Private," i repeated, keeping my voice even though my pulse had started to hammer, "is not a word I associate with safety where you're concerned, Caspian."
He laughed, soft and warm, the same laugh that had once made my chest flutter before I'd learned what lived underneath it. "You wound me. I only want to talk. Surely even you can spare a few minutes for the man you were meant to marry."
"Was meant to." She held her ground, refusing to step back even as he closed the distance between them, refusing to let him see how the mention of marriage still landed somewhere raw. "Past tense, if you recall the postponement."
"Temporary," he said, and something in his eyes sharpened, the charm thinning at the edges like paint over rust. "My aunt will see to that. In the meantime, there's no reason
