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Alone.
God, I felt so, so alone.
I couldn’t leave it there. Couldn’t let it feel a tenth of my pain at being ripped from where it belonged.
Gasping for breath, I went to slip out of my cocoon to claim it, but the bathroom door wrenched open, and Henri marched back in. His short dark hair stuck up as if he’d run wet hands through it. Water droplets clung to his stern jaw like ice crystals. His cheekbones seemed extra sharp. His eyes unfathomably dark.
He froze.
His gaze darted over my face, fastening on my tears.
I stiffened.
I waited for him to launch himself on me and swallow every drop.
He trembled beneath his strange proclivity for sorrow.
With a shaky breath, he stepped toward me, only…the flash of the lonely cufflink glinted on the floor.
Raw panic filled his grey gaze as he darted to the bed and dropped to one knee to snatch it. Swooping upright, he fisted the other one from the table and strangled both of them. “What the hell happened? You touched them? Fuck, do you have any idea what you could’ve done?”
Spinning on his heel, he glowered at the ceiling. “Christ, Ily.”
I wiped my cheeks with the sheet, quickly soaking up my tears to remove any shred of temptation. Once my face was dry, I tipped my chin high. “They’re just cufflinks.”
His lips twisted as he muttered a curse under his breath. His eyes darted to the corners of the room where little red dots hinted cameras watched us, even here.
Swallowing a snarl, he didn’t answer me. Stalking to the other side of the bed where a corded phone rested, he yanked up the receiver.
Was he trying to call someone?
Could it be that easy?
Not looking anywhere near me, his shoulders slouched as someone spoke to him on the other end. His hand clenched around the cufflinks. “Yes, hi. I’m hungry. Do you offer room service in this goddamn castle?”
He nodded to whatever was replied. “Good. All of it. Bring it up to my room.” Hanging up, he shoved the cufflinks into his trouser pocket, then pinched the bridge of his nose.
With a heavy sigh, he sat on the foot of the bed.
The mattress bounced, jostling me beneath the covers, making my hypersensitive skin react all over again. I gasped, willing the zinging, sexual frustration to leave me the hell alone.
He sucked in a breath and twisted to face me.
Our eyes locked.
And so many things crashed between us.
Guilt.
Blame.
Anger.
Animosity.
He’d done what needed to be done downstairs.
We’d survived another day with Victor and his beasts.
