Page 11 of Bittersweet Revenge

“How did you manage to come here anyway? If Father or Caleb think you’re an ally…”

He shook his head. “Caleb doesn’t care.”

That hurt me more than I cared to admit. Caleb told me he was done with me and it seemed that was true.

Archie shook his head. “I don’t mean it like that.” He could so easily read me. It was no wonder he'd suspected my desire to escape from the start.

“Yes you do. Caleb told me he was done with me.”

Archie rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Esme… But he is the one asking me and Oppenheimer to come and ‘knock some sense into her and stop her childish temper tantrum’.”

“Are you siding with him?” I asked, feeling both incredulous and betrayed.

“The day I side with an Astor will be the day Hell freezes over, but you do need to shake it off, okay? You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I’m not sure where the investigation is going to take us, but antagonizing Caleb might not be the most productive way to deal with things.”

I crossed my arms on my chest and pouted. I hated that his words made sense.

He chuckled. “That’s the spirit.”

“What if Father finds out you're here? You’ll be blowing your cover.”

He grinned. “No, he knows I am here. He encouraged it, at least he thinks he did. I’m a double…” he cocked his head to the side. “Triple? Ah, I'm not sure… Triple agent?”

“I think I'm having a stroke,” I said.

He stuck his tongue out. “What I'm saying is that I explained to Father my doubts at Caleb's ability to rein in such an unruly girl.” He ignored the glare I was giving as he continued. “And Caleb disrespected father quite significantly when he took your side.”

“He never took my side!”

Archie sighed. “Yes he did, consciously or not, he did… When he stopped Father from hitting you, that was an act of rebellion.” He raised his hand on seeing I was about to argue. “No matter what Caleb’s reason was, it is not something Father will easily forget. His power comes from a place of fear and Caleb showed he did not fear him, at least not enough.” He sat at the foot of my bed. “Anyway, Father would love for Caleb to fail so he can put him back in his place. So that’s why I'm here to spy on you and report back.”

“I see…”

He grinned. “But I will be working forus– you and I – and give him the information we need him to believe.”

“So you’re a double agent.”

“Basically.”

I nodded. “You’re good at this.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

I cocked my head to the side. “To be fair, I'm not sure it was meant to be one.”

He rolled his eyes, stood up, andlaid across from me, turning to face me. “I think part of me always knew.”

“Knew what?”

He let his hand slide across the silky bedspread and rested it on top of mine. “That you were alive.”

I frowned. “How?”

He sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know. It makes no sense. I can’t explain it to myself, so explaining to you would be close to impossible.But it felt like this part of me was missing somewhere. I thought it was because mom had died, but no, it was you… It was always you. When you pulled me into your arms that day it was like the dull pain I didn't even notice anymore faded completely, like a band just snapped into place and it terrified me. I hated it.”

“You hated feeling complete?”

“I hated for my pain, or lack of it, to be so intrinsically linked to someone so hell-bent on leaving me. I’d loved one person before and she'd left me behind… I didn’t think I'd be strong enough to go through this again.”

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