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“I didn’t know you were that needy for attention, Mr.—”
“No. Don’t use flirting as your defense mechanism. I can see right through it and I’m not having it.”
Her body visibly lurched. The seductive pose disappeared and he watched as fury formed in her gaze. But she worked on that, too, shutting it down before it could take over and treating him with casualness.
“You’re not having it because you already had it,” she pointed out. “And now you’re tired of—”
“Nothing,” he boomed, bulldozing his way toward her. She held her ground, refusing to move, and they ended up inches from each other when he finally stopped. His voice rang loudly, hammering each point across. “I’m not tired of it, of having you, or of touching you. I’m not tired of spending time with you or talking to you. Touching you inside that mausoleum is the only constant in my mind recently.”
Her features darkened and a soundless gasp escaped her lips. But he wasn’t done.
“But that’s not the point of this conversation. What Iamtired of is you avoiding me and not knowing why. So, if you could just let me know what happened…”
Silence. He expected more sass, or another round of flirting, but was taken aback when she shook her head and sidestepped him.
“I wasn’t kidding about the tasks. The one today’s a follow-up to your throne room.”
“That task can go to hell.”
She whirled back to face him at that, her mouth dropping open. “Henry!”
“We left on good terms in the graveyard. Not the best terms, but not the worst, either.”
Frustration simmered at her continuous silence when the Pearl he knew would have animatedly argued with him already. He wanted to punch something over the anguish of her defensive state, wondering what he had done for her to act this way, wondering what she had heard…and just like that, it clicked.
“You heard my conversation with my brother. You followed me, even after I told you to go home.” The look on her face sent a chill down his spine. A sickening feeling coated his stomach. “Pearl…”
The sound of her name cut through her silence and she scowled. “You don’t get to order me outside of work.”
“I’m not ordering you. I’m asking, and your non-answer is confirmation enough. Pearl…”
“Don’t worry your head over it,” she repeated, just as calmly as he had said it. “I should be thankful.”
“What?”
“We know the real deal now and we can move past it.”
“Pearl—”
“Maybe we did cross the line in the graveyard, but it’s not too late to return to professionalism—”
“Pearl.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry for what Gunther did to your sister.”
For the first time, her calm expression dropped enough to show a glimpse of the hurt inside: hurt for what her sister had been through and what her family had to deal with, including his brother’s abandonment. Did their other siblings know about it too? If so, why didn’t anyone retaliate?
As if reading his mind, she shrugged. “I’m sorry for it too. And trust me,Iwould have knocked his ass to hell and back, but Emerald’s a bigger person than I am and kept it a secret for a long time. She also told us to let it go, so we respected her decision. Also, you heard what Gunther said. She moved on and she’s happy now. In the end, that’s all I want.”
No, it’s not,as he could feel the vehemence boiling in her blood. But he could tell the influence Emerald had on her, too, as she grappled that vehemence down and won. Pearl took a deep breath.
“I’m glad she’s happy.”
“So am I. Now she doesn’t have to deal with a Lyra and she’s a better person for it.”
His chest squeezed at her words, but one point rang true inside him: that while Gunther was done with Emerald, Pearl might be a different matter. The sickening sensation continued. But it also helped him say the next words.
