Page 54 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

Her brow furrowed. She remembered them saying he had a place nearby. “His estate?”

“Something like that.”

“Where is it?”

“In the mountains.”

Tessa sat back. “His estate is in the mountains? So it’s like a cabin or something?”

Theon lifted his glass to his mouth as he answered, “Or something.” Before she could ask more, he added, “Eat. It’s been days.”

“Yes, that’s why I’m famished,” she drawled. “It has nothing to do with the last few hours of fucking.”

“I should have let you eat before we did that.”

She could feel his inner conflict down the bond. Did he actually feel guilty about something?

No. He didn’t know how to feel guilty. Theon had said it himself. He does what needs to be done without remorse. Hedidn’t care about her. He just did what needed to be done to keep her together. That was why he’d taken care of her in other ways before taking care of the physical need to eat. He’d felt what a fucking mess she was, that she was on the brink of shutting down, and he’d taken care of her. That was it.

Clearing her throat, she said, “Have you figured anything out in all your reading?”

“Not really,” Theon answered. “But now that the hearing has been held and the newest Mark is in place, I will be able to focus more on it.”

Tessa nodded, tearing off a piece of bread.

“But I will need your help.”

“You seem to need that a lot,” she quipped.

“I need you to tell me about your past.”

“There’s nothing to tell. It’s all in your file you have on me.”

“But I have to assume those are all falsified. They clearly aren’t all factual,” Theon said.

She hummed, spearing a piece of melon with her fork.

“Were you always at the Celeste Estate?”

“As far back as I can remember, yes.”

Theon nodded, reaching for the chicken. This felt weird. A civil meal with just the two of them. She’d just been in a bed with him for hours, and yet this was the awkward part of her day.

“Is there anything else you can think of that might be helpful?”

“I don’t know what exactly you’re looking for, Theon,” she answered, moving fruit around her plate with her fork.

“Anything really. Even if it seems mundane, it could be important.”

“There’s nothing.”

“Can you at least try— Fuck.”

He’d clearly felt her tense at the word.

“I didn’t mean to imply you’re not trying,” he said quickly. “But the other night at dinner suggested there are things we don’t know.”

“Like what?” she muttered, ready to be done with this conversation. She’d just had the best sex of her life to distract her from all of this, and now he was bringing it all back up.

---