Page 135 of Severed Heir

But he was quiet.

“What did you do?”I asked again, pushing harder.

“…I wanted to save you.”

“From what?”I whispered into the quiet.

But just as my mind went still, a shriek of metal cut through the silence. The door I was pressed against swung open, and Damien stepped into the hall, shirtless and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“Shit, you scared me.” He blinked. “Are you alright, Sev?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I said, trying to sound casual. “This place gives me the creeps.”

My shield was up now, tight and unbreakable. I couldn’t risk him knowing I’d heard anything.

He smiled. “Archer’s room is three doors down.”

“I wasn’t looking for Archer.”

“You came to see me?” He chuckled, the sound low. “In the middle of the night? How scandalous of you.”

I needed to stay close. Close enough to listen. To catch whatever he was still hiding.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “About our wedding. I thought we needed to talk.”

He gripped the handle and pulled the door open, stepping aside to let me in. “Then come in and talk.”

I sat on the edge of his bed as fractured light spilled across the room in sickly shades of gold and green.

“We can be friends,” I said quietly. It didn’t sound like a lie, but Damien knew me too well.

He exhaled slowly, eyes fixed on the wall. “I don’t want to be your friend.”

“Then what do you want?”

His gaze flicked toward me, sharp and burning. “What does he have that I don’t?”

“Damien—”

“Tell me.”

“Itrusthim,” I said. “And he doesn’t come with a motive when it comes to my heart. I don’t want to love someone out of obligation or manipulation.”

He smirked, leaning in just enough for the air between us to tighten. “He doesn’t want you, Sev. He’s told you that. To your face.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “An heir can’t love their leader.”

Then his eyes darkened. “And yet... he takes what he wants from you. Uses you. Strings you along.”

The words stung, too close to the fears I hadn’t voiced.

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”His voice rang in my head, and from his calmness, he didn’t know I had heard it.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

I knew this was wrong. Getting close to him just to hear his thoughts went against everything I believed in. But I wasn’t leaving without a damn answer.

I shifted closer, letting our fingertips brush where we sat on the edge of the bed. “I wish things were different between us,” I said.

“She knew it was her legacy,”another thought of his leaked into my mind.

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