CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Rebel
I left the ceremony before the caterers finished setting out the tables.
Nobody stopped me. Nobody noticed, except Adrian, who had been watching me all afternoon.
I went up to the house with the certificate rolled in my fist.
Tristan’s door was shut. I stood in front of it for a second, and then I opened it without knocking, because I suspected if I gave him the option, he might refuse.
I’d given him enough time to brood over Timothy’s dinner bomb. Now it was time to deal with this head-on.
He was propped against the headboard with a book. He looked up. I got exactly one unguarded half-second — something quick and glad — before the defensive shutters came down.
“You’re back early,” he said, pretending to continue to read.
“I left early.” I dropped the cert
