‘I will enrol them in their old boarding school, but only after your marriage has taken place on New Year’s Eve.’
‘But… W-what?’ She swung round to Theo, sending him a panicked look.
What was her father talking about? Theo hadn’t mentioned that a date for their wedding had already been confirmed. Hadn’t they agreed this would just be an engagement?
Theo clasped her hand and squeezed her fingers, before tugging her closer.
He kissed her, sending a shiver of sensation through her body, then whispered in her ear. ‘Let me deal with him, Freya. You must trust me.’
She nodded when he drew back, aware of her father watching them both. She couldn’t voice any doubts here, couldn’t bargain for herself, because her father had never treated her like an equal. She had already agreed to let Theo handle this, but the anxiety refused to ease. Because she suddenly felt like the girl she’d been before she ran away. The girl who had tried so hard to make her father see her but had never succeeded.
It’s not Theo’s fault.
This was her father’s doing. And if worse came to worst, and they had to go through with the marriage to free her brothers from his tyranny, she had Theo’s promise that he wouldn’t take her choices away from her.
‘Remy and Jacques are keen to see you, Freya.’ Her father spoke, the demand in his voice unmistakeable. ‘And I wish to speak with your future husband in private.’
It wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order. She bristled, wanting to tell him where he could stick his orders. But what could she do? She’d come back here willingly, to set things right—or, rather, to let Theo set them right. So, she had to lock down her anger—and her panic—one more time.
Theo scooped an errant curl behind her ear, the affectionate gesture and the pride in his eyes somehow shoring up her defences.
‘Go say hello to your brothers, Freya. I promise, I won’t agree to anything that isn’t in your best interests, and theirs.’
She forced a strained smile to her lips. She loved him, even if she couldn’t say it to him yet. Beneath the reckless adventurer, the ruthless opportunist, was a sensitive man, a fair man, a manwho wanted to protect her. She had to accept that she wasn’t fighting this battle alone any more.
Lifting on tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his, putting all the love and trust she could into the kiss. ‘I’ll see you soon,’ she said, before leaving the room.
But as the doors closed behind her, she caught a glimpse of her father’s expression as he directed his attention back to Theo, the admiration in his gaze unmistakeable. And she couldn’t control the awful feeling of déjà vu.
And the fear that she was about to be betrayed again, by a man she trusted.
‘I salute you, Caras. I see you have done what I failed to do—and brought my daughter to heel at last.’
‘Don’t talk about her as if she’s a dog,’ Theo shot back, his stomach revolting as nausea scoured his throat, sickened by her father’s smug expression—and the contempt in his eyes for his own flesh and blood.
He’d met ruthless men before. Men who had no ties, no loyalty, no qualms about stamping on the weak—dammit, he’d been at the mercy of some of Athens’ worst criminals and lowlifes. He had even considered himself one of their number as a boy. But he’d never met a man he despised more than this bastard.
An image flashed into his head, of the way Xander had held his tiny daughter on that video call—with such care, such tenderness, such pride… Prince Andreas wasn’t a father, any more than his own father had been one, because being a father required more than biology. A lot more.
The man laughed, but the sound was devoid of humour or warmth.
‘I would warn you not to fall for her charms, Caras—as I fell for her mother’s. Freya is very much like Anjelica. Disobedience and wilfulness wrapped in a deceptively beautiful package. Sleep with her if you wish, pamper and indulge her, but do not be fool enough to trust her. Or she will take advantage of your indulgence, just as her mother took advantage of mine.’
‘I’m not here to discuss my relationship with your daughter,’ he said, cutting off the conversation.
It sickened him to hear her name on her father’s lips. But worse was the realisation he wasn’t that different from this man, or his own father, because he was going to be forced to use her, one last time.
She’ll thank you for it in the end. You must believe that.
‘No, because you are a man not unlike myself, are you not?’ her father said as if he had read Theo’s mind. His smile became sly. ‘We both know this is about the port land. That is why you have agreed to the marriage, is it not?’
It wasn’t, not any more. He would quite happily have forgotten about the damn land at this point, found another place to house the cruise business, or better yet sell that part of the business, because it had been tainted from the start.
But he already knew marriage was the only way to finally free Freya from this man’s influence. And he would have to buy the land as well, or the prince would refuse to let a former Athens street rat marry his daughter, because it was the money from the land deal the bastard was really after.
‘Draw up the contracts at Xander’s original offer price and I’ll sign them,’ he said, the bitter taste in his mouth starting to engage his gag reflex.
‘I believe you are already aware the sale can only be finalised once the marriage has taken place,’ Andreas replied, finally coming clean about the stipulation in the country’s constitution.
