“Who you were is never as important as who you are. So… who are you?”

“So," Nate attempted conversation for the third time. He seemed to be in a better mood lately. "Do you guys maybe want to talk about how every uncomfortable this is?" He smiled tightly, looking first at Tristan, then at Scarlet. "Because I don't know about you, but I feel awkward. Let's hash it out, shall we? Tristan," Nate said brightly. "We'll start with you. How are you feeling?""Annoyed.""I like your honesty and openness." Nate turned to Scarlet. "What about you? How are you feeling?""Tired," she said. "Nine in the morning is too early for needles."Tristan said, "Maybe if you hadn't stayed out so late, you wouldn't be so tired."Scarlet said, "Look who's decided to speak again. Suddenly the silent and dark Tristan has an opinion on my life.""Oh, I have many opinions.""See?" Nate said, his smile tighter than before. "Isn't all this openness refreshing?”

“Do you think it’s weird to kiss someone you barely know?” No, it’s perfectly normal and gives us a fantastic excuse to make out. Kiss me!“Totally weird,” she said, immediately wanting to slap herself. He nodded slowly. “Me too.” Scarlet’s heart sank a little. Gabriel flashed his dimples. “I guess now I’ve got a good reason to get to know you, don’t I?”Scarlet narrowed her eyes. “Who said I’d let you kiss me even if you got to know me?”He nodded his head with a smile. “Challenge accepted.”

“But there are some kinds of love that you can’t lose, no matter how hard you try. So there’s no need for him to be afraid.”

“He then eyed Tristan and took a step back, stumbling over his cloak. “You must be the earl’s twin brother. But your eyes…how are they so green?”“They were brown until your heathen of a cousin shot me through the heart,” Tristan said crossly.”

“I never said I would be helpful. I said I would ask permission before stabbing you.”

“So you killed my father? You killed my bride?" he growled."She wasn't even your woman."Why did everyone feel the need to remind him of that?”