Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains #6) - Katee Robert Page 0,79
going to work. I should have known that from the start. I take a slow breath. “I care about you.”
She tenses as if she’s going to jump off the couch and flee the room. “Don’t say that.”
My patience threatens to snap, but I hold it together through sheer force of will. “I realize that things are complicated between us, but I’m not misreading things when I say we’ve both had a lot of fun since you’ve been here.”
She won’t quite meet my gaze. “Yes, we’ve had fun.”
“More than fun.” A small part of me tries to put on the brakes before I push us into something we can’t take back, but I’ve never been good at sitting still when the prize I want is before me. “You’ve enjoyed your time with me.”
“Malone, please.” There it is, that expression I can’t define. “Let’s just enjoy the next three days.”
I should let it go. I already know I won’t. I lean forward and try to get her to meet my gaze. “What if this extended past the next three days?”
Aurora clears her throat. “Why did you leave Sabine Valley?”
This is what’s bothering her? What she’s been chewing on for the last week? No, it doesn’t make any sense. We’ve talked about this already, or at least touched on it enough that it’s not a mystery.
This is just the lead-in question to circle whatever is bothering her. With that in mind, I answer honestly and without hesitation. “Because if I didn’t, I might have ended up fighting my sister for the Amazon throne.” I catch her look and shrug. “I was never going to be content with second place, but I love my sister and I love my people, so I chose to leave to spare us all that.”
“Couldn’t you have just not tried to stage a coup?”
“I am ambitious. I always have been.” She’s still looking at me like I’m speaking Latin, so I try to elaborate. “My mother was the most powerful person I’ve ever known. Sabine Valley has fail-safes in place to ensure the territories don’t go to war, but there are a thousand things that could happen to spell the end of an heir’s life that have nothing to do with violence. She wanted to ensure our people would be cared for regardless, which meant she raised us both to rule. But my sister was healthy and strong. There was no need for the spare.”
“She raised you to be a queen and then gave you second place.”
“Yes.” I don’t begrudge her that. Her plans made sense from a tactical point of view, and they ensured the Amazons would remain under a strong leader. If I got the raw end of the deal, I’ve never held it against her. I would have done the same in her position. “I stayed in Sabine Valley until Aisling had her third daughter, Winry, but the second-in-command position chafed. And my sister might love me as much as I love her, but she doesn’t trust me entirely.”
“Can you blame her?”
I arch an eyebrow. “Of course not. I wouldn’t sleep well with someone like me as next in line for the throne, either.” I sit back and pick up my wine glass. “It was better for everyone that I leave.”
“Why Carver City?” She’s still not looking directly at me, still edging this conversation in such a way that I’m not sure of our destination.
Oh well. I resign myself to being along for the ride. If she needs to talk this out, it’s the very least I can do to indulge her. “Of the two cities closest to Sabine Valley, Olympus is too entrenched in its leadership. There’s no way I could come in as an outsider and end up as one of the Thirteen.” And no way that I would be content as one of the bit players beneath Zeus. “Carver City offered more opportunities.”
Aurora pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. “Why this territory?”
There’s no harm in telling her. The news is two decades old, after all. “It had the most potential for growth—and the weakest leader. The people were unhappy; they needed someone strong to give them a path forward.”
She inhales sharply. “I suppose that makes sense.”
It does, but what doesn’t make sense is her reaction to this mundane information. I frown. “Aurora, what does this have to do with continuing this thing between us past the end of the contracted assignation?”