e passed in a

hing of the kind. He stayed away from her. She saw him only in glimpses now and again, glimpses down the corridors

at he had done. The way he had manipulated her wo

nts when their two lives intersected. When t

was to

rling-too many thoughts, too many questions, and not enough answers. She had to know. She had to. Because g

open ahead of her, an

ci

the big window at the wide estate beyond. But Elena could te

er for her to feel the heav

a," his voice

art pounding in her chest, a constant reminder of how she couldn't

m me?" she spat, the words tumbli

aze on hers. His eyes blazed for an instant with some unread

th elegant, practiced ease. She wanted to step back, wanted

whisper that seemed to burrow deep within her very soul. "You think I'm do

ng to get words past her dry

t was more like a warning than anything else. "N

n her face, because he continue

trigger. The cause of me becoming what I am today. And now, I w

mind whirling. "You think I

skin. "Not just my life. My entire future, my reputation, my life. Everything was

r voice trembling. "I was a child.

tended it. You and your friends thought it was funny. But you didn't

the depth of what had happened that night, the way it had shattered him, the way it had remade him into so

y able to get the words out.

o breathe. "Sorry isn't good enough, Elena. You can't undo what you've done. You can't take back the ye

chill down her sp

t back in his eyes. "You

-

were a haze of co

burden of Lucien's words-the price of giving up-gored her every moment. What was h

was too big, the walls too high, and Lucien's hold too long. He had built t

to his study again. It was not an invitation

s time, the atmosphere was not the same. The oppressive silence, tension that had filled the space in

are, as if observing something beyond

anded, not loo

armchair facing him, looking down at the ground. The

e was no flicker of feeling on his face-no heat, no

s voice cutting through the silence. "You've been asking me

couldn't. It was like she already knew. How his eyes darkened, how his lips

w pace, his steps deliberate. "Do you understand w

Her throat felt tight, and her heart raced faster tha

uietly, though the words tasted bitter.

beginning to see things clearly. But you still don't understan

in, tilting her head up so that their eyes locke

vow, a threat. "And in submitting, you'll yield to me what I want.

is breath a heat against

your pride? Can you