Page 34 of Once Charmed, Twice Cursed
“How dare you?” I whirl and fling an accusing finger at him. “What in the world made you think it was okay to trick me like that? To lie?”
He stands just out of reach, his arms crossed, his eyes guarded. “I didn’t lie.” He’s abandoned that growling voice, at least, and now sounds like himself again.
“Yes, you did,” I hiss. “You told me your name was Jack. You told me youlivedhere. You said there was some woman on the other side of a wall you needed me to save.”
“My nameisJack.” His lip curls, the makings of a snarl. As if all it takes to spark his anger is to feel the flare of mine. “It’s my middle name. Weston Jackson Wildes.”
I narrow my eyes. He’s never told me that before.
“And I do live here,” he continues.
“No, you live in town.” I hurl the words, at least ninety percent sure they’re true. I’ve heard Brendan talk about Weston’s place in Pine’s End, though I don’t know where it is, exactly.
“I rent a room there, that’s it.” He leans in, which somehow grants him another inch of height. If he’s going for imposing, he’s definitely succeeding. “But it’s a hovel. I only sleep there when I’m doing the books for the mill. They won’t let me on the property while the machinery’s running, and I like to be alone, anyway. But whenever I’m not working, I come here. I getaway.”
“Away? From?”
“Everything!” He glares from beneath flattened brows. “The stares. The whispers. The fact that horrible things happen to anyone who comes near me. I built this place so I’d have somewhere that was mine. Even though it took me years. Even though everything kept going wrong.”
At that, I wilt a little, losing steam. The sentiment threads a hot wire through my heart and pulls it clean out the other side.
“And there is a woman across the wall,” he continues darkly.
“Who?” I do my utmost to rally. If I don’t keep hold of myanger, I’ll only embarrass myself. I’ll probably burst into tears and beg him to touch me again, like I did at the mill. “Who is it I’ve been helping all this time? Your girlfriend? Or one of those lovers you’re so quick to get away from? Were you just using me to fix her so you could send me back to the duke?”
“Fortuna’s curses.” He slams his eyes closed and pinches between them with gloved fingers. “You don’t get it, Birdie. You really, truly, absolutely and completelydo not fucking get it, do you?”
“No, I don’t. Of course I don’t! How could I, when I have no clue what this was for?” Fresh ire bristles hot in my chest, all my frustration of the last few weeks boiling over. “You walked away from me, Weston. You let Brendan sell me to that awful man and just...justleft. Then you apparently changed your mind and stole me, only you told me you were someone else, and then you gave me all these books and made me cure your girlfriend, which, to be fair, I would’ve done anyway, if you’d just asked, and then you got me all that milk, and you... You...”
I run out of air. My lungs heave, trying to suck down more, only he’s standing closer than he was a moment ago. Much closer. He bends his head, staring down into my face, and it hits me. Finally.
“You kissed me,” I finish. The words slide from my tongue, molten.
Because Fortuna help me. Eight days ago, in the duke’s carriage, I kissed Weston.Weston Wildes.The man I’ve hungered after for a decade. And he kissed me back. With fire and fervor and everything I’ve dreamed he might hold locked up in his heart.
My hand rises, unbidden, to my mouth. Weston’s eyes track the movement with unerring focus.
“And you have no idea why I did all that?” he says, still watching my fingers. The question comes out smooth and oiled, like a threat. “None at all?”
“I...don’t.”
“You can’t evenbeginto guess? You don’t find it painfully obvious by now?”
“Because I asked you to?” I say, breathy. “Because I begged you to steal me?”
“Yes, because you asked.” His tone rises. “And because I couldn’t stand to see you as terrified as you were in your foyer. Because Brendan won’t let me marry you, but I can’t seem to let you marry anyone else. Because I’d rather keep you here like some museum treasure no one can touch than let the duke lay a finger on you. Because I wanted you to have books and milk and a comfortable place to sleep without you owing anyone anything, and I wanted you to be mine to watch over. For just a few days, I wanted you to be mine. So yes, I stole you. And misled you. And you can hate me for that, if you like. I probably made sure of it the moment I jumped onto the duke’s carriage.”
I gape at him. “I...” My voice has fled somewhere. Gotten lodged between the floorboards, out of my reach.
Weston’s nostrils flare. He’s so close now I can smell him, clean and salted and male, with an underlying hint of amber. He doesn’t usually venture this far into my personal space, so I’ve never gotten a proper nose full of him before. Except maybe while we had our tongues in each other’s mouths, but I was too lost in delirium then to take it in.
“And the person you’re saving isn’t mygirlfriend.” His eyes spark, his jaw working like he’s trying to chew something in half. “I don’t have a girlfriend. I don’t ever have a girlfriend. The woman in that bed is my aunt.”
Aunt. The word drops through me. I didn’t realize Weston has relatives. At least not that he’s in touch with. Because his mother...
“I thought you didn’t talk to them anymore,” I say. “Your family.”
His lip curls. “I don’t. My mom stays away. She knows better than to get anywhere near me. But my aunt... Well. She’s always written me letters. Even though I’ve never answered. I don’t know what made her decide to come looking for me after all these years, but look what it almost cost her. At least now she’s learned her lesson. Finally. The way everyone?—”
