The corridor stretches endlessly before us, and my patience snaps.
“Why are you asking me so many questions?” I demand, wincing as my own voice sends a sharp pain through my skull.
He has the audacity to look offended. “You might have a concussion. You’re supposed to keep someone with a head injury from falling asleep.”
“I promise to remain wide awake if you’ll keep your mouth shut,” I retort. “In fact, the pain from listening to you is doing an excellent job of keeping me conscious.”
His jaw tightens. “I’m just trying to help.”
“You can help by walking faster and talking less.”
Egret’s arms tense around me, but he remains silent the rest of the way to my suite.
We reach my suite door, and Egret shifts me in his arms to scan the keycard from my shoulder bag. The door swings open, and he strides purposefully toward the bedroom.
“The couch,” I snap, pointing to the living area. “Put me down and get out.”
Egret sighs with exaggerated patience. “You need to lie down properly until the doctor arrives. The bedroom is?—”
“I said the couch.” My voice cracks with the effort of not screaming at him. “Put me down and leave.”
He deposits me on the couch with more gentleness than I want to give him credit for. Instead of leaving, he perches on the edge of the coffee table, studying me with those calculating eyes.
“You shouldn’t be alone until the doctor has cleared you. That’s basic concussion protocol.” He says it with the same energy as a father explaining to his toddler why forks and power outlets don’t mix.
“I’d rather fall asleep and never wake up than be alone with you right now,” I snap right back.
He glares at me. “Fine. So then where’s this amazing pack of yours? They should be taking care of their omega.” He makes a dramatic show of looking around the empty villa. “Oh wait, they’re not here. How surprising.”
My head throbs in time with my pulse. “They’ll be back any minute.”
“Trinity.” His voice drops to that condescending tone I still sometimes hear in my nightmares. “You need to come clean about this lie before it gets worse. There is no pack, is there?”
I struggle to sit up straighter, hating that my body shakes with the effort. Though it’s hard to know how much of that is my likely concussion and how much is rage. “You know nothing about my life.”
“I know you’re alone in a pack suite with a head injury and no one to help you. I know you’re still putting work before your own wellbeing.” He leans forward, voice dripping with exaggerated sympathy. “I just wish you couldsee how much you’re standing in the way of a better life for yourself.”
“And you’re still a judgmental asshole who thinks he knows what’s best for everyone else.” The room spins slightly as my voice rises. “You have no right to lecture me about anything after what you did.”
“What I did?” His voice rises to match mine. “You were the one who?—”
“Who what? Who wanted a career? Who wasn’t content to sit at home and wait for you to come back from your business trips? Who wanted to be more than just your obedient little omega?”
“That’s not what happened, and you know it!” He’s standing now, towering over me.
“It’s exactly what happened! You wanted someone to cook and clean and spread her legs on command. Someone who wouldn’t challenge you or have opinions or want anything for herself!”
“You were impossible to build a life with,” he shouts back at me. “Everything was about your personal plans, your ambitions, your schedule?—
“And everything with you was about control! About molding me into what you wanted instead of loving who I was!”
“What the hell is going on here?”
The commanding voice cuts through our shouting match like a knife. Our voices had risen enough to drown out the sound of the door being unlocked and shoved open.
I peer around Egret to see Matheo standing in the doorway, his tall frame blocking the light from the hallway. His expression is thunderous, eyes locked on Egret with barely contained fury.
Egret spins around, his eyes narrowing at Matheo. “Who are you?”
