurrect her first to make sure we could do the same for Dante.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
I shake my head, looking around like an answer will appear.
Because I’m the reason my brother is dead? Because my crew just walked out on me for the second time? Because apparently people expect honesty, and I don’t want to do this alone anymore?
“Because I think I want…to be a good person.” I cringe.
Rook raises his eyebrows.
“I know,” I say. “I’m shocked too.”
His gaze softens, and my stomach twists.
“And also…” I wet my lips. “I like you.”
His smile is sudden and wide and vulnerable in a way I haven’t seen from him before, and part of me hates that I’m still reading him, gauging how his emotions and reactions can benefit me. Bad habits and all that.
“You’re brilliant,” he says, grabbing me by the shoulders so he can look me in the eye. “But also an idiot.”
I shrug. “Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.”
He’s lets out a laugh. “You could have just asked me for the money, told me about your brother. We could have helped each other.”
“That’s not…” I wrinkle my nose. “That’s not how things work…”
He clicks his tongue. “You might have a skewed understanding of how things work.”
Before I think better of it, I rise up on my toes and kiss him.
It’s just a ghost of a kiss, barely a whisper of my lips against his. Even if I wanted it to go on, I’m not steady enough on my toes to keep going. I fall back down on my heels and watch his reaction.
His eyes are on mine and from the twitch in his jaw, I can tell he’s considering something. But it’s too dark to see if his pupils are dilated, and part of me doesn’t want to know. Doesn’t want to use this as an exercise in reading my mark.
Because he’s no longer a mark. And I’m no longer whatever roleI was playing to gain his trust. Now we’re just Rook and Elle, two people having their first kiss.