Page 122 of House of Lilith

“Like getting a couple of weeks to rethink breaking off the engagement.”

There’s a moment of silence before he asks, “So you’re notbegging, but you arerethinking? What’s the difference?”

It makes me throw him a frown, this bitterness in his voice. Judging me. Is hejudgingme?

“Well,” I start, fighting not to show my frustration, “excuse me for finding myself in an impossible predicament. Entirely my own fault, of course,” I rush to add. “Iknowthey won’t let me have anything unless I get married, yet I go ahead and break up the best possible match for myself.”

“So, you’re actuallysorryyou broke up with Prince Charming?” he demands.

“Of course not,” I blurt out, surprised that he’d think that. “You’re missing my point.”

“AmI?”

“Yes.”

It all leaves me a little confused. So there’s a second of silence before he kicks a rock with his boot and then another one before he asks, his tone softer and a little teasing once again, “Did you score any good presents? Diamond-encrusted weapons to kill the attendees with?”

But my mind is still on his reaction to what I said and right now, it’s starting to really hit me, andbotherme, how little I know about him.

So just as we get close to a little grove near the Grimm Tower, I stop and I turn to face him, making him stop as well. “So there’s nothing about my situation you’re able to understand?” I ask, earnestly.

For a second, he just throws me that fucking squint of his. Then he shrugs and says, simply, “I just know that there are people who play by the rules and people who make them. Thought you said you wanted to be among the latter.” He shrugs again. “So be among the latter.”

It makes me raise my eyebrows at him. “Are you for real?” I ask, making him frown at me. “I mean, it’s hard to imagine someone breezing through life like that. Is it really all just throwing parties you don’t file the paperwork for,” I ask, finding myself a little breathless, “and fooling around with a whole harem of women at any given time?”

For a moment, we just look at each other.

“How did you know?” he finally whispers, making my eyebrows pull down. “I have to make a confession, Romanov,” he says with a shake of his head, a mocking little smile tugging at his lips, “I’ve never felt this seen before.”

I have to fight not to let out a frustrated groan. Instead, I just shake my head and move to walk back to the camp.

“Whoa,” I hear him say, with a laugh, as he grabs me by the wrist, “where do you think you’re going?”

I turn to throw him an incredulous look and I break my hand free of his grip, deciding it was so fucking stupid of me to get caught up in this little mystery that is Dahrian Howe in the first place. “We should be getting back,” I tell him.

Not angrily. Not bitterly. Flatly.

He tilts his head at me, as if he’s actually taken aback. “Come on,” he protests as he gets a little closer, “what did I do?”

“Nothing,” I say with a shrug, but I take a step back. “I just think it’s time to get back to the party.”

For a second, his eyes narrow, but then he seems to snap out of it. “Yeah, sure,” he says, simply, moving to go with me.

But just as I turn on my heel, he adds, “In a minute.”

And he takes my hand and starts leading me back, straight to the grove.

“Hey, what’re you doing?” I demand, but this mix of curiosity and excitement makes me follow, practically running to catch up with him.

“We,”he says without looking back at me, “are getting me a present for your birthday.”

“Gettingyoua present?” I demand, throwing daggers at his back. “Formybirthday?”

“Exactly,” he replies, matter-of-factly, just as we enter the grove.

Then he stops, abruptly, and swings me around so I come bumping into him, his eyes already on mine.

“And look,” he says in a low, teasing voice, making my breath hitch when he slides one hand around my waist and starts tugging at the bow with the other, “it comes so beautifully wrapped. A little over the top, but I love it, thank you.”

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