Claudia’s pen stills, right as my heart threatens to explode into a bazillion pieces. He’s choosing me. In private and in public.
“You’re moving in together.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re comfortable making that public now?”
Artemis leans forward, forearms resting on the table. “I’ve never been uncomfortable with it. I kept the nature of my relationship with Xavier under wraps to avoid my father using it against me as a weapon or hurting him and his family in any way. That’s it.”
“So this isn’t a coming-out story,” she says carefully.
“No.” His tone is almost frosty. “It’s a context correction.”
Whoa. Claudia visibly startles. She hesitates again, then lowers her voice. “Your father will undoubtedly see this whole thing as betrayal.”
Artemis meets her gaze. “My father sees everything that isn’t obedience as betrayal. That’s his limitation. Not mine.” Another silence. Then he adds, quieter, “He hired you to watch me, to hurt me, to report back.”
Claudia stiffens.
“And yet,” Artemis continues, “here you are—owning what you did. Publishing the truth. That takes courage.”
Her breath catches as her brows pop.
“I won’t punish you for surviving his orbit. But I will ask you to choose differently going forward.”
Her eyes shine. “I intend to.”
He nods. The decision’s made. “Then we’re done here.”
Claudia reaches to turn off the recorder, but whoever is recording the interview, probably to ensure he’s not misquoted when it airs, doesn’t stop.
“For what it’s worth, I know what it’s like to mistake power for safety.” Artemis’s voice is almost casual.
She freezes.
“And I know what it’s like to be backed into a corner by him and to not think you have an escape route.” He stands, straightening his jacket before he buttons it closed. “You deserved better than the position you were put in. If you want to keep reporting, you should do it. And if you ever get into a position again, with your family’s medical bills, or whatever trouble you might face, you come to me, or my mother, or one of my siblings.”
Even when he’s been wronged, he still extends a genuine olive branch. It’s maddening, how gentle he can be with people who never offered him the same grace. She should have gone to him in the beginning; I have no idea why she didn’t.
Claudia’s eyes fill with tears. “Thank you.” Her voice is barely above a whisper.
Artemis pauses at the door. “Oh. And Claudia?”
“Yes?”
“If my father contacts you again, tell him I’m very happy.”
The video on Athena’s phone stops, and the weight of all three sets of eyes on me is so heavy my shoulders may buckle. I’m pretty sure my heart is somewhere on the floor, still beating, still stunned into stillness.
“You’re moving to Wisconsin?” I still haven’t turned to face him.
“I am moving to Wisconsin.” He squeezes the hand he still hasn’t let go of. “I have a house there. I like the state. And it makes sense, you know, when my boyfriend lives there and needs to finish out his degree.” His words are cautious as I finally turn in my chair to face him.
“You asking me to go steady, Sugar Tits?” My casual, southern drawl doesn’t betray my quivering insides.
He picks up a shoulder, but it’s stiff, clearly holding tension.
“You don’t have to quit college and move for me you know.”
