Page 89 of Sweetheart: Part One

“Do you understand?” he asked, when I couldn’t respond quick enough.

“Yes.” I blinked the tears away, voice sure, if not a little thick.

He leaned back, withdrawing his touch. I didn’t move, even when anxiety was like a million ants scurrying through my veins, telling me to run. To never come back and risk hearing something like that from him again.

But I couldn’t.

If I left now, how could I come back?

“I’m going to do my job the best way I know how,” I said at last, so proud at how steady those words were when I was still in freefall.

“And how often do you intend to subject me to this?”

I fought my wince, shoving back more tears. “E-every fourth night.”

He leaned back with a grimace. Another dagger to the chest as he appraised me like I disgusted him. “And if I ignored you for the rest of the night?”

“Then I’ll be here when you wake up.”

I regretted the commitment in those words the second I said them.

He nodded, finally breaking my gaze. “Then continue. These nights will be simple for me.”

I dropped my eyes back to the carpet, a chill slowly seeping up my spine as he stood and walked away.

He didn’t say anything else, preparing for the night in his en-suite, and then returning to his bed and cracking his book.

He spoke to me only once more. “I assume, if your plan was to visit me every fourth night, you intend to dedicate a day to each of us?”

“Yes.”

“When is Ebony’s?”

My mind raced for a moment. “I um… haven’t made a schedule, but Rook wanted me to meet him tomorrow.”

“Rook can wait. Ebony will meet you in the foyer at six for a date.”

Adatewith Ebony?

A small trade off for the relief of not having to deal with Rook tomorrow. No way that was happening unless he was bullied into it. The night just got better and better.

The lights went out, and I heard him settle beneath the blankets. Dread edged in as I remained staring at my hands folded in my lap, one glistening tear beaded on my thumb, perfectly balanced.

He was truly going to leave me here.

Left with my own thoughts, the hours stretched on, the tear perfectly still as it slowly vanished into the air.

My body ached from the stillness, and from the hardwood I began to feel beneath the carpet. And still, I stayed, not daring to move. I couldn’t even quite put my finger on why, but I’d told him this is where I would remain, and I would keep my promise.

When he woke, I would be here still.

His words left me hollow, repeating over and over, reminding me I was contracted to my mates, and still, three out of four of them hated me.

LOVE

It was an unexpected agony, knowing she was there through the night, kneeling and uncomfortable.

Her aroma of cherry blossom lingered in the space, imposing even as a fainter beta scent.

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