Page 192 of The Rules
"Hm. When you put it like that..." she considered, "yeah. Maybe. Sounds kind of fun."
Ben shook his head, chuckling softly. But he didn't push further.
The quiet between them wasn't awkward anymore. It was... easy.
Katherine felt the quiet between them shift, deepening into something more significant. The kind of silence that felt like a breath held too long. She could sense Ben watching her in the darkness, his gaze a tangible weight against her skin.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low, measured—and somehow more dangerous for its gentleness.
"Why did you dance at Crimson Bloom?"
Katherine stilled. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t speak. She’d seen it coming— just not likethat. It wasn't an accusation. Not a trap. Not another move in their endless game of strategy and control.
It was a door. One she could choose to open or keep firmly shut.
She exhaled slowly, weighing her options. The truth was simple enough, but sharing it meant giving him something real. Something that mattered.
“Law school wasn’t cheap,” she said at last, her voice calm. Controlled. “But I always knew I’d go.”
She didn’t have to explain why. He already knew the origin of the story. The conviction born the moment their father was taken away. When no one else would take his case. When no one else would even try.
“We’d saved for something small. Modest. One of those ‘reasonable’ futures people plan for when they’re still pretending life makes sense.”
She let out a soft exhale. Not quite a laugh.
“But then things changed. I waited two years—worked, saved, scraped together enough just to start. Lisa gave what she had without even blinking. Said she didn’t need a fancy school. Said I’d make it mean something.”
Her throat tightened around her sister’s name, but she didn’t pause this time.
“We made it work—for the beginning, anyway. But it wasn’t going to last. Rent, books, food, tuition... and I still owed Lisa.
I promised I’d put her through, too.”
Ben said nothing, but she felt it—the shift in his posture.
The attention. The weight of him beside her, utterly still.
“I needed something fast. Something real. Something that paid enough to keep going. The club paid well.”
No shame. Just truth.
She watched Ben's expression shift in the darkness. Something about the way he looked at her now was different—less like he was analyzing her and more like he was seeing her. Actually seeing her.
"She must be a hell of a sister," he said, his voice lower than before. Sincere in a way that made her chest tighten.
Katherine smiled. A real smile, not the practiced one she used in court or the seductive curve she'd perfected at the Crimson. This was softer. Genuine. She didn't need to explain further—Ben already understood.
"She is," replied simply.
The silence that followed felt heavier, charged with something neither of them was ready to name. Katherine could feel it pressing against her skin, making her too aware of how close they were, of the warmth radiating from his body.
Then—
"And so are you," Ben said quietly, still watching her face.
Katherine's breath caught in her throat. Just for a second, but long enough that she knew he'd noticed.
She tried to recover with a smirk, falling back on the defense mechanism that had served her so well.
