Page 79 of A Devious Arrangement

What he’s saying doesn’t make sense. Does he mean because we got here after it was already moved?

“I…I just need to find it again,” I say weakly. I don’t have enough time to track it down, and this time, Bash doesn’t know either.

My face is wet with tears, and I must look like an absolute disaster, but I can’t bring myself to care. I just need to wallow in self-pity for a few more minutes. Then I’ll pull myself back together. I clench my teeth, but my lips still tremble.

“I have to find it.” More is riding on this than Russian arranged marriages. If I’m not able to get this done fast enough, the Salvatores aren’t going to give me another chance.

“You’re shaking.” Bash’s voice is low, full of concern. He straightens and meets my eyes. “I’ll talk to Damon. Figure out where they moved the tiara. We’ll get it. I promise.”

“I thought you couldn’t go to him. That you’d get in trouble.”

His eyes are shifty, and there’s a tightness to his face that could almost be read as guilt. “I don’t fucking care what he does to me so long as you stop crying.” He kisses my forehead. “I’ll get it back. Trust me.”

I don’t have to do this alone. He’s going to help me. Everything will be fine. I bury my face into his shoulder, breathing in his scent and letting his words wash relief over me. “Okay. I trust you.”

Chapter 37

Bash

“Careful, it’s hot,”I say, handing Stasia a cup of tea where she sits on the sofa. She still looks shaken from earlier. Some of her light dimmed after realizing the tiara she needs is gone. I am such a fucking asshole, the lowest of low pond scum that has ever had the misfortune of being in her vicinity.

In my selfishness, I never once considered how this would all affect her. My only saving grace is I meant my promise. I’m going to fix all of this so she never looks that broken again. I expected anger, so I wasn’t prepared for the fear in her eyes when she found the tiara missing.

I need her to explain it all to me on her own without me pushing her.

Sitting on the sofa, I pull her onto my lap so she’s sitting across my knees. My throat constricts when she doesn’t fight me. Instead, she rests her head against my shoulder, knuckles white on the mug.

Not knowing what’s going on with her is eating me alive. Each second, another bite out of my willpower. My need to figure out what the hell is happening so I can actually do something about it has me about to explode.

“Bash.” Stasia’s voice is soft, broken, and my heart rips when her blue eyes shine with tears. She sets her mug on the table, and her lips tremble when she says, “You shouldn’t be close to me. I’m not a good person to be around. Everyone…everyone ends up getting hurt.”

“You? You’re not a good person? Little miss donates her time to teach kids ballet? Breaks into buildings to help her brother? I call bullshit.”

She chuckles softly but goes quiet, staring at her navel for several aching seconds before speaking. “If I hadn’t been so selfish, she’d never have fallen, and…I’m the reason my family’s in this mess to begin with… Nikolai gave up his childhood to raise me… My father hates me.” She rasps in a breath between sentences, and the sound nearly kills me. “I’m the reason my mom died.”

She’s tearing herself apart thread by thread in front of me as she confesses, cracks forming as she unravels.

“Stop.” I grip her arms and twist her so she’s straddling my thighs, facing me. I’m so fucking furious I’d dig her dad up and kill him again if I could. “Who gives you the authority to take all of this on yourself? You were a kid when your mom passed away. Achild, Stasia. Would you ever blame Olivia if something were to happen to her parents? Do you think Matthias would ever abandon his kids for any reason?” I cup her cheeks. “Your father is the only person that has anything to be guilty about. He left you in this position. I’d be pissed at your brother for making you do this all on your own, but knowing you, you didn’t give him a chance to do anything else.”

Watery smile, eyes shifting down and to the side. Guilty.

I want to see her smile, laugh, break away from all of this, but I know firsthand the kind of damage a dark past can bring. For some reason, my girl thinks this is all her fault, and I’m going todo everything I can to prove her wrong. I brush her scarlet hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek with my thumb.

“Tell me about your mom,” I ask softly.

Tears pool in her eyes, fanning over her bottom lashes and down her cheeks, and I freeze.Fucking idiot. You’re supposed to be soothing her, not making it worse.

She relaxes in my arms and snuggles into my chest. “You would have loved her. She was…she was…”

“Delightful? Effervescent? Remarkable?” I ask.

She tilts her head, studying me. “Do you remember her?”

I shake my head. “Not really, but I know you.”

She snorts. “Oh man, that was really corny.”

“Are you seriously laughing right now? I’m over here confessing my…” I snap my mouth shut.Not the time, dumbass.

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