NOAH

"I was assigned to stay with him," I said. I didn’t wait for him to ask again. I didn’t let myself think too hard about the words before they left my mouth.

"By the attending doctor. He wanted someone here who knows his history."

I didn’t say Nick’s name. I kept it tucked away. Nick was the only reason I was allowed to sit in this chair, and I wasn’t going to do anything to put that at risk.

If this man knew a specific doctor was breaking the rules for me, he might use it.

Preston listened. He didn’t move a muscle while I spoke. He had the kind of patience that made me feel like he was just waiting for me to run out of breath so he could get to the point. He didn’t interrupt. He didn’t even blink.

When I finished, his expression changed. It wasn’t a smile... not a real one.

There was no light in it, no warmth. It was just a movement of his lips. "How very devoted of you," he said.

His voice was soft, almost like a purr, but the words felt like they had teeth. "To volunteer your time like this. It’s quite a selfless act for an assistant."

I felt the weight of the comment. I straightened my back and tried to look like I belonged in the room. "It is my job," I told him.

"I am his executive assistant. He has been good to me, and this is what the role requires. I am here to be a link between the hospital and his office."

Preston took a quiet breath that sounded almost like a chuckle. He looked past me at the bed, then back at my face.

He looked like he had just solved a puzzle that didn’t even need my help to finish.

Preston turned his head toward the woman at the door. "Victoria," he said.

She stood there like a statue made of expensive silk. She didn’t look bored or annoyed; she just looked ready. "Yes?"

"Would you give us a moment?" Preston asked. "I would like to have a private word with my brother’s assistant. A bit of business to clear up."

"Of course," she said. She didn’t ask questions. She didn’t hesitate. She gave a small, polite nod to the room and stepped back into the hallway.

The door clicked shut behind her, and the sound felt like a lock turning.

The room felt different immediately. The air seemed to get thinner. It was the change that happens to a space when the witnesses are gone and only the players are left.

I felt a lump in my throat and swallowed hard. I could feel the back of my shirt getting damp against my skin.

I was alone with him now and honestly I’d have rather preferred Nick at this point.

Preston began to move toward me. He walked with the slow, steady pace of a man who has never had to run for anything in his life.

He knew he was going to get where he was going, so speed didn’t matter.

He stopped when he was close. Too close.

He was well inside my personal space, but he didn’t care. He stood there and looked at me. It wasn’t a look of disgust; it seemed like interest or inspection.

He was taking me apart piece by piece, looking at my clothes, my hair, the way my hands were shaking on my lap. He did it without touching me, but I felt like he was reaching inside my head.

I didn’t step back. I wanted to. My legs were screaming at me to move, but I forced myself to stay still. It was the hardest thing I had done all day.

"I can see it," Preston said. He sounded thoughtful, like he was talking to himself. "I can see why my brother would take an interest in someone like you."

He paused and tilted his head to the side.

"There is something contradictory about you, Noah. You look like the kind of man who would fold the moment things got difficult. You look soft. And yet, here you are. You’re still sitting in that chair. It’s an interesting combination."

"I don’t know what you mean," I said. My voice sounded thin to my own ears.

"Of course you do," he replied.

He moved away from me then, walking around the foot of the bed. He moved like the room belonged to him.

I suppose to a man like him, every room belongs to him. He looked at the heart monitor, then at the IV bags, then at the heavy white bandages wrapped around Cassian’s middle.

Something crossed his face as he looked at his brother. I couldn’t tell if it was pity or something darker. He was too far away for me to read the look in his eyes.

"My brother argued with our father," he said. He sounded casual, like he was talking about the weather. "Quite a lot, actually. And the topic was sometimes about you."

My heart gave a heavy thud. My stomach dropped into my shoes. I had no idea Cassian had been fighting for me. He had never said a word about it.

"About what?" I asked.

Preston stopped on the other side of the bed. He looked directly at me across Cassian’s unconscious body. "About you, Noah. Your place in his life. Your influence."

"I don’t think that’s—"

"You’ve been sleeping with him. Haven’t you?"

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement of fact. He said it clearly and cleanly, like he was reading a line from a report.

"Cassian said it himself, you’re his plaything."

Heat flooded my face. I could feel the red creeping up my neck and into my cheeks. I didn’t even have time to think of a lie before my body betrayed me. The color was an answer all on its own.

"Don’t," Preston said. I had opened my mouth to deny it, but he cut me off before I could get a sound out. "Denying it would only make this conversation tedious, and I don’t like to be bored. The truth is written all over your face."

I froze. I sat there with my face burning, unable to look away from him.