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“My brave, beautiful girl.” He kisses me fully then, lips against mine, and I melt into the warmth of it. The approval he gives me. Maybe I’m exchanging one form of people-pleasing for another, and maybe I shouldn’t crave his compliments as much as I do, but maybe I don’t care aboutshoulds anymore. Maybe my own opinion is the only one that matters.

And with him, I’m allowed to just be me.

“Not a pretty little liar anymore, am I?” I smile and step out of his arms. Our hands are still connected. “I’m going to leave first. Come find me.”

“Always, trouble.”

CHAPTER55

WEST

The door shuts behind her, and I can’t wait. I’m already walking to open it again. “What,” a low, furious voice behind me says, “wasthat?”

Someone is sitting in the armchair in the corner, by the pool table. Half hidden in shadows. I hadn’t seen him, hadn’t thought anyone would be in here.

This room is off-limits for the ball. But of course he would know his way around. “Rafe?”

He walks past the pool table and into the dim light of the room. “You’re…” He shakes his head. “The two of you? It’s not fake?”

I spread my arms out, hands wide. “I didn’t want you to find out like that.”

“No? How did you want me to find out?” He reaches up to undo the bow tie at his neck. “Were you two planning to sit me down and tell me you’re a couple and ask me to be happy for you?”

I can’t say yes. I can’t say anything, and my hands fist at my sides.

“Exactly,” Rafe spits. “I know you won’t do relationships, and she was under your protection. I asked you for a favor, and this is how you repay me? How you repayher?”

“I’m not playing with her.”

“The fuck you’re not.” The anger pours off him in waves and out through the library. “Is this about the estate? Is my sister your backup plan?”

“Fucking hell, no. Absolutely not.”

“You’re too strategic not to have thought about it.” Rafe takes a step closer. “Get her to like you, trust you… then tell her you needed a favor in case your lawyers can’t solve it. She’ll help you keep Fairhavenandyour reputation.”

“Rafe, that was never the plan. Never.”

“You forget that I know you.” He turns from me, his shoulders heaving. “How long?”

“Don’t—”

“How long?” he grits out.

“When we started pretending in public, we also started… in private.”

No sistersis one of the oldest rules we have. It was one of the first things we said, sitting in the common room at Belmont Academy, looking around and realizing the five of us could be the brothers none of us ever had. We’ve lost Hadrian, but the four of us have stayed true.

Until now. Here I am, over a decade later, and I’ve fractured it.

The punch comes faster than I can dodge. I wouldn’t if I could. He has every right to it. His fist hits me across the cheekbone, and pain blooms. He’s always been a damn good fighter. Polished by day and unbound by night, if he still frequents the rings.

“How could you?” His voice is ragged. “You took her in, you promised to keep her safe… She’s far too good for you.”

“I know that,” I tell him. All too well.

“When I found out you brought her to one of Viv’s poker games, I wondered if you’d lost your mind. Now I know you have.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “She’s her own person. You treat her like something delicate, something to look after. And she is, for fuck’s sake, of course she is. But she’s also strong, and fierce, and you didn’t even make sure she knew basic self-defense! She was being stalked formonthsbefore she came here to me, and you hadn’t taught her how to protect herself.”