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or drama would tend to put himself in the role of hero, and she his da so”

“She’s key,” Eve murmured “Maybe not the key, but a key” With her hands in her pockets, she wandered to Mira’sShe was feeling closed in today and couldn’t say why “I don’t get it,” she said at length “The wouy, folds herself into this other guy so completely that when he tosses her away, she tries to self-ter up on her He beats hell out of Draco, gets hiets skinned in a civil suit And when he talks about her twenty-five years later, he goes soft Why isn’t he bitter? Why isn’t he pissed? Is he ja me here?”

“I can’t say with absolute certainty He’s a talented actor But s for the wo you Eve, the human heart is ayourself in this man’s place That’s one of the skills you have, what et into his heart You would look at this woman and see weakness”

Mira sipped more tea as Eve turned “She eak Weak and careless”

“And quite young, I iine, but that’s beside the point You look at love differently because you’re strong and because of where and in whom you found it The love of your life, Eve, would never betray you or hurt you or, where it matters most, ever let you down He accepts who you are, absolutely As much as you love him, I don’t think you fully understand how rare and how precious that is Stiles loved, and perhaps still loves, a fantasy You have the reality”

“People kill for both”

“Yes” Mira ejected the disc, held it out to Eve “They do”

• • •

All the talk about love and lifetiuilty She played back what others had said and realized everyone who had mentioned her relationship with Roarke as an example had spoken of what he would do for her or wouldn’t do to her

It wasn’t, she decided, a very pretty picture of her participation in the whole love and e deal

She never really did anything, she thought She still had a esture, the right moment Roarke seemed to pluck them out of the air as easily, as smoothly, as he plucked his fortune

So she’d make an effort She’d push the case onto the back burner, okay, the side burner, she ad, Jesus, romantic

In her current state of mind, she wanted to avoid Sue Then, like a thief, she snuck in the house through one of the side doors

She was about to plan her first intimate dinner

How hard could it be? she asked herself as she jue situations, tracked psychopaths, outwitted the deranged