chapter 13
786 Words
Gwen woke up and had no clue where she was for a few seconds. The ceiling was wrong. It was too high, too dark, and not hers. Then it all came back at once. The mansion, the stupid deal, the kiss. Her stomach dropped and she dragged an arm over her face.
"Great," she said into the pillow.
It was a mistake. A massive one she should have been able to laugh off and forget. Except she couldn’t. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him right before it happened, his hand on her face, the way everything else just vanished for a second. She groaned and shoved her face into the pillow.
"This is a disaster."
Thinking about it didn’t help, so she gave up an hour later.
The house was too quiet on the way downstairs. Sunlight made everything look expensive and cold and she felt like she was trespassing in someone else’s life. The coffee scent saved her. She followed it to the dining room and the doors were already open.
Lucien was at the head of the table with a tablet, but he looked up the second she walked in. Their eyes met and her stomach did that annoying twist thing. "Morning.” He said.
"Morning," she replied, and sat at the far end because she needed space.
Lucien noticed. She knew he noticed. He didn’t say anything, which was worse.
Breakfast showed up and she went straight for the coffee. Her hands were fine until she realized he was watching her. The cup nearly went and she caught it, and her face went hot.
Lucien looked down like he was giving her a second to get it together, and that pissed her off more than if he had made a comment.
They ate in silence and neither of them looked at the other. Then he set his cup down and the sound made her shoulders lock.
"You’ll be home by six."
Gwen looked up. "Sorry, what?"
"Don't stay out past six."
"No." It came out before she could think.
Lucien didn’t blink. "You heard me."
Her jaw tightened. "I’m not a kid."
"I know."
"Then stop acting like I am."
"You keep finding trouble."
"I don’t…"
"You do."
Gwen stared at him and he didn’t look away. The longer it dragged on the more stuff she noticed that she really didn’t want to be noticing, like his eyes, and his voice, and the fact that they were alone, and that yesterday actually happened. She looked away first and immediately wanted to punch herself for it.
"You’ll be home by six." Lucien said again.
"Or what?" It came out quieter than she meant.
Something moved in his face and was gone immediately. He stood. It wasn’t fast, it wasn’t a threat, but the room changed anyway. He was tall and suddenly the space between them didn’t matter. She felt it. He never raised his voice, he didn’t have to. Her pulse jumped once and he caught it.
"Don't test me, Gwendolyn."
Gwen didn’t have a comeback and that made her mad. Furious, she blurted out. "You don’t get to decide everything."
"No," he said, calm. "But this, I do."
That landed and she got it. He wasn’t arguing. He had already decided and the talking was just catching up.
Gwen clenched her jaw. Every instinct in her screamed at her to keep fighting. To push. To argue. To make him move. The problem was that Lucien never moved.
"Fine," she said, and hated how irritated she sounded.
Lucien nodded once like he knew she would get there. That annoyed her more than if he had gloated. She shoved her chair back.
“I have my conditions as well.”
Lucien shot her a quizzical look over the rim of his coffee cup.
"What happens here stays here." She said.
"It will."
"Nobody at school knows."
"They won’t."
He said it immediately and she believed him. She hated that she did.
She grabbed her bag with a huff. "See you later."
For a second neither of them moved. The air got heavy and weird. Then she looked away and left. She didn’t stop. She didn’t look back. The front door slammed and the house finally went quiet.
Lucien stayed standing. The empty doorway felt off and it irritated him. The curse shifted under his skin, the same warning he was tired of hearing. His phone buzzed.
"What?" He answered without looking away.
Drew sighed over the end of the phone. "Tell me you didn't do something stupid."
Lucien didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.
"Damn it, Lucien."
Lucien's jaw ticked.
Drew groaned over the phone. “I think you're screwed, Lucien.”
- Writer
