Chapter l95

Chapter 0095

“You would deny the direct command of your prince?” he asked, voice firm. It was an act, I knew him enough to be able to tell. But he was giving me the reason I needed comply with his wishes if I so chose.

And I desperately wanted to.

“Okay,” I said at last. He utilized his servants to draw attention away from us. When he was certain we were safe, he whisked me away, out onto the balcony where we were alone

Night had set in. The moon was bright above us, illuminating the spacious balcony more than the

candlelight could.

Nicholas maintained distance, not touching, though he stayed close enough to reach for me if I faltered. My twisted ankle felt much better now, though, so I walked steadily. It was only my hands that were

shaking.

We stopped at the railing, and together looked out over the darkness. I thought the gardens might be

below, but I couldn’t be certain.

He stood beside me, looking at me rather than the view.

“Piper,” he prompted.

“Your father knows about us,” I said.

He froze

“He had you followed, all those years ago. He knows everything.” I clasped my hands together. “He told me to stay away from you: He’s right, Nicholas. I should stay away.”

“No,” Nicholas said, coming closer. He pressed his palm into the small of my back. I should have shied from the touch, but I melted into it instead.

Despite everything, his closeness was the comfort I needed.

But I didn’t want to die. A tear escape my eye and tracked down my face.

Piper A hint of desperation marred Nicholas’s voice, tightening it a bit from its usual faise calm. He

almost recognizable. “Elva told me you keep my picture in your wallet. Tell me, is it true?

My breath caught in my throat. Elva had told him about that? When? Why?

she had seen it so much Hed she recognized him from the start? Was that wh

“It’s true,” he said, before I could decide whether or not to deny it. “I can tell just by looking at you.”

I lowered my head, as shame crept in. I allowed myself one last picture of him. I’d purged everything else, but I could never get rid of my favorite. He’d been smiling so bright, just for me.

I knew we couldn’t be together but I didn’t want to let him go, not all the way. I wanted to at least remember what it had felt like to be loved.

“I don’t understand,” Nicholas said, and he sounded almost as broken as I felt. “Why would you keep that

picture?”

“I don’t know.” I didn’t have a good enough answer.

“If you care so much about me, how could you leave me for another man?”

“I didn’t.” The words came out in my grief and my upset. I hadn’t meant to say them.

His eyes were so expressive. Wide and confused. The flecks of green sparkled under the moonlight.

I wished I had an answer for him that made sense.

But the truth would only hurt him more… wouldn’t it?

“But Elva…” he said, and it was an effective counterpoint for someone who didn’t know the whole story.

He didn’t understand. How could he?

Elva looked like me, because she looked like my sister. If someone didn’t know that connection, they would never guess Elva wasn’t mine.

Nicholas wouldn’t understand. Not until I told him the truth.

My chest ached with longing. For years, I’d wanted him to know what really happened. But I’d held myself back.

He deserved better. He deserved more.

Maybe, thinking on it now, what he really deserved was the truth.

So I said, “Nicholas, do you remember my twin sister?”

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