Page 61 of The Oath We Give

I’d beg on the streets for change.

I’d do anything to secure her future.

This was never supposed to be part of the plan, but Stephen wasn’t supposed to get out of prison. I have to do what I have to do. I’m running out of options.

“Does she know?”

I blink away the mental fog. “What?”

“Does your sister know?” he asks again, squinting his eyes a bit. “That you’re killing yourself for the sake of her happiness? That the only reason you’re still in Ponderosa Springs is because you can’t leave her?”

A sharp pain stretches across my heart. The walls surrounding me come slamming up again; I hadn’t realized I’d let them slip down.

If we get married, I plan to take a vow of silence. He doesn’t get to read me like this. I refuse to let him make me feel this fucking transparent.

I press my lips together in a tight line, feeling the tension building in me. I have the urge to revolt, push him away, shove him down for thinking he could get close. My tongue rolls slowly across my front teeth as I shake my head.

“No,” I say firmly. “She’s blissfully unaware. And it’s going to stay that way. Tonight, a piece of her innocence was stolen. Over my dead fucking body will it happen again.”

Silas pins me with a heavy stare. “The loss of innocence is inevitable. Happens to us all. You can’t stop fate, Hex.”

I tilt my head, lifting both eyebrows in challenge. My voice is raw with conviction. “Watch me.”

Without missing a beat, he replies, “I am.”

Like liquid velvet, he picks up his spoon and drags the utensil between his lips, cleaning off any lingering drops of coffee from its surface, never once breaking eye contact. The muscles in his arms flex as he props himself up on the kitchen island, raising the mug to his mouth.

Tendrils of thick veins beneath layers of ink on his forearms catch the light.

Silas is the quiet type of handsome.

It is not shouted. It’s whispers in your ear in the dark. He’s the sound goosebumps make when they appear along my arms, an allure mirrored only by cold air skating across warm skin.

The air stirred around us.

There will be a price for this arranged marriage, and my heart will be paying it.

The worst part is he won’t be the one to break it. It’ll be me.

I’m the only villain in this story.

I’m doing this for Lilac, but I won’t be selfish with Silas Hawthorne in the process.

His heart does not deserve what I am capable of doing to it.

“Rules.” I clear my throat. “There needs to be rules between us. How long do we need to stay married?”

He taps his finger against the side of his coffee cup. “Two years, according to the board.”

“I’ll assume you want me to move in with you. It’ll be weird if we don’t, but I want my sister to stay here until Stephen is taken care of. Lilac and I can share a room.”

He nods, agreeing quietly.

“No sex.” My teeth sink into my bottom lip, softly hiding a smile as he makes a choking sound on the drink. “You can get a mistress on the side or twelve.”

The ring of the mug against the marble island is like thunder in my ears, its clatter heating the charged air. His jaw tightens, hooded gaze boring into me. Seconds pass, and I feel them like drops of water on my skin.

“You plan on doing the same?”