Nate’s mouth flattened into a hard line, his usually warm blue eyes flat and angry. “Come with me.”
He led me up another flight of stairs, down a long hallway lined with portraits of people who had probably never broken a sweat in their life, then turned into thekids’library.Because yeah, these people have two of those in their house.
I was sure they didn’t refer to this one as the kids’ anymore, but that was what I’d known it as growing up. Alex was in there, sitting on the edge of a desk like he’d been pacing and had finally run out of carpet.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out,” I said as Nate led me in. “I was wondering where you were.”
Alex glanced at Nate, saw the same thing I had in his eyes, and stood up. Without a word, he crossed the room to their fully stocked drinks cart and poured all three of us a generous tumbler of bourbon.
“Gregory?” he asked Nate as he handed over our drinks.
Nate inclined his chin, grabbing the bourbon like it was a lifeline and immediately taking a gulp that made a real dent inthe amount. I glanced between the two of them. “Your dad is already engraving the wedding invitations.”
Alex scrubbed his hand over his face and groaned. “Christ. I didn’t know he was that far along with this plan. Okay. Sit.”
I didn’t. Instead, I tracked him with my gaze when he started pacing, watching Nate from the corner of my eye as he knocked back the bourbon like a runner sucking down water after a marathon. Finally, when neither of them said anything, I let out a harsh exhale through my nostrils.
“Okay, what exactly is going on with you two?” I asked. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of the whole arranged marriage thing, particularly considering she doesn’t even know the guy, but that’s not what this is about, is it?”
Alex shook his head, pacing for another beat before he sank down on one of the armchairs and looked up at me. In that moment, he seemed ten years older than he had even this morning, his face drawn and suddenly a little ashen.
“Gregory is not a good guy, Trent,” he started slowly. “He pretends to be. He charms the socks off everyone with that accent and the title, but he’s a social-climbing asshole who got himself run out of England with pitchforks. Now, he’s here trying to get back on his feet.”
“By going after Charlotte?” I stared at him, taking in the slump of his shoulders and the clenched jaw. “Are you sure?”
Alex nodded once, the motion sharp and certain. “He’s after the inheritance she gets when she marries. I’ve tried talking to Dad, but Gregory’s father is an old friend. Dad just sees the title and the pedigree. He thinks this is an ideal match for her and he’s not budging.”
Nate sighed, leaning his shoulder against a bookshelf, his bourbon already half gone. “Charlotte seems taken by him already. It’s a shit show. If she marries him, family get-togethers are going to suck ass. I mean, I know there are bigger issues, butI’m just saying. I don’t want to listen to that blowhard tell stories about how great he is for the rest of my life.”
Something flared hot in my chest. I didn’t like the sound of any of this. At all.
Alex shook his head, visibly upset. “I’ll talk to her. She doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into.”
Charlotte, sweet, kind, big-hearted Charlotte, was being swept right into this with no idea she was being hunted. My free hand curled into a fist, but I perched on the edge of the desk casually, trying not to show that the thought of this was pissing me off too.
“It should be up to Charlotte, though,” I said, feeling like I needed to point out the obvious. “Shouldn’t it? You can give her the information, but people fall for who they fall for.”
Both brothers stared at me like I’d sprouted horns, completely taken aback. Nate frowned hard. “Up to Charlotte? No.”
Alex actually scoffed, but there wasn’t any humor in the sound. “Gregory won’t even try once they sign on the dotted line. He’ll disappear on her the second her inheritance hits his bank accounts. This isn’t speculation. It’s not a hunch. It’s a pattern, but Charlotte might not see it that way. She’s smart, but she always wants to see the best in people.”
“Have you got proof?” I asked. “If you can show her, it’s not about what she wants to see. It’s about who he really is.”
“I’m working on it,” Alex muttered. “She’s not the first girl he’s done this to, but his family still matters in England. Gregory is using our family as a steppingstone back to relevance for himself, but getting anything concrete from that side of the pond hasn’t been as easy as it should be.”
Nate folded his arms, glass still dangling from one hand. “We can’t sit back and let her get blindsided.”
The brothers started spinning themselves into knots, trying to figure out what angle to take, whether to warn her, and whether warning her would push her straight toward Gregory out of sheer stubbornness.
I stayed quiet, wondering if they realized they were talking about this like it was a negotiation and not their sister’slife, but when I opened my mouth to say as much, the library door burst open.
All three of us half-jumped as we turned just in time to see Charlotte rushing in, her eyes wide and her cheeks pale. She clutched the doorjamb like she wasn’t sure her legs would hold her upright if she let go.
Alex went still and Nate had shut up mid-sentence, but his mouth was still open. She pulled her shoulders back when she saw us, clearly trying to find her composure, but I could see the tremor in her chin.
Alex swallowed hard, his voice softening. “Char, we need to talk.”
“Later,” she said breathlessly, her eyes darting around the room like she was trying to make sure it was just us. “I need help.”
