Page 45 of The Thief
"Turns out you can't love someone you don't really know."
"And you didn't know her?"
"Not at all. Everything I thought I knew was a lie."
The pain in his voice… carefully controlled but unmistakable. Whatever Ava was to him, her betrayal cut deep.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. She made her choices. We all make our choices."
"Do we? Or do circumstances make them for us?"
"Bit of both, probably."
He's looking at me with an intensity that makes my pulse quicken. Like he's seeing something he wants, something worth fighting for.
It’s a dangerous look. The kind that makes smart women do stupid things.
"Freddie."
"Yeah?"
"What are we doing here?"
"What do you mean?"
"This. Us. Sitting here talking like we're friends instead of strangers thrown together by circumstances."
"Maybe we're figuring out if we could be more than strangers."
The honesty in his voice catches me off guard. No games, no pretense. Just truth simply stated.
"And what if we could be?"
"Then we deal with whatever comes next."
He reaches for my hand, his fingers intertwining with mine. His touch is warm, solid, real in a way nothing else has been since I walked through Henry's gates.
"Alastríona."
My name sounds different in his voice. Softer, more intimate. Like a prayer or a promise.
"This is complicated," I say.
"The best things usually are."
He's closer now, close enough that I can feel his breath on my face. Close enough to see the want in his eyes, the careful control that's keeping him from taking what he clearly wants.
"I don't trust easily," I warn.
"Neither do I."
"I've been hurt before."
"So have I."
"I might not stay."
