Alex digs her nails into the palms of her hands so hard that she's sure she just have drawn blood. She remembers the first day she met him, when he'd set the jackals on her and she'd been so tempted to jab her fingers into his throat and make him reject treating her like that.

"You made yourself really clear, Darlington. What? You don't want me but you don't want anyone else to want me either? Is that it?"