Variation: A Novel by Rebecca Yarros

Author:Rebecca Yarros [Yarros, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2024-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Allie

SanFranFouette: OMG. I’m living for these updates RousseauSisters4

Hunter4lights: If she can’t sit through dinner, there’s no way she can handle rehearsal. How embarrassing.

I threw my keys onto the entry-hall table of my apartment and kicked off my heels once I hit the living room. The sun was setting, giving a dusky glow through the two-story windows that looked out over the city as I ditched my clutch on the surprisingly clean coffee table. Either Eva was making an attempt at picking up after herself, or our housekeeper deserved a raise.

Anger crawled beneath my skin, the heat of it cracking the carefully constructed mask I worked so hard to maintain when in the city. I hadn’t even made it through dinner.

“You want to talk about it?” Hudson asked, the sound of his footsteps behind me softening as he reached the area rug. What did he think about this place? My mother had hand selected the apartment for its proximity to the studio and had decorated for Lina, only to hand the keys over to me a month after her death.

Did he like the subtle acts of rebellion Eva and I had committed in the street-vendor art on the walls and messy photos of messier nights in their mismatched frames along the bookshelves? Or did he only see the polished surfaces presented for first glance?

“Allie?” He walked past the wicker baskets of pointe shoes we kept near the sofa just in case we felt like breaking them in while streaming a Netflix marathon.

“I’m still processing.” Moving to the windows, I looked down twenty-two stories and watched people go about their lives, walking their dogs, taking their children to the store, maybe arriving at the restaurant on the corner for a date night.

“You can process out loud.” He appeared at my side.

“We’re off the clock.” Funny, but I’d thought that if he were here in my apartment, with its high lofted ceilings, he wouldn’t feel so much bigger than life. I was wrong. He was everywhere, his ocean-salt scent in my lungs, his voice in my ear, his touch imprinted on my skin. I was constantly torn between putting as much space between us as possible, and yanking him closer. Damn it, I was a mess. “You found the guest room when you got here, right?”

He nodded. “Thanks for asking the doorman to let me in.”

A wry half smile twisted my lips. “I know you’re close to superhero status and all, but I figured it was too much to ask you to Clark Kent it in a phone booth.”

He unbuttoned his tux jacket. “Your friends seemed nice for the whole three minutes I spent with them. I like that Kenna’s protective.” The jacket slipped from his shoulders, and he folded it in half before laying it over the back of the leather armchair.

“I can handle myself.” I folded my arms like it would keep another piece of facade from cracking. “Just because I’m quiet or controlled doesn’t mean I don’t know how to fight back or defend my place in the Company.

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