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five

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Selene

I am here to find you .

The statement should have made my skin crawl.

It was so obvious that this incredibly gorgeous woman had planned to con her way into my heart and my parents’ meager wealth.

So why was she showing her cards?

I frowned.

The only thing to do was ask.

“Why would you tell me that?”

Aurelia shrugged.

“No one’s ever found me out. I am usually quite good at this.”

Long trains of thought rearranged themselves in my mind.

“Good at what, exactly?”

Aurelia Hart shrugged.

“Conning people. Getting my way. I’ve never failed, ‘til today.”

Her honesty stunned me. We had only just met. What was her angle? “And you’re just … telling me that?”

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the whitecaps. “I don’t see another choice.” She let out a breath so long, it seemed significant. “Truth be told, Selene, you were my last, best chance.”

“At what?” I asked, genuinely curious, a feeling I wasn’t used to having around other people. Books, yes. Interesting ideas, always. But other people? Never.

Her arm tightened around mine, pulling me closer as she bent her head to murmur in my ear. “A wife who could deliver me into respectability.

A safer life from the one I grew up with.

Something steady.

”

Slowly, I dragged my eyes to meet hers.

Those cheekbones, and those languid eyes.

The obvious tells that while she was being honest with me, Aurelia Hart was something of a rogue.

I liked it.

I liked her .

“What’s so good about respectability?”

Aurelia’s sigh was rough, jagged as a piece of broken glass.

“Perhaps respectability is not quite what I want …” she trailed off, letting the silence stretch between us.

She pulled her arm from mine.

“No matter. I am sorry to have bothered you.”

I caught the sleeve of her shirt.

“Wait.”