Chapter 242

• Alaric’s POV
• Emilia was pacing again. I’d seen her do it countless times in the past two days, wearing a path into the floor whenever something gnawed at her. Tonight, it was Matteo. Again. Like the past two days.
• I leaned back in my chair, glass of bourbon in hand, and watched her. She didn’t notice—or maybe she didn’t care—that I was sitting there quietly, letting her run herself into the ground with her frustration. She was muttering under her breath, no doubt rehearsing the same arguments she’d been making to me for days now.