Page 116 of When Hearts Surrender

There’s nothing in the library. I’ve searched high and low and while there are letters and diaries mentioning a curse, there’s nothing about how it came about. I have a feeling Maxwell’s great-great-great-grandfather, Silas’s missing journal may hold the answer, but to date, we still haven’t found anything.

The girls and I trudge along the slushy streets, the cement marred with icy clusters of gray sludge. The stench of wet asphalt and overfilled trash cans reeks in the air.

“I’ll never let a man be the cause of my happiness,” Tay grumbles, and I sneak a glance at her, finding her face pinched as if she’s thinking about something.

“I think the key is ensuring your happiness isn’t dependent on a man. But it’s perfectly fine for a man to make you happy,” I say. We makea turn at the street corner, merging with the crowd of gray and black puffer jackets as we cross the street.

Taylor huffs and scrunches her nose. One day, I’ll find out why she seems to have a disdain toward men in general.

“Belle!”

I hear my name being called above the ruckus of honking cabs and screeching car tires. Turning around, I grin when I see a familiar blond man waving.

“Cole! What are you doing here?”

He runs toward us and pulls me into a hug. “I thought that was you. Long time no see.”

Even though I’ve since returned to BSUA after their change in leadership, I’ve taken time off from the shelter when the gala preparation picked up, and I haven’t seen or spoken to Cole other than the texts we’ve periodically exchanged.

He’s holding on to me for a beat too long, long enough for the hairs on my forearms to rise and for me to feel uncomfortable. Clearing my throat, I pull away and step a few paces back.

Tay sneaks a glance at me, her brow cocked high, and she stands in front of me, as if sensing my discomfort.

“Hey, Cole. What are you doing out in SoHo on a Saturday? Don’t you need to be at BSUA?” Grace asks. “Bronx is a bit far from here.”

Cole chuckles, but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m taking some time off from volunteering too. Life got too busy. I’m just here to pick up an art piece I ordered for my mom for her birthday. Where are you guys going?”

“To an antiquities shop a few blocks up.”

We start walking and he moves beside me, nudging Taylor out of the way, who is now openly scowling at him, but he doesn’t seem to care.

I shiver from this strange tension hanging in the air and sneak a glance at my friend. He seems slimmer, his face more gaunt, dark shadows rimming his eyes.

Something feels distinctly off.

“Are you okay, Cole? You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

He flinches, as if my question jolted him out of a deep thought, and he curls his arm over my shoulder and squeezes. “Worried about me? I’m fine. Work has been hectic, that’s all.” He turns toward me. “How have you been doing?”

I shrug his arm off my shoulder. I’m not sure what changed, because he has always been affectionate toward me as a friend, but now, I feel a thread of possessiveness and I don’t like it one bit. But am I overthinking this?

“Things have been great. Maxwell is doing well too.” I feel the need to mention my husband, to remind him I’m taken.

Happily taken.

“Are you happy, Belle? Truly?” he asks, his eyes darkening at the mention of Maxwell.

“I told you I am. And I mean it.” Perhaps last time we met, before Maxwell and I got close the night of the gala, I gave Cole the impression I wasn’t happy—after all, Maxwell and I were in a shaky situation then.

But I have to nip this in the bud. Everything is different now, and I don’t like Cole that way, and he needs to accept that.

Before I can say anything, Cole stops in his tracks, his nostrils flaring, and a muscle twitches in his jaw. “Do you know your husband was married before, Belle? Do you know what happened to his first wife?”

The unease from earlier flares back up, and my pulse pounds in my ears.How does he know about Sydney?

Cole looks at me, his green eyes hardening. “You should look into that, Belle.”

Without another word, he stalks away, melding with the crowds, disappearing from view.

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