Page 50 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2

"So have you," I respond, holding my head high and meeting his gaze. "Or maybe we're both finally showing each other who we really are." And it turns out that we might not like each other very much.

The expression on his face almost suggests that I've slapped him, rather than just telling him the truth about some of my feelings. But that's on him. It's not my fault if he's stopped thinking about those around me.

I push my plate away from me and get to my feet. "Come on, Pip."

My dog bounces into action and follows me out of the room. I'm not really sure what to do with myself. I don't want to stay in the House Rothorne apartments when I've angered Bastian, but Linc is in early meetings with his father this morning, so it's not like I can go see him.

The door shuts behind me and I turn around to see Bella approach. "Are you all right?" she asks.

"I'm fine," I assure her. "You didn't have to leave on my account."

She snorts. "What's the alternative? Stay in there with your brother while he's seething and his wife does everything she can to inflate his sense of self-worth?"

"Fair point. I'm sorry for riling him up."

She shrugs. "Needling Bastian is my favourite sport," she jokes. "It doesn't matter if I'm the one getting the digs in, or if someone else is."

I sigh. "Yeah, I guess."

"Was that stuff you said true?"

"Yes. It's probably only half of it, but I'm still getting used to living a life where I don't have to cater to Bastian's whims all the time, so I'm sure there are things I haven't processed yet."

"Mmm, that makes sense." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Look, I'm only going to say this once, so you'd better be listening. Maybe there's a chance that the Prince is good for you."

I raise an eyebrow. "I thought falling in love with my husband was a mistake?"

"He's not your husband yet," she points out. "And it is a mistake. But I can see that it's good for you."

"Thank you, Bella." It's as good as I'm going to get when it comes to her and accepting that maybe there's nothing wrong with being in love. I'm sure she'll admit that she's a romantic to me one day, but it's far in the future.

"Bastian seems really angry, though. You should probably make sure you're not here when he leaves the breakfast table."

I nod. "I thought as much."

"Maybe you can spend some more time with that Prince of yours, then you can come back and have more altercations with Bastian for my amusement."

I laugh. "I'm not trying to do that."

"No, it just seems like you manage to do it without thinking."

Maybe that's because there are a lot of things from my life with Bastian that I need to deal with. I'm not foolish enough to think that our human life was in any way idyllic, but I certainly didn't think it was as bad as my feelings are kind of implying it was. But maybe that's something that I need to work through, and maybe there's a good reason why I feel like my life here is better than the one I had before.

SIX

I sigh and lean back against the wall, ignoring the book on my lap.

"What is it?" Linc asks.

"I understand why Bastian thinks history is boring, this book is the dullest thing I've ever read. And I know that list isn't long, but it is that."

"Let me see?" he asks, coming to sit next to me. Pip raises her head from where she's sitting on my other side, but decides that she's not interested in what we're doing and goes back to sleep.

I hand Linc the book and he reads over the passage I'm trying to pay attention to. His eyebrow raises. "This is drivel."

"Exactly."

"Wait here." He leans in and kisses my cheek before getting up and heading out of the room before I can point out that of course I'm going to stay here. I want to spend time with him, not anyone else.