Page 96
“She wants to go back to her work.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Asterion stared at her. He’d heard those exact words from Ria not long ago.
Korinnae’s eyes widened as something occurred to her. “You didn’t ask her to stay.”
“Now—”
“You didn’t!”
“I told her I wanted her here.”
“But you didn’t ask her to stay.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t ask her to change her entire life for me when I don’t know how this is supposed to work.”
Korinnae threw her hands up. “But you love her!”
He froze. “What?”
“You love Ria. And she loves you.”
His mind stalled on the first part before catching up with the second. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“And how do you know?”
“Because I have eyes!” Korinnae looked offended that this required an explanation. “You look at her all the time with heart eyes. She looks at you too. And you sleep in the same bed.”
That pulled him straight out of his thoughts. “How do you know that?”
“I saw you!”
“When?”
“I don’t know. One morning.” She shrugged.
“Korinnae, we—”
“I’m ten, not stupid!”
He closed his mouth. Apparently, they’d done a considerably worse job of hiding their relationship than he’d thought.
She stared at him. “You always tell me I have to be brave.”
He frowned. “What does that have to do with this?”
“Everything! You tell me I can’t run away because I’m scared. You tell me I have to try things even when they’re hard.” She pointed at him. “But you’re scared of Ria.”
“I’m not scared of Ria.”
“Yes, you are.”
