Page 70 of Heartless Legacy

Her words are the same as they were in that classroom. “I was detained all this time.”

Is that the truth? Was she really in jail the whole time she was away? Am I locked in this contract with Eloise based on a lie? Or is this the story my father came up with to cover his tracks? Is she back because she took his deal?

Staring down at her, I try to dissect the look on her face. It’s one I know all too well. The one she tried so hard to hide after Mayhem Night. The one I spent time in the ring studying while letting her take swings at me.

“Are you here to appease your conscience?” She asks, breaking our stare off. “If so, don’t bother. In case I didn’t make it clear before, I don’t give a shit that you were fucking Eloise the whole time I was your companion. I won’t be going after her or anything like that. I’m just glad we always used protection, and I didn’t walk away with an STD.”

She thinks I’m here about Eloise? That’s pretty fucking insulting. She should know me better than that. “It wasn’t like that. It wasn’t planned. Eloise and I just… happened. I took my oath to you as my companion seriously, and our time together was special to me.”

“Oh, puleeze.” She drawls.

“I was faithful to our companion oath while you were here. This deal just fell in my lap.”

Her lips pull into a tight smile. “Right, because that’s the lie you’re telling everyone, isn’t it? That you drafted a deal with Eloise’s father that was better than the one Finn’s family was offering?”

Her chin juts up. “We can stop with all pretenses now, since it’s just you and me standing here. Come on Paxton. Be man enough to admit that Eloise was your endgame all along.”

“That wasn’t.” I sigh, knowing that I can’t explain myself without risking the entire story coming out. “I wanted to break the news to you about Eloise myself, but no one knew where you were.” I clench my hands, fighting the urge to grab her and hold her. To tell her that my contract with Eloise doesn’t mean shit. That everything I’m doing is to protect her. But I can’t. Not when doing so might put her or my friends in more danger.

She waves her finger back and forth between us. “Now, if you’re done with whatever this is. Get the hell out of my way andstayaway from me.”

I step aside, letting her go, her words,Stay away from me,break me, but it’s the drawn look on her face. The flat stare, and dark circles under her eyes as if she isn’t getting enough sleep. The sharp angles of her cheeks that speak to the weight she’s lost, and that her baggy clothes do little to hide, that is my complete undoing.

I didn’t think there was anything left of my heart to rip out, but there was, and she did it without even knowing it. I watch her retreating form until she’s out of sight, then turn towards the street where I parked my bike.

I need a drink.

Finn

The hooded figure slips into the alley, pressing his body against the wall, letting the shadows obscure his features. I can appreciate a healthy level of stalking, but this fucker has picked the wrong girl.

I wait for Thea to cross the street, then slip up behind him. I don’t even bother with my usual flourish. I have him pinned to the wall, knife to his gut before he can react.

“Dammit, Finn!”

His tone enrages me. He has the nerve to sound pissed off when I’ve caught him in the act? “Is your accomplice on the way, or is she already inside Thea’s house?”

“What? I’m here alone, Finn, and I’m not a threat to Thea.”

“Pax, you’ve shown time and time again that you arethe biggestthreat to Thea.” I tighten the pressure of my forearm against this throat. “Why are you following my girl? Did Eloise send you here to find her challenge items so she can sabotage her? Did you think Thea would be easy since you have history?”

“I came here tonight to talk.”

“Does that mean tomorrow night’s the night you do more than talk?” He glares at me. So fucking what? It’s a valid question.

“I’m not trying to sabotage her, Finn. Thea and I needed to resolve some things. I didn’t want things to be awkward at our league meetings and social events, since I’m with Eloise.”

I listened to their conversation. It was full of subtext. When you’ve witnessed or conducted enough interrogations, it’s easy to spot when one is happening. It’s in the way you phrase the answer in a question.

He has some fucking nerve questioning her. Thea’s not a liar. She has a way of avoiding having to admit the truth, that would drive a lawyer crazy, but she’s never lied. The arrest report is all over my Prospectus feed, and Holden dug up a copy of the transfer order sticking her in solitary confinement.

Pax has never trusted Thea, but he should at least trust The League’s official statement. He doesn’t, which means he knows something, and I want to know what thatsomethingis.

“I’m not gonna hurt Thea.”

“You already did. Multiple times.”

“That wasn’t me. That was-”

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