Page 42 of Don't Look Away

The bartender slides my glass of sparkling water in front of me. “Would you like to order any food?”

“Oh, sorry, I haven’t even looked at the menu.” Spinning around on my stool, I glance down at the menu in my hand. There are four items on it, each option weirder than the next. I order the least weird of the four, which is “chilled cucumber with trout roe,” whatever that is.

I glance back at Roman and his dad. Roman is seated now with his back to me, but he’s animated, talking with his hands as his dad sits back in his chair and listens, his expression guarded.

I’m dying to know what they’re talking about, but after just a few minutes my food comes, and my focus is drawn away from Roman and his dad.

I stare down at my plate, confused. This doesn’t look appetizing at all. Turns out, “chilled cucumber with trout roe” is three slices of cucumber with a dollop of bright orangesomethingon top. I poke at the tiny gelatinous balls. I look it up on my phone and discover “roe” is just a fancy word for eggs, so…trout caviar.

Gross.

“You’ll do it!” Roman yells, his voice rising over the quiet chatter of the restaurant. He brings his hands down on the table with such force, that the clattering silver can be heard clearly across the room.

I spin around to see what’s happening, as does everyone else, and I see Roman stand up, then lean in to say something to his dad. Then he turns and stalks toward me.

Oh, shit. What the hell just happened?

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

Roman

“What happened?”Lux asks, struggling to keep up with me as we leave Exeter House.

“My dad is a cunt,” I bark. It’s not her fault, and I know I shouldn’t be taking shit out on her, butdamn.My dad fucking pisses me off.

My car is still out front, and the valet hands me the keys, while another opens the door for Lux. We’re on the road home when Lux finally breaks the tense silence.

“So…are you going to tell me what happened with your dad?” she asks.

I tighten my hold on the steering wheel, my jaw tight, still lit about the resistance my dad put up to helping James, his own fucking stepson. “I need my dad’s help with something, and he said he’d ‘think about it.’ Thefuckingcunt.”

There’s another stretch of silence, and I realize I’m being an asshole right now. I glance over at Lux, who is just staring straight ahead awkwardly. I reach over and place my hand on her thigh. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to take this out on you. I appreciate you coming with me.”

“It’s okay,” she says, glancing at me with a tight smile. “So, does ‘I’ll think about it’ mean no? Or do you think he’ll actually consider whatever it is?”

I push out a breath. “Oh, he’ll do it. He just wants me to know he’s the one in control.”

“How do you know he’ll do it in the end?”

I glance over at her again. “Because I took you’re advice. I laid out the benefits for him, and if I know anything about my dad, it’s that he’llalwaysdo what’s best for himself. Always.”

“Your dad sounds like an absolutepeach,” she says with a smile. “It’s a shame I didn’t get to meet him.”

“You not having to shake his hand was a mercy. Trust me.”

She makes a littlehmphsound. “So, um, not to change the topic, but I wanted to talk to you about something…”

Why does my stomach knot up when she says that? “Okay,” I say casually. “What’s up?”

“I was thinking…” There’s a long pause, and I can tell she’s anxious about telling me whatever she’s going to tell me. “...I want to be initiated into the society.”

I tear my gaze off the road briefly to look at her, just to make sure she’s not fucking with me. She looks sincere, though, and that’s when my pulse starts racing. “What? Lux, no—”

“Before you object, hear me out,” she says. “I’m never going to be fully accepted into the society until I go through initiation. You have no idea what it feels like to be on the outside, no one really trusting you.”

“Lux,” I say firmly. “You don’t need to go through initiation to be accepted. As my consort, you have all the power and privilege of my name.”

“I don’t, though,” she says. “No one trusts me.”

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