Page 147 of On Edge

But the one thing I can’t get out of my mind is how he’s touched me just now. How much I want to touch him right back. And how this might be what he did with Nell before she died.

Did he make her come like that, too? Did she beg him to fuck her? Did he let her touch his scars while he whispered promises in her ear, secrets into the curve of her swanlike neck?

But he didn’t promise you anything,Nell reminds me.

“This is very delicious.” My mother, oblivious to the tension, coked-up to her eyeballs. “Did your personal chef make this. Troy?”

“Katherine did.”

“Oh. Your housemaid. Is she overseeing tomorrow, too?”

Troy nods, but he’s looking at me. “If you prefer not to, to avoid all the fuss. We can leave after the ceremony.” Finally, I see the man from last night, the one who made me feel safe, protected, and wanted. He’s giving me a choice.

“No.” I swallow. “It sounds…perfect.”

Leaving and running away; that’s what I do best. And I can’t anymore. If Troy loved Nell, if he still loves her, then I will deal with that.

He doesn’t have to know.

My father clears his throat. “Before we finish, I’d like to make a toast.”

He stands, wine glass raised, and I feel Troy stiffen beside me. This time, I take his hand.

“To our daughter and our new son-in-law,” he begins, looking directly at Troy. “Marriage is about trust. And I trust that Troy will take excellent care of my daughter. After all, he knows how important family is to me. Here’s to a long and mutually beneficial arrangement.”

Troy’s hand clenches tightly around mine, but I say nothing and let him, even if it hurts.

The rest of dinner passes in a blur. I smile when I’m supposed to, tilt my head at the right moments, and then it’s finally over, and I can breathe.

After dessert is cleared, my mother makes her excuses to retire early. Several guests disappear into the hotel bar with my father. Mundel vanishes like smoke.

All that’s left is Troy and me in the candlelight.

“You should go to bed, Sage,” he says quietly, staring at his wine glass. He’s already let go of my hand, like he doesn’t have to pretend anymore. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We’ll be traveling back to Grayfleet early.”

“Are you going to bed too?”

Why am I asking that?

“Soon.” Troy stands, offering his hand to help me up. He walks me to the elevators and presses the button. When the doors open, I step inside.

“Goodnight, Sage.”

The doors start to close, but I see him turn away, heading not toward the bar but in the other direction, towards the lounge area. The man my father was sucking up to, who Troy gave the nod to earlier, Mr. Black, is waiting for him. They step through into an archway together.

An inner voice begs me to go upstairs, lock myself in my room, and pretend I didn’t see him.

But I can’t.

“Follow him,”Nell whispers.

I jab the door-open button and slip out before they close. Peering around the archway, Troy and Mr. Black are talking quietly. Parts of their conversation reach me through the hush of the hotel and the soft jazz coming from the bar.

“…where...take him?”

“…my old shop...”

I inch closer, and I’m able to read their lips a little better.