Can’t be Real 

~ ZARA ~

It was a stunning revelation that tore me apart.

No wonder he'd seemed so tense and… unlike himself. I'd put it down to his anger at me and  jealousy over Ash. Or, perhaps, that he'd been hiding his attraction to Emory from me. But I'd seen the tension in him and…

"Does she know?" I breathed.

"What? No! Of course not! I wouldn't trust her with things I hadn't even trusted to you!"

"Well, that's bullshit. You were talking to her about me from the first day."

"Only from a political level. I spoke to anyone who was key in those days. We were… Zara, things were so complicated and I was moving in ways I should never have done, just to keep you close. I needed allies. We didn't know what she was then. I thought she would understand—and it was a way to keep her on my side, but at arm's length."