Page 37 of Covenant

“No, more like a rainy cloud. Hm, how about I call you my little cloud.”

“Hell no. If you do, I’ll stab you.”

He lets out a low chuckle. “We wouldn’t want that,” he says, handing me a mug full of some kind of latte. I scowl at it and then at him before taking a sip. Flavor bursts over my tongue and I make sure not to show how delicious it is. I’ve been living off instant ground coffee since I lost everything. The kind you put in warm water and mix. This is so much better. I saw that fancy espresso machine in the kitchen. I might have lusted after it for a long moment, remembering a similar one I had just a year ago.

I know he made this. I can tell it’s his. I can taste it.

“Passable,” I reply and Matthias arches an eyebrow.

“I’d say it’s more than passable. But then again, feel free to insult Jules. He’s the one who slaved over it.”

I glower at him, pissed that I got it wrong. I’m not insulting anyone but Matthias. I’m not like that. Especially not Jules. If I’m going to be living here, I want him to like me and keep making me delicious food.

Maybe I can use this time to build up some of my muscle mass again.

Matthias claps his hands together, looking altogether too pleased with himself. “Now, get up, my little rain cloud. We’re going to eat breakfast and then plan our honeymoon.”

My mind screeches to a halt. “Um—what?”

“Our honeymoon,” he repeats slowly, as though such a thing should be obvious. And for most other married couples, it is. But we aren’t a real couple.

No matter how much Matthias wants the world to see us as one.

“Absolutely not,” I seethe. “I’m not going anywhere with you, Matthias.”

His brows rise. “Oh, do you have an issue with spending a week on a tropical island?”

“I do if I’m spending it with you,” I say darkly.

Matthias steps closer, moving until his knees are pressed against the bed. “That’s funny. The Wy I once knew dreamed of escaping to an island. Somewhere warm, where he could hear the ocean from every window.”

Fury scalds me, searing through my veins like fire. “He no longer exists, you made sure of that.”

For the first time, I see Matthias’s composure crack. His nostrils flare, hands going into fists. “Of course that’s what you believe.”

I blink up at him, surprised to see this reaction. “What else am I supposed to believe, Matthias? You were the one who asked me to go there. Begged me. You were the one who didn’t show. I was the one who paid the price.”

Matthias closes his eyes, breathing slowly through his nose. When he finally opens them again, the storm has cleared. “You knownothingof the price I paid, Wy.”

He stalks away toward the door. “Don’t make me drag you naked downstairs. You have fifteen minutes to get yourself ready. If you’re not there, I’ll be the one to fetch you. And Wy? You don’t want that.”

I swallow more of the latte and try to sort through my confusion. What price could Matthias have paid? He got to continue his life, his record unsullied. Sure, it’d been resolved for me, but that night still lingers to this day.

He must be bullshitting, I conclude. There’s no way he faced any consequences. Why would he have? He wasn’t there.

And from that night on, I never heard from him again. Not until the day he walked into Lawson and Smith as one of the new owners.

Hell, I think as I gulp the latte down, smacking my lips in appreciation even though I tell them not to do that. I don’t know what Jules put in here, but it’s good.

I should ask him what vegetables he uses the most in his dishes. Maybe I can grow some for him as an apology for my behavior.

Maybe I’ll even grow some weed. For recreational use, of course.

Get me through this hellish time.

The idea of getting stoned makes my steps lighter as I move out of bed.I have a plan, I think as I scrub at my teeth and get dressed. I focus on that rather than everything else Matthias said. The honeymoon.

The supposed price he paid.

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