His expression shifted hard, and before he could think, his hand shot out and locked around my wrist.
"What do you mean by that?"
Pain flared through the joint. I frowned and wrenched free. "Let go. You're hurting me."
The moment I pulled away, he seemed to realize he had broken character. After all, the man standing here was supposed to be the younger brother. Julian Frost. Nothing more.
He forced the emotion down, but his jaw stayed tight. His voice dropped low. "You're leaving?"
I looked straight at him. No flinch, no dodge, as if I meant to see every layer beneath the surface.
"What's the matter? You don't want me to go?"
For just an instant his eyes faltered, struck by something he couldn't name. A flicker of unease passed through them, as though he suspected I already knew the truth.
But he dismissed it almost as quickly as it came, smoothing his expression back to that practiced calm.
No. If she truly knew, she wouldn't be standing here like this. Not this steady. Not with the way she had loved him. If the truth had reached her, she would have shattered.
The thought anchored him. His voice found its usual measured register again.