“That’s not an answer.”
“No. I wasn’t going to tell you. Formal announcement is more than enough.”
Something ugly flickered through his eyes at that.
“Aurelio is nice,” I went on, because saying it fast made it sound less surreal. “My family gets a pretty merger announcement and a televised wedding. I get a fresh start in a city where no one knows my childhood trauma. You get me out of Villain’s courts.” I met his gaze, steady. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”
“It’s not a win. Marcellus wants heirs.”
“Most dynasties do,”
“Aurelio will expect them,” Vince pressed. “That’s what his board wants. Bloodlines. He won’t be satisfied with anything else.”
I held his eyes, feeling something cold and stubborn settle in my chest.
“You can’t judge. Crows breed six from their wives and call it legacy. You don’t really get to criticise other dynasties’ breeding expectations.”
His jaw clenched hard enough I could see the strain.
“You’re really going to marry him?”
“Yes,”
“You’ll move into his dynasty.”
“St Cross until the wedding. Then over to his court. New crest. New codex. New handlers.”
“You’ll carry his name,” he said, like he was testing how the words tasted.
“Apparently,”
He stared at me, eyes dark, breathing just a fraction too slow, like he was actively holding himself together.
“He doesn’t deserve you.”
“I’m just glad someone wanted me.”
I hoped this would be the moment he left. He didn’t.
He looked at me like I was slipping out of his hands and he’d only just realised he’d been the one to open them.
“Do you—” he exhaled once, shallow. “Do you like the fucker?”
“Lord Marcellus.”
His jaw flexed at the title.
“And yes, I like him.”
He let out a low, furious scoff. “Of course you do. Tell me why.”
I stared at him. “Because he was honest.”
That shut him up.
“Aurelio wants heirs. He said it in the first meeting. He wants three, minimum. Two would be acceptable. One would be a disappointment, but not a disqualifier.”
He flinched. Tiny. A muscle under his eye, a twitch at the corner of his mouth. Easy to miss if you hadn’t been trained to read men for weakness.
