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“It’s not him who terrifies me.”

“What then? Who?”

“You know. You know perfectly well.”

He did know. She saw it in his eyes as he stared at her. He knew she was afraid of him, of them.

“When you’ve been ice all your life,” she said, “nothing is more terrifying than seeing yourself start to melt.”

“Ice doesn’t die when it melts. It just gets wet.”

She smiled. “I know, but I’m still afraid.”

“I’ll protect you.”

Had he slapped her in the face it would have hurt less than hearing those three words. It hurt the way mercy hurts when you know you don’t deserve it. Regan turned back to the bow window, to the streets going wild with wind. Any moment now, rain would explode from the sky.

With her back to him she said, “Don’t say that to a woman like me if you don’t mean it.” A woman like her…a woman who’s had to protect herself her entire life.

“I’ll protect you,” he said again.

“I won’t protect you.”

“I’ll protect you,” he said a third time and with finality.

She turned back around. The fire behind the grate danced as fresh air fed it. It feasted on the wind in the room. Where was it coming from?

Regan walked toward Arthur but at the last moment, forced herself to sit in the armchair opposite him by the fire. She sipped her wine and set the glass on the table.

“I’ve had to be cold for so long,” she said, “I don’t know if I can remember how to be warm.”

“November is cold,” he said, “And wet and brutal. It’s my favorite month of the year.”

“Mine, too.”

The wind gusted louder. A siren sounded in the distance. A storm was rising.

“Are you falling in love with me?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She nodded, wishing she could celebrate that. Instead she was like someone who’d won the lottery but was forbidden from spending a single penny.

“Why?” she asked.

“I need to protect someone, and I’ve never met anyone who needed protecting more than you do.”

“I don’t have any enemies.”

“You sure about that?”

“My own worst enemy? Is that what you’re saying?”

He only met her eyes and waited.

“You can’t love me,” she said.

“Try to stop me.”

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