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Cooked grease has such an amazing smell to it, doesn’t it?
I bite into the most perfect piece of bacon I’ve ever tasted.
“What do you want me to do?” Cullen asks. “Just tell you everything I know? I may not have the best information for you.”
“You know more than I do. Are you afraid Archer will kill me?”
“Look, everything about this place is real,” Cullen says. “Who we all are. Why we’re here. Our families are powerful, love. Each of our families. Including yours.”
“What’s my real last name?”
“What makes you think you have a different last name?” Cullen asks with a smile.
“See? That. I can’t do that anymore, Cullen. I feel trapped, okay? I went back to Fay’s to look at my past. To think maybe I had an escape from here. I don’t have that escape. I never did. I’m here. And everything is paid for? I’m anHeir?”
Cullen touches my face. “It’s a lot, Jaci. Your family is quiet and powerful. Okay? I’m not really sure who is alive or dead. Or who is even in charge. Families like mine love to boast over who is in power. My brothers love the attention. Quinn and Moore. My father loves to show himself around. Always skirting against the law, surrounded by lawyers who will die for him if he asks. You can look him up. Cormac. You’ll see.”
“What about…”
“Archer?” Cullen asks.
I shrug my shoulders.
“You can look up anything you want, Jaci,” Cullen says. “Same for yourself.”
“I’m not sure I want to die,” I say.
Cullen’s thumb strokes my cheek. “Or think of it this way. Once you find out who you are and who your family is, you can fight back. Do you really think your family would go through all this trouble to get you here just to have you end up killed by Archer Amatti? That will start a war.”
I never thought of it like that.
I shiver.
Cullen inches toward me and brushes his lips to my cheek.
He stands up from the bed.
“Come downstairs when you’re ready,” he says. “We’ve all been worried about you. You were a mess yesterday and last night.”
“Seems like everyone was worried about me,” I say.
I’m referring to Archer.
Cullen knows that.
His jaw tightens.
He doesn’t like it, but he doesn’t freak out.
That tells me who Cullen is compared to Archer.
Archer acts out.
Archer brings a knife.
Archer looks for the fight and isn’t afraid.
But Cullen… he’s different.
