Page 180 of Their Arrangement

Paused.

Then she typed again.

Midnight.

Or I tell him where to find you.

That was it. I locked the phone. Pressed it to my chest. And whispered the only thing I had left.

“I’m sorry.”

To Wolfe. To Barron. To Camille. To the girl I used to be.

The message was still on the screen.

Midnight. Or I tell him where to find you.

I stared at it like it might vanish.

Like maybe if I didn’t move, didn’t blink, didn’t breathe?—

Selene would disappear.

The threat would dissolve.

The weight of the book would stop burning in the pit of my gut.

But it didn’t. It never does. My throat clenched. My ribs folded inward. And I lurched forward just in time to grab the edge of the toilet.

The vomit came fast. Sharp. Bitter. Burning like shame.Like lies.

Like fear so thick it finally found a way out. When it was over, I sat back on the floor. Wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my blouse.

The silk stuck to my skin. Still damp with sweat from Wolfe’s office. Still flushed from his fingers. Still wet between my thighs from a chain I hadn’t taken off since he looped it around me and whisperedsay thank you.I pressed the back of my head to the tile wall.

Cold.

Unforgiving.

Exactly what I deserved.

I’d never felt this broken. Not when my ex called me a burden.Not when Camille looked at me like I might be the reason she stopped believing in good things. Not even when I stepped into this building for the first time knowing full well that I was already prey. Because now? Now I’d tasted power.

I’d tasted Wolfe’s obsession. Barron’s rage. Royal’s games. Loyal’s silence. And I liked all of it. Too much. And I still might give them up.

The ring at my chest felt heavier now. Not like jewelry. Like evidence. Of where I’d been. Of who I’d let touch me. Of what I was about to destroy. I pulled the chain from beneath my blouse. Stared at it.

The garnet caught the light like it remembered blood. I wanted to throw it in the toilet. I wanted to swallow it whole. I wanted to keep it on forever. I thought about going to Barron. About opening his office door and dropping the truth like a bomb.

“Selene sent him.”

“He’s watching me.”

“I opened the safe.”

“I know the code.”

“I didn’t take it—yet.”