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My jaw drops. “What the hell are you talking about?”
His infuriatingly gorgeous smile widens further yet.
And then, all of a sudden, I’m pinned to the shelves, my back against their railings. His arms cage me in, firmly braced on either side of me.
“I want you to think very hard,” Marius tells me, leaning in. “What could I possibly be talking about, Sarah?”
III
THE SURRENDER
53
SARAH
Iknow.
I’d like to pretend I don’t, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out exactly what pissed Marius off. How he learned that I had sex with Rhys and Violet, I couldn’t begin to guess—someone must have talked about it, but who? What’s a hundred percent certain is that he is aware of it. And he doesn’t like it. Not one bit.
I squirm uncomfortably. I tell myself I don’t have to report to him, or anyone else for that matter. I should open my mouth and tell him precisely that.I can fuck whoever I want, and it has nothing to do with him.
Instead, I find that my throat’s all clogged up, like I’m a child found with her hand in the cookie jar. Like I don’t have the right to do what I want with my body.
It’sridiculous. It’s none of his business what I do.But there’s no denying that a part of me disagrees. The same part that kept thinking about Marius last night.
I’m not in the wrong, dammit. I’m just not. So why the hell does it feel like I am?
“I don’t owe you anything,” I hear myself saying. My voice comes out stronger than I would have thought, to my relief. “Not honesty, let aloneloyalty.”
“Perhaps. But wouldn’t it be nice to trust each other?”
Given what he’s done to me during our first real personal interaction, trust isn’t in the cards for us, ever.“You decided I’m a liar, forcing me to prove myself over and over—and punishing me along the way. If you’re waiting for facts to verify someone’s words, then you don’t fucking trust them.” My voice is rising. “In what world could we trust each other, Marius?”
Marius runs the back of his knuckles over my cheek, the side of my face, my chin. It’s gentle, yet it feels like a threat more than anything. Shivers travel the length of my spine.
“Not this one, sadly," he replies.
I scramble to even remember what I asked in the first place.
Right. Trust. A good reminder that Ican'ttrust him as far as I can throw him.
I lift my head. “You and I don’t owe each other anything. You’re not my friend. You’re certainly not myboyfriend. You did what you thought you had to do to protect your people—I get that."
I wish I didn't, truly, but I've thought about that Tuesday too many times to fail to come to the conclusion that Marius did what he thought he had to. I didn't help myself, between my refusal to sign that damnable NDA on Sunday and the fact that I wouldn't tell him what he wanted to know. I had my reasons; I didn't know what the mess was about. But that put us on two different sides. Neither of us was wrong.
Neither of us was right either.
"But that makes youno oneto me." He’s not my enemy; he’s just that hot guy I know better than to get close to. He's ruthless, dangerous, and I would be a fool to let myself get entangled in this world again."Understood? I’ll fuck the entire college if I want to, and you getnoinput.”
“Say that again.” There’s no mistaking the threat in his voice.
“We’re nothing,” I repeat, and my insides clench in anticipation of a retaliation. “What I do isn’t any of your business. And what you do isn’t mine.”
Although I’m absolutely right, I know he’ll disagree. He’ll make me pay for stating the truth. And I’m looking forward to it.
I never claimed to be sane.
“I suppose I haven’t given you any cause to think otherwise. My mistake.”
