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I swiveled my head around, my gaze tracking over the people in the hallway. I caught a glimpse of a tall boy with dark hair disappearing into the library and perked up. He must be going to study. That was perfect. If I could catch him alone, it would be a lot easier to have this conversation.
After giving myself a few deep breaths to gather my thoughts, I walked toward the library and stepped inside. The large space was fairly empty since most people were at lunch, and I didn’t see Barrett at any of the tables or chairs set up in the main area. I poked around in the stacks for a minute, then headed toward the small study rooms in the back of the library, set up so students could focus with fewer distractions.
When I stepped inside the first one, I froze, my jaw dropping open.
I’d found Barrett.
But he wasn’t alone.
He had girl laid out over the large table in the middle of the room, her legs splayed wide as his hand moved beneath her skirt. His body was draped over hers, and he was sucking on her neck as she moaned and writhed beneath him.
For a second, I was too shocked to do more than stare at the sight in front of me, my mind struggling to comprehend what I was seeing.
Then a small noise fell from my lips, and the girl’s eyes flew open. She yelped at the sight of me and slapped Barrett’s back, drawing his attention away from her neck. He glanced up, and when his gaze followed her and landed on me, I could see his entire posture shift.
He stiffened, then dragged his hand out from beneath the girl’s skirt, rising to stand straight as he did. He jerked his chin at her without saying a word, and she sat up and scooted off the table. Then she shot me an annoyed glare and left the room.
I blinked, staring dumbly at Barrett as he adjusted his blazer and crossed his arms over his chest, gazing back at me with a bland look on his face. When I didn’t speak for a few more moments, he rolled his eyes.
“Do you need something, Cora? I presumed you did, or I wouldn’t have sent Linsey away.”
His tone was casual and languid, almost mocking, and it jerked me out of my stupor.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I demanded, my voice low and tight.
He cocked a brow at me. “Well, besides the fact that I think the answer to that is perfectly obvious, I don’t feel I need to explain myself to you.”
“But—” I sputtered, shock still resonating through me. “You were—”
“Yes, I’m well aware of what I was doing.” The annoyance in his expression grew. “Do you have a point? Come on, Cora, it’s not like I don’t know you have someone on the side too.”
I blinked. After my mom’s infidelity over the past couple months, I’d had a knee-jerk reaction to the sight of Barrett kissing some girl in the library. But he was right, in a way. Except I had three someones, and they weren’t “on the side” of anything, because I had never even dated Barrett. I had never wanted to be with him.
And if his hand up that girl’s skirt was any indication, he had no interest in being with me either.
Maybe it’s a good thing I found him like this.
Ignoring his open taunt about me seeing someone else, I licked my lips and stepped forward, my heart slamming against my ribs as hope welled in my chest. “So… you don’t want this either? You don’t want to get married?”
“What?” He pulled a face, looking at me like I was crazy.
“Well, you’re not in love with me. I’m not in love with you. We want other people. So does that mean you don’t want to get married either?”
He still looked utterly baffled, and the annoyance was starting to creep into his expression again.
“What on earth does this have to do with the wedding?” he asked, gesturing around the small room as if to encompass everything that’d happened between him and Linsey in here.
“It has everything to do with the wedding,” I blurted, my voice growing in pitch and volume. I couldn’t understand what he was talking about.
“No, Cora. I think you’ve misunderstood this situation completely.” He smirked, and there was a cruel edge to it that made my jaw clench. “Or did your father not explain to you fully that this is a marriage of convenience? As in, it would be convenient for our families to join their empires. That has nothing to do with who I choose to hook up with. I’m not interested in fidelity, you should know that right now.” His gaze traced lightly up and down my body, and a mocking smile curved his lips. “Although we’ll obviously be expected to produce an heir. That can be managed.”
My stomach clenched so hard it felt like it was a black hole collapsing in on itself. I wrapped my arms around myself, unconsciously trying to block out his stare, to shield myself in some way.
“So you… you want to be married in name only? You don’t care about me, but you want to go through with this?”
He shook his head, his brows furrowing as he took a step closer to me. “You seem so shocked by this concept, Cora. I’m a little surprised. Your time in the gutter must’ve really fucked with your head. Of course that’s what I want. My family stands to gain a great deal from this marriage, and it’s my duty to do what’s best for the King line. You know who has the luxury of marrying based only on their feelings?” He twisted the word mockingly. “People who have nothing. Because they have nothing to lose.”
His callous words and his languid attitude made me want to punch him, and my already bruised hand closed into a fist.
