He doesn’t move right away, and the silence curdles something sick in me.

“Are you okay?” I say, though it’s an absurd thing to ask after what I put him through.

With a sigh, he lifts his head, and our eyes meet. His are bloodshot, rimmed with heartache and exhaustion. “I have no idea what I am.” A frown pulls at his brows. “How much do you remember?”

“More than enough.” Nausea rolls through me as I fold my arms over my midsection. The memories are blurred, softened by alcohol and sharpened by grief, but I remember the cliff. The bite of the wind, the sting of snow, the second I chose to let go. The moment he yanked me back.

And then later, when he made me unravel in a different way entirely.

Another kind of shame takes hold, heavier than the first, because what happened in this bed wasn’t just blind hunger—it was a betrayal to the man who will always have my heart, even though he’s…

Gone.

Liam and I stare at each other, the same unsettling memories hanging between us.

Fear. Anger. Desperation. Then finally…

Acceptance.

With every kiss, caress, and thrust, he’d launched me to the highest summit of grief.

The final stage.

And then, somewhere in the middle of it all, he’d dropped a revelation on me.

At the time, I let it slip by, too consumed with need to register his words. But now, with sobriety clearing my mind, they echo with clarity.

Marrying you is back on the table.

“So you’re back in the auction?” I force the question out before I lose my nerve.

“Yes.” Liam leans back in his chair, chin resting in one hand, revealing nothing.

“How?”

“As a proxy for the House of Sagittarius and…” Glancing away, he lets the sentence hang.

A jagged pang rips through my chest. “What does Landon think?”

Liam’s gaze snaps back to me. “What do you think?”

Even if I wanted to, I can’t respond. Nausea rises, unstoppable, and I shove the comforter aside to sprint to the bathroom. My bare feet slap against the cold marble floor before I fall to my knees and grip the toilet. The retching comes hard and fast, each heave leaving my stomach raw.

I feel him before I see him, his presence grounding me even as my body purges last night’s mistakes.

“That’s it,” he says, gathering the short strands of my hair, rubbing soothing circles on my back. “Get it all out.”

Minutes pass as the waves subside, leaving me drained and trembling. Purged of pride, composure, and strength, I sag into his waiting arms. I should move, put some distance between us, especially after last night, but I don’t have the strength.

“I don’t know how to do this,” he says, breaking the quiet.

“Do what?”