Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 497

The relief of Scarlett's forgiveness was real, so real it made my bones weak, and under it sat a thin layer of shame for how easily the lie had come. She had believed me because she wanted to believe me, and I hated how much I needed that. But the rest of it, the part that had been waiting quietly in the back of my mind, would not leave me alone.

Was the situation really as Scarlett had explained it? Her words had painted a simple picture. She had no feelings for Sparrow. She slept with him because she was obligated to obey his every word, and every time he told her to come or go or open her legs, she did. But she had also admitted, when I asked her, that she enjoyed it. She had nodded and told me she enjoyed it a lot.

I remembered how disgusted Scarlett had been with Julian. The way she had braced herself before he touched her, the way her smile never reached her eyes when he was in the room. She had endured him because she had to, and everyone could see it. But with Sparrow it was different. She was always smiling lately. She looked pleased with him, relaxed around him, like a woman who had chosen to be where she was. Was that really the face of someone who had no choice but to play along?

Because if Scarlett truly had no interest in him, then I had every advantage. She was the one living in his house, sharing his bed, seeing him every day, and if her heart was not in it, then she was only occupying space that I could fill.

If I could trust her words, truly trust them, I would have told her everything. I would have confessed how I felt and begged her to help me make Sparrow mine, because she knew him better than anyone and she loved me enough to want my happiness.

But I could not trust her words, not completely, and that was the whole problem.

It was just like Grandmother said. What right-thinking woman would be handed a man like Sparrow and choose to walk away? If the old woman had seen the way Scarlett looked at him, the way she smiled when she came back from his room, she would have understood why I kept my secret close. Maybe Scarlett was not a foe pretending to be an ally. Maybe she genuinely believed everything she told me. But people lied to themselves better than they lied to anyone else, and I had learned that lesson in the cruelest school there was.

The house was still dark, that grey hour just before dawn, and I lay very still with my heart hammering until I heard footsteps, soft and careful. I slipped out of bed and crept to my own door, opening it just a crack, and peered out.

Scarlett was coming from the direction of Sparrow's room.

She moved on her toes, trying to be silent, one hand trailing the wall. Her hair was mussed, her lips were still faintly swollen, and I did not miss the smile on her face as she slipped into her own room and closed the door without a sound.