~Jennie’s~

“You think because you care, you get to control me?”

My voice slices through the night like a whip. The courtyard is cold, but not as cold as Reo’s stare. The moon is crooked above us, like even it’s too tired to look away. The garden lights behind him catch the edge of his cheekbone, the tightness in his jaw.

I've been noticing, and observing. The staff. Their behavior changing around me. And I have to talk to him about it.

“I don’t control you,” he says slowly. “I protect you.”

I laugh. It sounds broken. “Protect? From what, Reo? Leo? The man who’s been more honest with me...