Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
A moment of hesitation, and then I go for honesty. “Both?”
“Well, there’s your answer.”
I tilt my head. “So you’re in love with both of them?”
“In different ways, yes.”
“But you can’t have both.”
She scoffs, setting her coffee on the table. “Aside from you thinking it’s appropriate to tell me what I can and can’t do, the truth is I can’t have either of them. Our laws won’t allow it.”
“What if we could change the laws?” It’s wishful thinking, but I can’t help but ask. “Who would you choose?”
Her scornful laugh clashes with the serenity of morning. “We’re second-class citizens in this twisted society. We don’t get choices.”
“Humor me.”
She folds her arms. “Okay, I’ll play along. What about you? Would you choose Sebastian?”
I mash my lips together, unsure of how to explain. Somehow, she seems to get it though.
“It’s not so easy, is it?” She sinks into the chair across from me. “Seems indecision curses us both.” A shadow darkens her green eyes.
“Maybe after next month, I’ll gain a little clarity.” A hint of sadness steals my tone, because I don’t want to hurt anyone, and even though the outcome of the auction isn’t up to me, I want to be true to myself.
If I make a choice, it should be for me.
“I know you and Sebastian have this…” she trails off with an eye-roll, “this intense thing going on, but who’s the other lucky bastard to win the heart of the queen?”
“You think what we have is intense?” I’m stunned she picked up on it, unless she’s been talking to her brother.
Our brother.
She laughs. “Good God, you’re cute.” She takes a long sip of her coffee, closing her eyes as it slides down her throat, and then her knowing gaze cuts right through me. “You have it bad.”
“I do not.”
“Oh, you do. I asked you a question, and you skipped right over it to the important part. That tells me everything I need to know.”
“I hardly think that tells you everything.”
“You’re right,” she says with a nod. “You still didn’t give me an answer.”
“If you must know, it’s Liam. He’s the other lucky bastard.” My tone mocks her, and I don’t hide it.
“Not a bad choice.” She shoots me a smug smile. “That man can go for hours in bed.”
I’m mid-drink when she drops that on me, causing me to spew tea everywhere. “You slept with him?” It’s more accusation than question, my voice shrill as I use a napkin to blot up the sputtered liquid.
She smirks. “It was only one night. The man’s insatiable, but so is Sebastian.”
Sickness rises in my throat, burning too much like possessive jealousy. Unable to look at her, I eye the spread of food on the table, from fruit and yogurt to sausage and eggs, though I don’t have the urge to sample any of it.
She doesn’t have the same problem. I feel her attention on me, assessing my reaction as she butters a croissant. “They’re men, Novalee. You can’t hold it against them.”
My recently conditioned mind tells me she’s right, but my heart doesn’t agree.
“Well, the past is in the past,” I say with a feigned shrug, doing my best not to hold it against them. At least, I try.
She bites into the flaky bread and licks her lips. “You’re so goddamn young and innocent. Our pasts shape who we are. If you think you’ll find prince charming at the end of this circus, you might want to brace yourself.”
“Why do you say that?”
She stands, abandoning the rest of her breakfast. “A word of advice,” she says as she halts next to me. “You should focus on Liam, because Sebastian’s past isn’t going anywhere. The quicker you accept that, the better.”
I watch her sashay her way through the sitting room, hips swaying in her skin-hugging nightie, and her parting shot leaves an intolerable taste on my tongue, as if I swallowed a bitter pill.
But there’s a hint of truth in her words, an in-my-face reminder that she and Sebastian have a history, and she just made it clear it won’t become obsolete once I enter the House of Leo.
Chapter Eleven
On my final morning in the House of Cancer, Vance and I share brunch on the main balcony, just the two of us, before he escorts me to the ground floor of the Zodiac Estate.
“Aren’t we a little early?” I ask as the elevator doors slide open into the main hall.
“We are,” he confirms. Just when I think Vance is about to usher me toward the library, he makes an abrupt turn, pulling me with him.
“Where are we going?”
“We need to make a detour first.” After several turns, he opens a door, and I recognize the oversized room where the medical examination took place all those months ago.
“What are we doing here?”
“There’s something I need to do before I hand you over to Sebastian.” He shuts the door, enclosing us in privacy. “I could have done this at home, but I decided to bring you here instead. I thought the impersonal setting might make you more comfortable.”