“That’s right.” Jaya put her hand on her sister’s. “They are. It’s the way our world is.” And they sat sipping their drinks, each of them feeling the weight of responsibility and expectation.

CHAPTER 15

Jaya

Later that evening, Jaya sat in an oversize papasan chair in Daphne Elizabeth’s room, reading one of the books Jaya had picked up at Bookingham Palace in a happier time. The winter wind gusted in the pines and aspens outside the window as she huddled deeper into the chair, willing herself to be lost in the war scene she was reading. Once again, books were proving to be a solace.

Daphne Elizabeth was, at the moment, trying on and discarding outfit after outfit at her closet. “Hey, you know, Grey’s going to Caterina’s yacht gala next weekend too,” she said. “I convinced him to.”

Jaya looked up reluctantly from the dueling dragons on the page. “Yes, Leo told me.” Daphne Elizabeth and Leo had tried every possible trick they knew to get Jaya to tell them what was happening. Jaya hadn’t asked, but she guessed Grey was being just as tight-lipped as she was.

She didn’t want to tell them about the engagement because she didn’t want it to get back to Grey. And she didn’t want to tell Grey because… because there was no point. What would be the benefit of torturing him with the details of why, exactly, she’d said they couldn’t be together? This way, maybe it would be more of a clean break for him. She’d stopped things before they became too serious and now Grey could move on. He might be angry with her, he might come to hate her with time, but he’d move on. She could deal with everything else.

Daphne Elizabeth turned to her, holding a glittery black skirt on a padded silk hanger. “Is there any chance you might want to… reconcile with him? Because I think he’d be open to it—”

“Daph, we’ve already talked about this.” Jaya tried to unhear her words. She didn’t want to know Grey was open to it. She needed to be steel, hard and strong and steadfast. She couldn’t afford to weaken. “Please.”

“I’m sorry,” Daph said, putting her skirt back in the closet and picking up a pink velvet top instead. “I just don’t get it.”

“It would never work.” Jaya picked at a loose thread on the papasan cushion. “We’re too different.”

“I know, and I know what a pain in the ass Grey can be, but seriously, Jaya, I’ve never seen either of you happier than when you were tog—”

Jaya held up a hand, her heart squeezing in pain. But taking a page from Grey’s book, she kept her face an impassive mask. “If you can’t stop talking about it, I’ll have to leave.”