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His jaw sets as he glares across the table at me.
“She was going to leave my father.”
I frown.
“He doesn’t know. He won’t ever know,” he says quietly. “But she was. I heard her on the phone one night with her sister, Celeste. She was going to leave my father, in hopes thatthatwould make Noel care.”
I wince, as if slapped.
“No—”
“She was. My father never knew.”
He sneers.
“Noeldidn’t know. As if he would have given a shit if he did.”
I hate how that makes me have to bite back a triumphant smile.
“That couldn’t happen,” he grunts. “I couldn’tletthat happen. She’d already hurt my dad so many different times, so many different ways. If she went back to Ransom again, it would have killed him. And I couldnotlet that happen.”
A warning bell begins to sound quietly in the back of my head. Then grows louder, whining higher and higher as my body stiffens. A cold, horrible feeling begins to creep over my skin.
“Jacob,” I say quietly. “What do you mean, you couldn’t let that happen?”
“When she died,” he growls. “I thought that would make my father happy again. I mean sad, in the immediate, yes. But it would no longer be something he needed to be burdened with. And, of course, there was Cassandra.”
I stiffen.
“My father felt for Matilde. But the way he looked at Cassandra?” he shakes his head. “Helovedher. Wholly and unconditionally. He loved her when she married one of his best friends. He loved her as she bore that man a daughter.”
My face pales.
“He loved her as he helped her grieve the loss of his friend.”
Jacob’s mouth thins.
“It washistime, Ella.”
I shake my head.
“Jacob, that’s not how it works—”
“Yes. It. Is!”
His fist pounds the table, making the candle flicker violently as I tremble in real fear.
“It’s how it should be,” he snaps.
“Jacob, you can’t make someone pick who they love—”
He barks a cold laugh.
“What, as if shelovedNoel?” He sneers. “You’re smarter than that, Ella.”
“They had an arrangement, facilitated by my father—”
“My fatherloved her, and Noel fucking knew it. So he swooped in again.Again, Ella!”
