Page 51 of Unravelling: Aria & Crispin
This wasn't just a stranger.
This was someone important, someone she respected.
And she didn't want to be seen with him.
After the man walked away, she turned back to him, her face composed. Her voice was cool, like she was talking to a stranger. "Come up in ten minutes."
Then she walked away.
He stood there, hands in his pockets, watching the way she disappeared into the stairwell-calm, decisive, unshaken.
And that's when it hit him.
She'd never introduced him to anyone important. Never talked about her sister beyond the vague outlines. Never brought him into her world.
Just like he kept her separate from his.
She'd guarded her dear ones fiercely, like a dragon curled around its gold.
And for the first time, Crispin understood something so sharp and ugly it made his chest ache.
That's how she must've felt.
Like a secret.
Like an embarrassment.
Small.
Unwanted.
He had done that to her.
And now she was doing it to him.
Chapter 28
Aria
The climb to her flat seemed interminable.
Her bag dropped onto the table with a dull thud. She didn't even bother removing her coat before filling the kettle and setting it to boil. The kitchen lights buzzed faintly overhead.
She felt at odds with herself, like she was being pulled in two different directions.
Crispin deserved to know about the baby. Lule had been insistent that she tell him.
But every time she imagined his reaction, her nausea returned like a scorned lover. Would he insist she end it? Would he throw practicality and legacy and bloodlines at her like bricks?
He wasn't ready-everything she knew about him reinforced that. And she couldn't raise a child with someone who didn't want to be a father.
Still, he had a right to know. But did he need to know right now? Was she a coward if she waited a little longer?
She rubbed her hands over her face. If she was truthful, she wanted to pass the point of no return before she told him. Because she feared what would happen-that he'd argue, persuade. She feared he'd try to cajole her out of it as if her body, her baby, were up for discussion.
And frankly, she was done with explanations, done with needing approval.
She didn't want anyone-especially not the man who'd contributed nothing but DNA-thinking he had the right to change her mind.
