Page 23 of Teach Me to Fly

Reign walks to the kitchen, calm as ever, and pours himself a glass of water. “I moved in.”

My heart skips. “What?”

All the blood rushes from my body, my fingers beginning to tingle as I whip my head toward the second bedroom. I speed walk to the door and swing it open only to find that his belongings arein fact there.

He’s not lying.

“Reign,” Lando says, his tone a warning as he turns away from my shocked expression to glare at his brother. “What are you playing at?”

Reign chugs the rest of his glass before placing it in the sink, bracing his hands on the counter and lifting his gaze to me as I stand dumbfounded in the hall, staring back at him.

“It was part of the hiring agreement,” he says, turning to look at Lando. “Angelique agreed to have me live in the guesthouse with her during this production.”

Lando whips his head to me with a shocked and confused expression. I raise my hands, taking a step back. “No, I didn’t,” I say, my voice small.

Reign clears his throat, and pulls out his phone, beginning to read. “Clause Seven; Angelique Sinclair gives Reign Herrington permission to live in The Harrington Guesthouse with her for the duration of The Swan Lake production.”

Before my brain even registers what I’m doing, I rush across the hall and snatch his phone right out of his hand and scan the screen.

There it is. Clause Seven.

As I continue scrolling down the length of the agreement, I find my signature. I must have been so distracted by the outrageous salary that I didn’t even read the whole thing properly. I pass the phone back to him with shaking hands.

“I don’t think I can do that,” I say out loud, panic rising like bile.

“You’ve already agreed to it,” Reign says, coolly.

Lando looks pissed as he stares at Reign. “What exactlyis the end goal here then?” he spits. “Are you trying to get laid?”

The room goes silent, and I can feel the anger humming off Reign as he straightens slowly.

“My end goal, brother,” his voice sounds barely controlled, “is none of your business.”

Lando doesn’t back down. “Tricking her into a roommate clause isn’t the way we do things at Imperium, Reign.”

I close my eyes and rub at the ache between my brows. This conversation is getting out of hand, and I don’t want to be in the middle of it if they decide to physically fight here, like they used to when we were kids.

“It’s fine—” I start to say.

“No, Angelique. It’s not fine.” Lando cuts me off, turning red as he glares at Reign. “He manipulated you into another one of his games.”

“Lando.” I step between them, grabbing Lando’s arms to redirect his attention back to me. “I’ll be fine.”

Do I know that for sure? No. But the look of guilt on Lando’s face means I need to at least pretend that I do.

“I promised you a safe place,” he whispers, his face crumpling.

“Am I suddenly a danger to her?” Reign snaps, offence drenched in his tone as he crosses his arms.

I ignore him, keeping my focus on Lando. “If anything happens, I’ll call you right away.”

Reign exhales sharply, pushing past us and shoving his boots on. “I’m not here to hurt you, Angel.”

I see a flash of hurt in his expression before it vanishes, and his cold mask falls back in place. Guilt gnaws at my gut as he steps outside and lights another cigarette.

“Maybe you should come stay in the main house instead?” Lando suggests quietly.

I shake my head because I know Reign would only end up following me back there, anyway. There’s a reason he wants to live here with me, I just don’t know what it is yet.

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