Page 94 of Fragile Oath

“All right,” she said cautiously.

I took a breath. “And I should probably do it alone.”

Galina did a valiant job of pretending to be unbothered by my announcement.

“All right,” she said again, the words more constricted this time.

I met her gaze, my own narrowing in question. “You aren’t going to ask me what it’s about?”

“I trust you, and it’s not my place to—”

“It is your place,” I said, tilting her chin up and pressing a gentle kiss to her bottom lip. “And I want you to ask whatever you want to know.”

She nodded, but still didn’t say anything. I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, leaning down to kiss along her jawline.

“Have I told you how sexy I find your jealousy?” I asked, only half teasing.

“I’m not jealous,” she lied.

“Well, that makes one of us, then,” I said, moving to her neck and pulling her against me. “Because I want to strangle everyone who even looks at you.”

Her lips parted, a flush going into her cheeks like I knew it would.

“Fine. What are you going to talk to the girl — who the whole court thinks you should marry — about?”

I chuckled, moving my mouth back to her lips before I backed away to answer.

“I think that MacBay’s lying about where he was the night Tavish was killed, and I think Gracie will tell me what it is, as a friend.”

Galina raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Is that what you think she wants to be to you?”

“It’s all I’m offering, Love. I would happily send literally anyone else, but Gwyn has no subtlety, and Avani has never been close to Gracie. She was home with her mother a lot when we were growing up, so she doesn’t have many actual friends outside of Fiona and, well, me.”

Galina met my eyes, studying them. “All right, then. As I said, I trust you.”

She sounded surer of it this time around, and I gave her a genuine smile. All of our banter aside, I knew trust was difficult for her. For us both, if I was being honest. So I pressed another kiss against her lips, giving her the reassurance she would never ask for.

“And I will never do anything to break that trust."

Not again. Not when we had worked so hard to get here.

* * *

I foundGracie in the courtyard.

She was almost unrecognizable, bundled up in her winter cloak, with fleece-lined gloves and a wool scarf wrapped around her neck. A dusting of snow covered the hedges, and frost made the walkways more slippery than not, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“I was hoping I’d find you out here,” I said, casually falling in step beside her.

Gracie turned to peer up at me with her wide brown eyes before darting a look behind me.

“Just you?” she asked lightly. “Does Lady Galina approve of you seeking me out privately like this?”

Though her words were playful, there was a hint of concern lining her tone.

“She knows we’re friends,” I said. “And she trusts me.”

Gracie’s brow rose in surprise, a half-smile tempting the corner of her mouth. We continued walking for a while, winding our way toward the back of the gardens before she finally spoke again.

---