Page 79 of Wicked Prince

"Can't be too much worse than back home," he says.

"I guess we'll find out."

"How are you feeling after last night?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, sounding more alarmed than I intend.

"You said you weren't feeling well," he answers.

"Oh, right," I mutter. "That."

"I guess I was right, then," he says. "About that being an excuse."

I grimace. "That obvious?"

"I recognized the look of dread easily enough," he says with a knowing smile. "And things between the two of you didn't seem too friendly when I showed up in the hallway, so I assume it was on Lorenzo's account."

"I wouldn't say either of them are my favorite people," I concede.

"So… you guys used to date?" he asks. "Feel free to tell me to go to hell if that's too personal. It's really none of my business."

"No, it's fine," I say, shaking my head. "But dating really isn't the right word. More like a one-time thing that turned out to be a huge mistake."

"Now that, I understand," he says thoughtfully. "I've made a few of those myself."

"Well, I picked one hell of a fuck up to start with," I say, realizing my mistake only once the words are out of my mouth. He doesn't comment on it, though, so maybe he didn't notice. Or maybe he's just too polite.

"Pardon me if this is none of my business, either—but for what it's worth, and from what I know of Lorenzo, you could do a lot better."

I smile. "That's sweet of you to say."

"Not really," he remarks. Before I can ask what he means by that, he moves on. "So. That's got to be awkward, him being with your sister and all."

"It is, but not for the reasons you'd think," I admit. When I realize he's waiting for me to elaborate, I say, "Kayleigh and I aren't close, as you can probably tell. Honestly, unless Dad feels like pulling me out of the closet for special occasions, we really don't see each other."

"I suppose there's a silver lining to every dark cloud," he remarks.

I can't help but laugh. "I guess so."

“You have a beautiful laugh," he says. "Unfortunately, I get the feeling no one gets the chance to hear it very often."

His words take me by surprise. I'm not used to someone being so candid and sweet at the same time.

"I haven't really been in the best state since my mom died," I admit.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly. I get the feeling he actually means that, too. "May I ask what happened?"

"Cancer."

He nods sympathetically. "It always seems to take the best ones."

"Yeah, it does," I agree. "Did you lose someone, too?"

"My mother," he replies.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say, unable to hide my surprise. "Dad mentioned both your parents, so I thought…"

He gives me a small smile that doesn't quite touch his eyes. "Yeah, my father is a bit of a historical revisionist himself. He married my stepmother—Marcus's mother—a few months after she passed."

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