What the hell? I toss my phone onto the floor. I’m afraid of what I’ll say next.
A soft tap on my door draws my attention. “Come in.”
Stephanie peeks her head inside my bedroom. “Everything okay?”
I sigh and motion for her to come inside. “Nothing is okay.”
She nods and moves to sit next to me on my bed. “You guys really do look good together, though.”
She hands me her phone, and there Liam and I are. Our photo is on social media, heads leaning toward each other over a diner table, deep in conversation. She’s right. We do look good together.
I appear to be hanging on his every word, my attention fully focused on his face—his smiling face with its dimples and chiseled jawline. His eyes dance with whatever he is telling me. Like me, he appears enthralled by the person across from him. We look like a couple. A real couple.
“People suck,” I mutter, wondering why nothing can stay private. Like I needed this posted for everyone to see. Like I don’t deserve one fucking weekend of peace to come to terms with what is happening in my life.
“Breakfast looks like it went well?”
I shrug. I don’t know how to respond to that. “It went.”
“So tonight’s the night? Can I do anything to help? Your mother sent a dress.”
Of course she did. I’m sure she’s picturing all of her grandchildren already.
I look over at my roommate. “Tonight is the engagement. But, Rowan said the wedding will be sometime this summer. That means that I have a few more months before things become irreversible.”
She nods thoughtfully. “Did you talk about this with Liam?”
“He knows how I feel. He said he’d try to think of ways out of this.”
Her eyebrows climb to her forehead. “Really?”
“Yep. Really.”
Although, I’m not sure I believe him. What the hell was he going on about at breakfast about beinggiftedme as his wife? That was crazy talk. He can’t really think that, can he? Suddenly, I’m angry again. I bet he was playing me. He probably isn’t thinking of ways out of this at all. I have no doubt he expects me to go along with this simply because he said so. That’s probably how he would expect an entire marriage to go. Someone who listens to his every command. Fine. I guess I’ll have to show him who I really am. And if that doesn’t give him an incentive to find a way out of this, I don’t know what will.
LIAM
There is no way to end this engagement. As I promised, I gave it some thought. Serious thought. Don’t get me wrong. Iwantto marry Taryn. If I’m going to have to get married, she’s the whole package. Smart. Beautiful. Sexy. But if there is a way around this marriage entirely? Okay. Sure. I gave it some thought.Brainstormedif you will.
I know that I’lleventuallyhave to get married. Take my place helping to run clan business. One day, I’ll even lead it. Need to produce an heir. That’s simple destiny, and I am one hundred percent certain that there is no way to avoidmyfate. Regardless of how I feel about it. And, truth be told, like I told Taryn, I’m not looking forward to going to work for my father. My old man has always been an asshole, and he wants no one else’s opinion on how things should be done. He just wants me to do things theexactway he’d do them himself. The same way he’s been doing things his whole life. The same archaic way his father did things before him. Seriously. Where’s the challenge in that? The fun in that?
I’ll graduate soon and probably go work at one of our clubs. Learn how Da likes them to be managed. Fine. I’ll listen to what he wants while, as usual, I talk to people behind the scenes to figure things out on my own. One day, I’ll have to step up and force my old man to realize we’re still operating in the dark ages, but until I care enough to do so, I thought Taryn would be a great distraction.
Love isn’t a requirement for marriage in our world, and we don’t need it anyway. If she would stop fighting this so hard, she’d realize that the two of us will get along just fine without it. Even if I recognize that’s not entirely fair to her, I came to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter. My clan and hers need this alliance. Our engagement will enable the clans to start planning how we can work together, and our marriage will solidify those plans. It’s how things are done. Like I said, dark ages. Her fate is now bound to mine.
So, here we are. My father, Rowan, and I are standing with drinks in hand, off in some private study at the O’Toole estate. Taryn and her family should arrive any moment. I have no clue where the rest of my family wandered off to. They’ve likely made themselves scarce because my father is in his usual surly mood.
“We lost two investors last week,” my father grumbles, his Irish brogue thick with annoyance. “We’re going to have to find another business to run the money through if this keeps up.”
Rowan nods. “We were able to catch one of Nicopolis’s men outside one of our clubs in Brooklyn. He was doing reconnaissance of some sort, trying to plant cameras.”
My father hums. “What did you find out?”
Rowan sighs. “Not much. He was simply following orders, which he says came from Nico Georgiou. He was just told where to plant the cameras.”
“Do you believe him?” my father asks, tossing back the last of his whiskey.
“I do,” Rowan grunts. “By the time my guy was done with him, he would have sold me his own mother to make the pain stop.”
