Page 36

"I'm afraid of a lot of things." The admission felt dangerous, but somehow safe here in the moonlit sanctuary of books and whispered truths. "I'm afraid of failing so spectacularly that I prove everyone right about Americans being too loud and too ambitious. I'm afraid of losing myself trying to fit into a world that was never designed for people like me."
I took a shaky breath. "And I'm terrified that I'm falling for someone who represents everything I should probably run from."
The last words hung in the air between us like a challenge.
Edward's eyes darkened, and I watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard.
"And I'm terrified," he said, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper, "that I've already fallen for someone who could destroy everything I've worked to build."
"I would never—"
"Not intentionally. But don't you see?" He stood abruptly, moving to the window where moonlight painted silver streaks in his dark hair. "Everything about you challenges everything I am. You make me want things I can't have, feel things I've trained myself not to feel. You make me question whether any of this—" he gestured around the library, the manor, the weight of centuries "—actually matters."
My heart was racing now, that familiar cocktail of want and impossibility swirling in my chest. I rose too, my bare feet silent on the rug as I moved closer. "What if you stopped trying to control it? Just for tonight?"
He turned to face me, and the anguish in his expression nearly broke my heart. "Lili..."
"I know. I know all the reasons this is impossible. Your family, Daphne, how different our worlds are—" His eyes sharpened, and I realized I'd revealed more than I should have. But it was too late to take it back now. "The fact that we're so different, different lives, different everything." I took another step closer. "But I also know that when you look at me, I forget about everything else. And right now, in this library that smells like old books and secrets, maybe we could just be... us. Not heirs or hosts or people with responsibilities. Just Edward and Lili."
Something shifted in his expression, the careful control cracking like ice in spring.
"You're going to drive me completely mad, you know that?"
"Probably." I smiled, taking another step until I was close enough to smell his cologne, feel the heat radiating from his body. "But what a way to go."
His hands came up to frame my face, thumbs tracing my cheekbones with a reverence that made my breath catch.
The calluses on his fingers were a surprise—evidence that for all his privilege, he wasn't entirely removed from real work. "This is madness."
"Good thing I've always been a little crazy then."
The space between us charged like a lightning storm. I could feel the heat radiating from his body, smell that intoxicating cologne that was becoming dangerously familiar. His thumb traced along my jawline, and I shivered despite the warmth of the room.
Every rational thought in my head screamed that this was dangerous. But my heart was louder than my head, and when Edward's face started moving closer to mine—close enough that I could feel his breath ghosting across my lips—I forgot how to breathe.
"Lili," he whispered, my name like a prayer on his lips.
"Edward—"
The library door burst open with a bang that shattered the moment like crystal hitting marble.
We sprang apart, my heart hammering as I spun to see Daphne practically stumbling through the doorway. Her usually perfect appearance was decidedly mussed—her updo had come loose on one side, her lipstick was smudged, and there was definitely a small tear near the hem of her designer dress. But more telling were her glowing cheeks and the satisfied smile she quickly tried to hide when she saw us.
"Oh! I didn't... I mean, I thought..." She looked between Edward and me, clearly registering the charged atmosphere and our guilty expressions.
Her eyes were bright, almost fevered, and she seemed to be radiating a kind of giddy energy that had nothing to do with champagne.
"I was just looking for a quiet place to—"Her phone, clutched in her hand like a lifeline, lit up with a text notification. In her flustered state, she hadn't hidden the screen, and the preview was clearly visible from where I stood:
J:Missing you already. Can't wait to see you tomorrow. Our secret is safe.
Edward's eyes locked onto the screen, his expression shifting from frustrated desire to sharp suspicion in an instant. "Daphne, are you quite alright? You look rather disheveled."
"I'm fine!" she said too quickly, too brightly, shoving the phone behind her back as another notification chimed. "Justtired from all the socializing. You know how these events are—exhausting!"
But I caught the way her eyes darted around the room, avoiding both Edward's penetrating stare and my curious gaze. And there was something else—a glow about her, a satisfied flush that had nothing to do with champagne and everything to do with…
Well, I'll be damned. Daphne had been up to exactly what Edward and I had almost been up to.