Page 44 of The Obedient Lie
Bastion was sitting at the desk by the window, typing something — dressed in black sweats, hair wet from a shower.
Neither of them said anything.
Neither of them looked surprised.
The air in the room was thick with silence and low firelight.
The same wood-burning scent that always made my throat catch — oak and smoke and whatever cologne they used that lingered in the rugs and sheets.
My bed was still there. Across from theirs.
Still untouched.
Still mine.
My things were minimal. Exactly how I’d left them when I stopped staying here.
I’d packed everything down to avoid annoying them — no makeup, no cookies, no pink, no perfume.
I was forgettable now.Background noise.
I crossed the room quietly, placing my phone down on the nightstand.
I didn’t glance their way.
I didn’t say anything.
I peeled back the covers. Sat down. Pulled my legs underneath me and reached for the sleep shirt I’d left folded under the pillow.
Cotton. Neutral.
Nothing soft.
Nothing satin.
Still, I felt both their eyes on me.
Bastion didn’t stop typing.
Luca didn’t shift.
But Iknew.
Their silence was louder than words.
I turned off the lamp and slid into bed. Back to them. Eyes open. Breathing as steady as I could manage.
Chapter Seventeen
BASTION
She walked in like a ghost.
Not the kind that haunts?—
the kind that apologizes for existing.
I didn’t turn when I heard the door. Didn’t say her name. Didn’t breathe too loud. Just kept my eyes on the screen, like the sentence I’d rewritten four times mattered more than the fact thatEmilia Adamswas finally back in this room.
