Page 158 of The Obedient Lie
Soft. Reassuring. Letting him feel I wasn’t going anywhere.
Then I turned and kissed Luca — longer, slower. Letting my fingers brush the side of his neck.
“I’m gonna take a shower,” I said, finally exhaling some of the tension I’d been holding too.
Before I could step away, Luca reached out, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me gently back into him. He dipped his head, kissing me again — slower now, like the fear hadn’t fully left him.
Then he rested his forehead against mine.
“Really scared us, baby.”
That word —us— sat heavy in my chest.
Because now I saw it.
Not just the fear.
But the root of it.
They weren’t just worried about me leaving.
They wereterrifiedof being left.
Abandonmentclung to their skin like a second scent.
The kind you don’t notice until you’re close enough to feel it in your lungs.
I rested my hands on his chest. Closed my eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Not tonight.
Not like that.
The earrings clicked softly as I secured the last one.
Heavy but delicate — white gold twisted into vines, lined with diamonds. Like everything my family sent, they whisperedwealthandcontrolin the same breath.
I leaned in closer to the mirror, fixing the wing of my eyeliner with precision.
Dynasty daughters didn’t waver.
We painted our masks in long strokes and soft glows.
The dress fit like a secret.
Off-the-shoulder silk, a deep custom plum-black that hugged my frame and sliced open at the thigh. My family’s way of saying:You’ll smile, you’ll sparkle, and you’ll make them look.
Their daughter, their weapon.
Behind me, the black oak doors creaked open.
I saw them in the mirror before I turned.
Bastion stood in the right frame, arms loose at his sides.
Luca filled the left, hands in his pockets like he wasn’t wound tight beneath the surface.
