Knox sighed wearily. “Maybe. What do you want, Kitty?”
“I—” A pang of pity needled my side as I took in the circles under his eyes and the lines in his face that seemed to grow deeper every day. Now wasn’t exactly the time, but there would never be a good time for this. “Did you hear Lila’s speech?”
“Yes. I take it you did, too.”
I nodded. “Most of it. You know she’s saying those things under duress.”
“It doesn’t matter. She’s still saying them.”
“But—Benjy noticed something.” I took a step closer to the sofa. He watched me, his dark gaze unwavering. “She’s shoving it down our throats, that Daxton isn’t Victor. She said it at least a dozen times. Benjy said she’s pushingtoo hard—that any idiot with half a brain can tell she’s protesting too much.”
“Only those who are willing to hear it,” he said. “Perception, remember?”
I frowned. “Still. Don’t take this out on her.”
“You’ve already pardoned her,” he said. “I’m not going to undermine you, not when the public needs to trust you. But you will do and say exactly what I tell you to from now on, understood?”
Relief flooded through me, and I shrugged. “I could say yes right now, but we both know that would be a lie. But I do promise to talk to you about what I want to say ahead of time, if it comes to me. If something’s impromptu—”
“Try to do as little of that as possible,” said Knox.
“I’ll do my best.” I glanced at the door. “Dinner’s almost ready. Are we calling a meeting?”
Knox sighed and straightened, his hair sticking up. “Nothing we can do here to stop it. Whatever happens is going to happen, whether the rest of the Blackcoats are worrying about it or not. And the last thing we need is half of them agreeing with Celia while the other half agrees with me.”
“So...that’s a no?”
“That’s a no,” he confirmed, and I furrowed my brow. I couldn’t remember any issue within the past two weeks that the Blackcoats hadn’t discussed and dissected ad nauseam. The idea of Knox hiding something this big from them waspractically unfathomable.
“If Celia and the D.C. Blackcoats go through with it, you’re going to upset everyone here when they find out you knew ahead of time.”
“I have no intention of letting them find out,” said Knox, and he leveled his gaze at me. “Can I trust you?”
It was the first time in weeks that he had even asked, let alone offered me the chance to prove it, and I nodded. “I’ll grab some dinner for us.”
“For us?” he said.
“I’m staying in here until we know what happened,” I said. Knox started to protest, but I cut him off. “Don’t pretend you’re not going to sit in this room all night, scouring the news for any sign of the raid. I’m watching with you.”
He rubbed his face with his hands. “It won’t change what happens. If Somerset falls, there’s nothing we can do but watch it burn. And if it does—”
“We’re screwed. I know.” I opened the door. “Chicken or tuna?”
“Chicken,” he said, and as I stepped out of the room, he added, “Kitty?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
There was a note of warmth in his voice that hadn’t been there before, and I offered him a small, but genuine smile. “You’re welcome.”