Page 99 of Speak No Claim

Thirty-One

Hennessy: When you choose to see the good in others, you end up finding the good in yourself.

My eyes abruptly opened, coming face-to-face with Onyx, who was standing there. His hand rested on the music box, but his stare was cold, detached, almost angry.

“Don’t,” he ordered.

“Don’t what?” I muttered.

“Play that.” His tone was low, but it only made his demeanor worse.

“Why?”

“You really don’t know when to stop, do you? You have no fucking sense, Hennessy.”

I winced, hating the tone he was taking with me. “Or maybe I’m just sick and tired of all the secrets. You and I aren’t that different, Onyx.” Unable to hold back, I added, “We were both born into families that expect something from us. Our futures were decided before we were even born.”

His jaw flexed. “Expectation is different from obligation.”

“Yeah?” I mocked. “My family expects me to take over the company, and I don’t want to do that. I love what they’ve built. It’s such a special place, and it’ll forever be my home, but I want to travel. After I graduate, I want to explore the world. I want to research old civilizations and write about them so they don’t get lost in history. There’s so much more I want to learn, and I won’t be able to do that running that place. My family has dedicated their entire lives to it. I’ve never seen any of them take a vacation or time off. All they do is work, but it’s not work to them. It’s their passion. It’s just not mine.” I paused to let my words sink in. “I understand you more than you think. I’m a legacy too. It’s just different from yours, but the end goal is still the same. We’re both trapped in a future we didn’t ask for, and what’s worse, no one ever asked for our opinion or cared to know what we wanted. It’s just what’s expected of us. It’s our obligation to step into their shoes.”

Silence.

It stretched between us for what felt like an eternity. Neither one of us knew how to break it; it hung heavy and unsteady. He looked away first, his eyes landing on the music box. His expression softened, making him less scary and intimidating.

In an instant, his stare shifted over to me. In seconds, his gaze skimmed from my face to my gown back up to my eyes.

“What?” I called him out. “I take it you like my gown?”

He didn’t waver. “I’d like it better on my bedroom floor.”

There he is…

I shook my head, fighting back a smile.

“And you’re wearing the jewelry. The sun reminded me of you.”

I hesitated. “The sun?”

His fingers touched the pendant. “It’s warm like you, but if you stare at it too long, it’ll blind you.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“No, it’s the truth.” He wasn’t teasing. He was being serious. With that, he let go of the pendant as it burned him.

Needing to hear him say it, I questioned, “Did you buy me this dress and jewelry, Onyx?”

He eyed me up and down again. “What do you think?”

“Yes.”

Back to his normal, untrusting composure, he asked, “Why would I do that?”

“You tell me. You’re avoiding the question.”

“Am I?” He faintly smiled. “Maybe I just wanted to gift you something.”

I blushed, bowing my head. “Thank you.”