“Quite the opposite, actually. She’s a bit too familial to me.” He says in a way that makes Dex mock a gagging face and sound, “But…the old men of the Huntington-Russell and Franklin family want what they want.”
So she’s like a sister to him. Interesting.
Still unsatisfied and driven by the urge to drag her out of that prissy little boarding school and piss on her like she’s mine, I press on.
“Wouldn’t be the first Bonesman to fuck his sister,” I say, lifting a brow, just to see how he reacts.
“Shut up, Herron,” Ford grunts, angry at the talk of his sister. So I push, just to see if I’m poking the proper point.
“Did you see the ass on Dale Danton-Taft?” This ought to piss Ford off.
“Dale isn’t any of your business either,” Ford clenches through his teeth, his jaw ticking slightly.
“She’s myChosen, making her very much my business."
"If you wanted her so badly, brother, why didn’t you bid for her yourself?” Dex chimes in, laughing a little too loudly.
You can bid for a specific Chosen if you’d like, asking the leaders of the Brotherhood to do you a favor before you’re even sworn in. But it also means you’re in debt to them. Most men avoid swapping pussy for debts before they’re sworn in. But it looks like I ended up with the woman he would have preferred, meaning he didn’t risk it.
He only laughs, and Hudson joins him.
I let the silence drag, but I’m not done.
My gaze remains locked on Archie. He’s still lounging, one leg draped over the other, cigarette now hanging from the corner of his mouth like he’s posing for some deranged aristocratic portrait. But I’ve known him long enough to know when he’s acting too casual.
I tilt my head. “Meet your Chosen tonight, Arch?”
He looks at me, blinking through the smoke. I didn’t see her at the Gala tonight, but I need to know if she was there and I missed her.
“Obviously, I was without a Chosen this evening, Herron, my future wife’s still in school. She’s been assigned to me since nappies. I’m practically related to her,” He says, waving his hand at me like I’m missing something. “Did you not just hear me?”
He doesn’t need to know I’m already well aware of him and Martine’s impending nuptials.
“Hmm,” I reply. Wondering what this means. If she isn’t a Chosen, but she’s already promised to Archie, is she going to be left out of the ceremony because she’s already sworn to someone?
“Herron,” Archie says with his usual playboy smile. “You sound jealous.”
I smile back, but mine is far sharper. “Please. You clearly didn’t get a proper look at my Chosen.” Just like I expected, I catch Ford’s anger suddenly radiating out of the corner of my eye.
But the most significant shock of all, and what I definitely didn’t expect, is the flinch in Dex’s posture at my words.
Ford looks furious, and all of my suspicions are confirmed. I’ll throw him and Dex a bone for the moment. Not because I want to do him a favor, but because I have a plan, and it involves both of them.
The silence turns heavier, just for a moment.
I reach into the jacket slung over the back of my chair and pull out my silver cigarette holder and lighter. Popping it open and taking one out; in seconds, I’m taking a long, steady drag. Overhead, the face of my Breitling glints with the reflection of the chandelier.
Ford's eyes never leave mine. He’s watching me just as I was watching Archie moments ago.
“Too bad she looks like a boring fuck,” I say slowly, enunciating each word before sucking in another large puff.
The silence stretches for a few seconds too long, the four of us staring at each other.
Then Dex breaks the moment with a snort-laugh, tossing a half-empty cigarette box across the table, nearly missing the mound of coke.
“Christ. This little gossip circle’s better than a whorehouse rumor mill. Bonding over women now, are we?”
Ford still holds my gaze, but eventually smiles slowly. His posture hasn’t changed, but something behind his eyes has.
