Page 79 of Tarnished Queen

“I’m not sure Belle is capable of truly hating anyone. She tries—she tried to hate me, actually—but her heart is too soft. Still, you’ll need a lot more than ‘not hate’ if you want to get close to her and Elise.”

“Like what? I’ll do anything,” he says.

“You abandoned them. Belle may act like she’s only concerned about Elise, but you hurt her, too. You gave Belle hope and then you snatched it away. So you’ll have to figure out how to undo that.”

Howard’s eyes shift towards the ceiling. He’s actually sitting in front of me trying to come up with a plan. I’m about to tell him to take this kumbaya brainstorming session somewhere else when he snaps his fingers. “I have an idea.”

I frown. “What?”

“A drawing. Something Belle gave me a long time ago. I’ll have to find it. I think I know where it is.”

“Best of luck to you then.”

I stare at him for a few seconds, waiting for him to note the intentional silence in the room. When he doesn’t, I sigh. “Now, get the fuck out of my office, Howard.”

His attention snaps to me and then he jumps up. “Right. Sorry. Yeah.”

He sees himself out, waving twice before finally closing the door behind him.

* * *

When I get back to the house, it’s late. My eyes are burned-out husks in their sockets from staring too long at the computer screen. It turns out billion-dollar businesses aren’t easy to run, even when they’re just covers for the real work that takes place in the shadows.

In the kitchen, I find the remains of the lasagna the chef must have dropped off in the sink along with two dirty plates, but no one is around.

I search through the house and find Elise’s door shut with the light on. Belle’s is empty. I take my phone out of my pocket to call her before a thought strikes me.

I turn around and walk straight to my room. Before I even open the door, I know she’s going to be lying in my bed with a certainty I can’t explain.

Belle smiles when I walk in. She is tucked underneath my comforter in a tank top, her hair falling around her shoulders in loose waves. A book rests open in her lap.

“I hope this is okay,” she says. “I didn’t want to be in my room alone.”

I push the door closed and walk towards the bed. “So you decided to be in my room alone?”

“Yeah. I guess I feel a little less lonely in here.”

I drop onto the bed and drag her body against mine with one hand looped around her middle. “And what about now? Do you feel alone now?”

She laughs against my chest. “Definitely not.”

I kiss the top of her head and lean back against the pillows. “Howard came to my office today.”

She stiffens and pulls away. In an instant, she’s cross-legged and upright. “What did he want?”

“To talk to me.”

“About what?”

“You.”

She frowns. “Me? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Doesn’t it? You’re Elise’s gatekeeper. He has to go through you to get to her.”

“Yeah, right,” she snorts. “Elise has his number. I know she’s texting with him. He doesn’t need to woo me anymore.”

“Well, he thought you gave Elise permission to call him. He had no idea she did it on her own.”

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