Chapter 1752

Avery hadn't finished speaking when Mason cut her off. "Handle it yourself? How would you handle it? Let those people threaten you and do whatever they want with you?" His tone was sharp—so sharp that Avery's head snapped up, and she looked right at him. Although she'd known Mason for a while, it was the first time she'd heard him raise his voice at her. In her mind, Mason had always been gentle, at least toward her. Only now did she realize that his kindness and patience were all because of Juliet. She stared at him for a long moment before finally saying, "I don't want to be a stand-in for someone else. If all we're doing is following the agreement, I can keep my word. But if you want to talk about feelings, I can't do it. It wouldn't be fair to me." Avery always believed that love had to go both ways. She thought mutual affection was a must, or else the relationship would be too sad. Besides, if they had stuck to the agreement from the start—only being physical for the sake o