“Well then, since we are in agreement, you may leave. I have things to see to. Besides, if Cedric found you here—”
“Things? What could you possibly have to do after midnight? Off to a secret rendezvous with a lover, I suppose?”
The very idea was ridiculous. She would never look at another man when he was all she’d ever wanted. It made little rational sense to love a man who had no real interest in her, yet here she was. When she’d been younger, Lucien had been exceedingly kind to her. He’d been the one to rescue her from her parents’ coach.
Unwanted memories whispered at the corners of her heart, slicing her soul deep. Her parents lying broken and lifeless around her like marionettes with their strings cut. Their eyes, open yet seeing nothing, heads at awkward, unnatural angles. The coa
