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“Wh-what?”
“You finally have the grace to look upset and worried by the situation. Is it finally dawning on you? The extent to which you are at my disposal? The fact that I haven’t fucked you yet doesn’t mean that I won’t.”
I take another step back, wrapping my arms around my stomach.
“So lovely to see that your reserve of patience and cheerfulness is not infinite.”
“Why are you keeping me here?”
“Because your mate has not come to retrieve you. No other reason. Why? Are you doubting my word?”
“He sent his men?—”
“He did, didn’t he.” He leans back against the table, relaxed. “Does he know?”
“What?”
“The treasure he has on his hands.”
“I don’t understand what you?—”
“You are very much an Omega, aren’t you?”
I clench my fists and glance away. “I’m not one at all. I thought we’d agreed on that.”
“Did we? Your presentation stalled, sure. But in every other way, you are so stereotypically Omega, they should write manuals on you.”
“That shows how little you know me,” I huff. “I am not submissive, or timid, or?—”
“No, you aren’t. But only imbeciles think that those are Omega traits.” The way he looks at me clearly implies that neither of us is one, and I feel a sudden surge of embarrassment. Both Gabriel’s seneschal and his right hand are Omegas. It’s clear that he doesn’t share Lord Larsen’s views on designation. “Nice try, Sofia, but we know better, don’t we? You don’t want to be told what to do. You don’t want to be locked in a room and protected. What youneedis the kind of completeness that comes with an indissoluble bond. Youneeda family to take care of and who’ll take care of you. Youneedabsolute trust, open communication, and unrelenting loyalty. Is that not true?” When I am unable to form a reply, he continues at a lower register: “You need an Alpha. Someone who needs you just as much. Is that not the truth?”
It’s like he’s beaten me. I feel as though his words carved my chest open and scooped my heart out. All I can do now is find a way to go on living without it. “It doesn’t matter,” I whisper, swallowing around the lump in my throat. “I can’t have it.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
No, it isn’t. “How do you even know?”
“Oh, Sofia.” His smile holds no warmth and a lot of pity. “If you focus hard enough, you might be able to piece it together.”
I shake my head, unwilling to go down the road he’s trying to lead me to. “I don’t care. I want to go home.”
It’s not what Gabriel wanted to hear. He pushes away from the table and moves closer, coming to tower over me. His arms cross over his chest, likely a tell of his rising temper, but my eyes fall on his shoulder and the biceps underneath. The short-sleeved shirt he’s wearing leaves a large portion of his long arm uncovered, and I reach out before I can think any better of it.
His muscles tense, hard as the bricks that make up the keep’s walls. He doesn’t ask what I’m doing, not with words, but his surprise at me initiating the touch is obvious.
He is warm. He smells…edible. I try to inhale subtly, but it’s obvious that I’m filling my lungs, and I don’t mind him knowing.
“Whoever sutured this wound did a very shitty job,” I say, letting two of my fingers trace the jagged line that travels past his elbow.
I half expect him to free himself. Instead, he scowls down at me and snaps, “She did her best.”
“And her best wasseverelylacking.”
“Her best was fucking perfect.”
“If you consider a zigzagging line perfect, sure.”
“Considering the situation, she…” He halts. His eyes narrow on my face. “Fuck. Was it you? The apprentice?”
