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Henry chuckles. “Your standards are too low.” He pauses, then says, “Maybe I should be glad about that.”
I roll my eyes as I chew. I swallow and say, “Right. My low standards that includeonlyfucking gorgeous, smart, over-protective bodyguards who love to throw money around and have sexy British accents and huge cocks.”
He chokes on his bite and reaches for his iced tea. When he’s swallowed, he frowns at me. “There is exactlyoneman who fits that description in the entire world, for your information.”
I nod, taking another bite. “I’m aware.”
He seems satisfied with that answer, but he’s still watching me with narrowed eyes.
“What?” I ask.
“You have to eat your vegetables too.”
He cut up a couple of bell peppers and arranged them in a colorful fan on my plate. I roll my eyes and pick one up, biting into it. “You know, you seem to think my body is in perfectly fine shape,” I say.
“It’s in amazing shape,” he agrees. “And I’d like to keep you around for the next eighty or ninety years in good shape.”
I freeze with a sliver of pepper halfway to my mouth.
That sounded very…relationship-y.
Did I screw up? Sex was inevitable between us. It just was. But Henry cannot expect that it means I’m staying here in Emerald now.
And if he starts talking about that, asking me about it, even begging me… I might say yes. And I fuckinghate that. I want to go to law school.
In fact, I think Ineedto go to law school.
I need to help people. That’s who I am. And today showed me clearly that Emerald, Ohio, doesn’t need me. I need a bigger place, a place with more people, a place where people don’t form little community centers inside bars.
Of course, anyone could form a community inside any place. It was just about bringing people together. There are people like Ada, Will, April, and Dan everywhere. Just because they’re in a bigger city doesn’t mean that inside that city there aren’t little communities…
But no. I force myself to stay on track. I need to go out and make a difference. Emerald and the people here will be okay without me. I need to find a place that also needs me.
“Henry,” I start. “Today was awesome. And the idea of not?—”
“I want to tell you about how I came to work for Cian.”
I frown, my train of thought derailed. “Okay. Why?”
“You need to know why I’m so loyal to him.”
I shake my head. “He’s your best friend. He’s basically your brother. You love him. You don’t have to explain that to me, Henry. I get it.”
But he takes a breath and moves his chair closer to mine. “I need to explain why I keep saying that I have to choose him over you. It’s more than just my feelings for him.”
I sit up a little straighter, sensing that this is serious. “Are you okay?” I ask him. A thought occurs and I frown. “Are they somehow forcing you to stay with him? Coercing you? Because I will…”
I’m not sure what I can do. I know self-defense, and Iwouldshoot someone who threatened someone I love, but I don’t have a gun, or extreme survival skills, or a crazy network of resources that could outrun or outsmart the royal family.
“I’ll take you somewhere,” I finally say. “Hide you. I know people who can make fake IDs and…” I frown. “That’s about it. But I have a lot of influence over Scarlett, and she has a lot of influence over Cian, and we will use it to help you.”
Henry’s looking at me with a mix of wonder and amusement. “You’d convince your sister to cut Cian off to save me?”
“He’sreallycrazy about her. I think the threat of never seeing her naked again could get him to do almost anything,” I say.
Henry smiles and nods. “I think you’re right. Living with him in those months they were apart was awful. Now? He’ll never let her go again.”
I nod resolutely. “Okay. I’ll get Scarlett to get Cian to help you.”