The promise
Daphne’s POV
All I wanted was for Troy to say he didn’t know the Wellingtons. Not as friends or as enemies, not even acquaintances at all. I needed that reassurance as a lifeline to cling to from this storm of doubt. When I asked, his face fell, disappointment forming over those amber eyes I’d come to know so well. I hated that I had hurt him with that question, but I was desperate to know that I hadn’t been a pawn and that Zachary and Kate were wrong about him. That I hadn’t been played like some naive fool.
His hands stayed wrapped around mine, warm and steady, even as that heavy disappointment lingered in his face. He lifted my fingers to his lips, pressing a soft kiss against them, his breath brushing my skin.
“I’d never do anything to hurt you, Daphne,” he said, his
