Page 32 of Teach Me to Fly

“He’s right.”

Her head snaps toward me.

“Not the virgin bit. That was bullshit.” I pause. “But the rest of it… he’s not wrong. We can’t pull this off unless we trust each other,” I say, keeping my tone calm, measured.

She nods, slow and uncertain, like she’s bracing herself.

I study her a beat longer, then say, “It looks like if we want Volkov to work with us, we’ll have to start off by practicing without him until we’re ready.”

Her brows lift. “Like… alone?”

I nod. “If it feels like too much, then we can bring ourunderstudies,” I offer. “Just until you’re more comfortable around me.”

“Okay,” she breathes, her eyes lowered.

“I’ll meet you at the estate studio tonight, around eight,” I say, grabbing my belongings from the corner and making my way out of the studio.

“No,” she calls out, stopping me in my tracks.

I turn to look at her with a lifted brow. “Let’s do it tomorrow morning instead,” she says. “I don’t rehearse at night.”

I don’t tell her I don’t do early mornings, instead I nod and turn to leave.

I’m rippedout of my sleep by the sound of Angelique screaming at the top of her lungs. With a speed I didn’t know I had, I grab my pocketknife from my nightstand and run down the hall, bursting into her room. But I find her all alone, her sheets tangled around her as she whimpers in her sleep, tears streaking down her face.

“Angel?” I whisper, frowning as I watch her.

“Please…” she whimpers, still asleep. “Please stop, Alec.”

Alec? As in her dance partner in New York?

Instead of waking her, I back out of her room slowly, mindful that I’ve just broken one of the rules she set and close the door behind me. Standing in the hallway, listening to her whimpering behind the door, a piece of my heart fractures.

I clench the knife tighter in my hand, my knuckles burning white. I don’t know the full story, but from howshe’s begging him to stop, I know that if I ever see him, I’ll slit his fucking throat.

I turn and press my back to the wall, my chest heaving as I fight the urge to go back in and wake her up just to hold her and tell her she’s safe. I sit on the floor outside her door, knife still in hand, and I wait until the whimpers stop. Then I close my eyes and lean my head back against the wall.

“I’ve got you, Angel,” I whisper into the dark. “Even if you don’t know it yet.”

Chapter 10

Reign

Thenext morning, while I sit at the kitchen island and wait for Angelique to come out of her bedroom, I take to the internet to try to find out more about Alec. It doesn’t take long for me to discover that he goes through female partners like they're disposable—smiling on opening night, gone by season’s end.

I’m not one to judge. I’m no better, but I can’t stop thinking about Angelique’s voice last night, begging him to stop.

Stop what, exactly?

My jaw tightens as I keep reading. According to a dated but detailed Wiki entry, every single one of his partners quit ballet altogether after dancing with him. It’s a pattern that doesn’t sit right as I recall Angelique saying she quit dancing, too.

What did he do to her?

I lock my phone at the soft creak of her bedroom door opening, placing it back in my pocket as I bring my coffee mug to my mouth. She walks out of her room dressed in rehearsal gear and makes her way down the hall. Her curlsare bunched into a messy bun atop her head and the dark circles under her eyes tell me the rest of her night must have been just as restless as mine.

“Morning,” she murmurs, yawning as she passes me without so much as a glance.

“Morning,” I reply, watching her pour herself a cup of the coffee I made earlier. “Sleep okay?”

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