“She doesn’t sleep in the same room as you, let alone bed. No public displays of affection.”
He laughed. “So you want everyone to know we’re full of shit? Got it. I’m gonna have to touch her, Crowne.” He leaned forward. “Definitely kiss her. Maybe even fu—”
I curled his stupid-ass bow tie beneath my fist, lips a breath away. “Before I came in here, I hadn’t decided if I was going to agree to your plan, or just fucking end you once and for all. I could still go either way, du Lac. So I think I should be real clear. The only reason you’re still breathing is Story.” I curled the bow tie tighter. “The minute that changes.” Curl. “My need for you changes too.”
I shoved him back.
“You owe me a secret, Crowne.”
“You want to know how she gets off, West? With me. It’ll never be you.”
West stood taller, eyes dark. “You want ground rules? Let’s start with how we’ll tell everyone it’s my child.”
Another biting laugh left me. “I’m starting to think you’re a bit of a masochist, West.”
“She’s showing. You know our parents already suspect it—if not outright assume. Soon the world will. If you’re so sure you’re going to ride off into the sunset, then what’s the harm? Don’t make the same mistake your father did—”
“Don’t fucking talk about my father,” I cut.
“I’m not finished.”
I folded my arms, waiting for whatever the fuck else he had to tell me.
“Stop treating my sister like a villain.”
That hit me unexpectedly, and my breath got caught in my lungs like smoke.
West looked away, almost like he was ashamed. “Help her the way we’re helping Story.”
I arched a brow. “You want me to tell you how to fuck your sister?”
“No, dick. I want us to free her. Free her from my mother. From my father. From this fucking world. I want to make sure that when this is over, Lottie is taken care of.”
“Why can’t her brother do that?”
West looked away. “Just promise me you’ll take care of her, Grayson.”
West held his hand out for me to shake.
“Does she know?” he asked.
“About our truce? Pretty fucking obvious.”
“That if you manage to get that coin, you’re not leaving this place.”
I shifted, my back suddenly aching—
The way you shift on the mattress when something hurts your heart.
Goddamn.
She knew me better than I knew myself.
I told Story I wouldn’t put my faith in fairy tales, and I guess for both of us, I have no choice.
One way or the other, Story would be free. My wife would be safe. Whether that meant finding the coin, or destroying my grandfather and becoming the thing I hated most: the monster that goes bump in the night.
Becoming the Crowne.