Page 208 of Face Off

“Yes.”

“You came into this castle telling me we could enjoy each other as long as everything stayed surface level.” Her hand strikes the center of her chest. “You knew Lance tried to destroy your life, and you let me believe the only thing between us was what I did in the study.”

“That was already enough.”

“Answer me! Was keeping it from me this weekend still the right decision?”

I drag both hands over my face and release a hard breath. “No.”

Charm goes still.

“I should’ve told you once I knew Lance was coming,” I admit. “Maybe not every detail. Maybe not before Cade and Bliss’s wedding weekend when none of us could escape the fallout, but I should’ve told you there was more. I should’ve warned you that seeing him again carried something larger than Thanksgiving.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Because telling you made this real again!” My voice climbs despite every attempt to control it. “I spent fifteen months locking that shit somewhere it couldn’t touch you or me. I didn’t want to open it. I didn’t want to watch you hear it, and I sure as fuck didn’t want to find out whether I’d start protecting you before I finished being angry!”

Her expression changes. “That’s what you’re doing now.”

“Yeah.”

“You came up here to protect me.”

“I came up here because I heard you were packing and knew you were going to run.”

“You always know.”

“I used to.”

The past tense hurts both of us. Charm drops her gaze to my hands still loosely holding her wrists.

“You said everyone kept it from me because I wasn’t ready.”

“When it started, you weren’t.”

“You didn’t know anything about my treatment.”

“I knew more than you think.”

Her eyes lift. “What does that mean?”

I release her and step back, rubbing my thumb across the center of my palm. “Cade kept me updated.”

“What?”

“He let me know whether you were safe and whether Lance was leaving you and your treatment alone.”

“You asked Cade to watch Lance?”

“I asked him to make sure Lance didn’t interfere with treatment, pressure you to leave, or use the investigation to fuck with your recovery.”

Charm’s lips part, but no words follow.

“The Inferno’s attorneys were already involved,” I continue. “I didn’t trust Lance not to decide your treatment had become inconvenient once it threatened his reputation. Cade had access to Bliss and your mother without anyone questioning why he was checking in. If Lance tried to reach the clinic or pull you out, I needed someone close enough to stop him.”

“And you never told me.”

“No.”