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"Sounds expensive"

"Five grand, but for that look on your face, I’d have paid ten Shall we?"

I followed the line of Noah’s gesture down the length of the beach There was a blanket anchored farther down the expanse of white sand, surrounded by torches A piece of bright fabric athed between two trees

He walked toward the ocean and stood at the edge where the waves licked the sand I followed hiht was all gone and gray clouds chased one another across an inky, perforated sky

"This is what I should’ve given you for your birthday," he said, his voice velvet, but shot through with so I couldn’t name Then he turned to me and his eyes dropped toers moved to my neck They wandered over the jewel "And this"

They tracedbelow the necklace, then up "And this," he said, as they ca my face up to his His thumb followed the curve of led doard mine

"And this," he said, his lips just inches fro to kiss me

He was going to trust me

Somewhere between the boat and the dress and the beach and the sky I had forgotten what I’d done But now it roared back loudly in my ears; if I didn’t tell him now, I never could Lies make us look like someone else, but with Noah, I had to be myself

The words burned in htly at the sound of my voice His eyes translated er to my lips "Whatever it is Don’t say it"

But I did "I read it" The words took my breath with them Noah’s hand left iveness Not even a little

45

I’M SORRY," I STARTED TO SAY " I DIDN’T--"

"Yes, you did," Noah said, his voice cold He looked at the ocean Not at ht--"

"Must we? Must we do this?"

"Do what?" I asked softly

"This" The as a splash of acid "This--whatever" His voice had slid back into flatness "You toldFine" He dropped a viciously indifferent shrug "I suppose part of me wouldn’t have left it there if I hadn’t wanted you to So, done It’s over" He stared ahead into the darkness "It doesn’t race "All right, Mara" His voice lacerated my name "You want to hear how I first learned aboutinto yet another miserable home two days before we left by my father’s secretary, because he couldn’t be bothered to tellthat I was sure I couldn’t actually exist? That I , that the pain the blade drew fro that ely blank "You want to hear that I liked it? Wanted more? Or do you want to hear that when I woke up the next day to find no trace of any cut, no hint of a for disappoint but the sound of deceptively tranquil waves and ain

"It becae I could actually do I’ve chased every high and low you can i the word every with a narrow look to make sure I understood what he meant "Completely without consequence I wanted to losean oblivion I will never find" And then he sh?"

He was terrifyingly cold, but I wasn’t afraid Not of hi "It doesn’t matter"

"What doesn’t matter?" he asked tonelessly

"What you did before"