At that cruel taunt, her delicate facial bones tightened below her fair skin and her fingernails bit sharp crescents of restraint into her palms, because she truly wanted to shout and scream at him for daring to make that humiliating comparison. He had never in his life before compared her to her feckless and avaricious parent, and that he should do so now hurt like the sharp slice of a knife in already tender flesh. 'I'm not like my mother and you know I'm not.'
; Crossing the big echoing hall on his passage to the grand staircase, Alexei skimmed a cool glance at her taut profile. 'Once I would have agreed with that statement, but not any more. I don't know you the way I thought I knew you.'
A lump formed in her throat. 'I don't feel I know you either just at this moment.'
'I'm still v
