Page 25 of Wolf's Bane
“No. No,” she said, snapping her bag shut and holding it protectively in front of her. “You do not get to have it both ways. Yes, we were children when we made promises to…” She swallowed, unable to say the word love. “Carefor each other. I won’t hold you to that and don’t expect you to do the same.”
He opened his mouth as if to speak.
She continued on, “What I expect you to do is behave like a gentleman in this house and not insult me or make…aspersions on my character because I have to put my family first.” She lifted her chin. “If I must wed a not-so-old and wealthy-enough man for the good of my family, I will do so, and I will not suffer your crass comments or jealousy.”
“Jealousy.” He growled out the word.
“What else could it be? Are you willing to offer me a better prospect? I’m twenty-six, Aleksandar. My options are limited.” And growing more so every day.
“No. I cannot.Thathas not changed.”
“Then goodnight. I will see you at breakfast.” She paused at the door, unwilling to leave with such unhappiness between them. However far apart they had grown over the years, however much they both had changed, Alek had once been her friend. She believed he could be again.
“I did not know you were such a mercenary,” he said.
“Then you truly do not know me at all.”
Chapter 7
Solenne
Boxon Hill
The pond
The day brokewith bright sunshine and warmth. Her list of tasks for the day kept growing, but wasting such a lovely day felt wrong. She wanted only to sit in the sunshine.
Gathering a basket of sewing, she stashed a well-worn book in the bottom. “All work and no play,” she muttered, then headed to the pond.
She situated herself on a small blanket under a tree, one of her favorite reading spots. Near the water’s edge, she got a lovely view, shade, and was hidden from the main path. It was the perfect locale to steal away a few undisturbed hours.
The book opened flat, the spine broken ages ago. Working her way through a basket of items to be mended, she kept one eye on her needle and the other on the book. Her hands worked on muscle memory, pulling the needle through the garments and tying off the thread. Buttons were replaced. Torn seams repaired. Socks darned. The work was tedious but mindless. She soon found herself pulled into the book, the story familiar and welcomed.
Shadows shifted, growing smaller under the tree, and the day’s heat increased. It’d be noon soon and someone would be sent to find her.
Someone rustled through the grass, and Alek plopped down on the ground next to her. He placed the basket in his lap. “Apple?”
“No, thank you. I need my fingers clean,” she said, eyes fixed on the pages of her book. She refused to pay attention to the heat rolling off his body, how their shoulders brushed, or the noise he made crunching into the apple.
Her stomach rumbled.
“I have cheese,” he said in a teasing tone.
Solenne frowned. This situation felt familiar, like how they used to be and how they could be now if they could willfully forget the last ten years. “What is this?”
“Lunch. And I brought enough to share.” He waved a second apple at her, red and ripe.
He waved temptation at her, but she remembered the harsh words they exchanged the night before. She’d be damned before she took his apple.
“No, thank you. I am working,” she said.
“Suit yourself,” he said, around a mouthful of apple. “What’s that?”
“It’s a book.” Solenne pulled needle and thread through the sock, her motion automatic, and barely lifted her eyes from the page. She needn’t have bothered, having read the book often enough to have it memorized.
“What is the book called?”
With an exasperated sigh, she lowered her sewing and closed book. “The Confinement of Twilight. Are you here for a particular reason or just general mischief?”
