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tabloid liars. It's what you wanted, Aidan. Everyone knows who
    you are. You should have been satisfied with the acting alone. But no, you had to have more. So
    now you got all you wanted and everything that goes with it."
    Ultimately, because she couldn't cope with it all, she'd carved his heart out and handed it to him on a
    silver platter. Not in private like a decent human being. She had done it publicly by seeking out the same
    tabloids that had already eviscerated him. Even worse, she'd helped his enemies come after him and had
    done everything in her power to embarrass him before the world.
    And this woman before him now was no exception. He had no doubt. If he let her in, she'd hurt him too.
    The only person in this world who cared about him was himself.
    He indicated the door with a jerk of his chin. "Can't you just stay here for a couple of hours and not
    speak to me? Is that really too much to ask?"
    "I don't like silence."
    "Well, I do."
    "And it's my house," she said in a deep voice, imitating him with the voice of an irate parent. "While
    you're under my roof, young lady, you'll do as you're told!"
    Aidan wanted to be offended by her mockery. But a smile tormented the edges of his lips. "You're not
    funny."
    "Of course I am." She winked playfully at him. "You wouldn't be smiling inside if I wasn't."
    His stomach tightened as he realized that she was charming him with her actions and that only made him
    angry again. "Look, I really don't want to talk to you. I just want to be left alone. Get out."
    She released a tired breath and shook her head. "When was the last time you talked to a friend?"
    "Nineteen months ago."
    Leta felt her jaw drop at his disclosure. She couldn't believe that. Even with her emotions muted and
    basically gone, she still confided in others. The only exception being the time she was in stasis. "What?"
    "You heard me."
    Yes, but hearing and believing were two entirely different things. "You're not serious."
    "Oh, I'm serious all right. I called up my best friend to confide in him because I needed someone to talk
    to and the next thing I knew our conversation was not only in the paparazzi rags, but on blogs and in
    every industry magazine the bastard could find. 'Aidan O'Conner: The Truth Behind The Legend. Read
    how his girlfriend betrayed him and left him a drunken sot on the street, begging for change while
    assaulting his fans.' What killed me most, there was so little truth in what he told them. Instead, he
    distorted my words and embellished them until I couldn't even recognize what I'd said. Let's just say I
    learn from my mistakes. So no, I don't talk to friends. Ever."
    Well, she could understand that. Back when she'd still had her emotions, she'd once shoved M'Adoc
    from behind when he'd told their brother M'Ordant that she thought he was a prig at times. She'd been
    humiliated and mortified that M'Adoc had repeated a private conversation and then used it to hurt
    someone she loved dearly. It'd made her cautious for weeks about saying anything to anyone, but
    eventually she'd gotten over it and moved on.
    That experience was certainly minor in comparison to what Aidan had been through. Honestly, she
    couldn't imagine having to cope with something so intrusive or a person so slimy. M'Adoc had only told
    one person, not the entire world, and he had quoted her verbatim without embellishment.
    That being said, it didn't mean Aidan should give up on people and trust no one at all. People needed
    friends in this world. "Well, one person's betrayal doesn't—"
    "We'd been best friends since junior high school," he said between clenched teeth. "We're talking twenty
    years of friendship flushed away in three seconds because someone was willing to give him five thousand
    dollars." He curled his lip bitterly. "Five grand. That's all my friendship over the years was worth to him.
    Funny thing is, I'd have given it to him if he'd just asked."
    Leta cringed in sympathy. No wonder he was so bitter.