“Fine, then,” he agrees, tossing down his cloth napkin and rising. “Gio, with me.”
The one who mentioned monthly earnings reports rises from his seat, and I’m shocked when he actually looks at me, giving a slight nod of acknowledgment before he, too, drops his napkin onto his unfinished plate and leaves without a word.
What kind of family dynamic is this?
My head is spinning as mytamagoyakiarrives, and I’m grateful that the chef knew how to make it because the small taste of home will help ground me in my very bizarre new home.
“I’m going down to the gym to finish my workout,” Miko says, rising authoritatively. “Sandro, you coming?”
The silent twin nods, following suit, and suddenly, Leo and I are alone with the second twin, Raf, and his wife. I think her name is Genevieve, but no one’s bothered to introduce us, and right now doesn’t feel like the time as Raf pulls her onto his lap and starts to kiss her.
The open display of affection catches me off guard, and heat races into my cheeks as I quickly avert my eyes, focusing on my perfectly rolled omelet. Leo eats silently beside me, and a tingling sense of awareness makes me want to glance over at him. But I get the strange feeling that he’s ignoring me. Even when his father spoke about my planning his succession dinner, he didn’t look at me, and I’m trying to make sense of the shift.
By the time he’s finished eating, I’m only halfway done with my meal, but even as he stands, he doesn’t say a word—even to excuse himself. Determined to figure out what is going on, I rise, too, leaving behind my food so I can follow him out into the hall.
“Leo, wait up,” I insist, rushing to catch him as he stalks down the hall.
His steps slow, his head turning as he glances back at me, and he releases a long-suffering sigh that cuts deep as he crosses his arms to face me.
“What?” he asks, his voice clipped.
“I—” I honestly don’t know what to say now that we’re alone. I genuinely didn’t expect this reaction after last night. “I guess I just wanted to make sure everything is alright. You seem… upset with me.” Irritated is more like it, a suspicion I had at breakfast but am now feel confident about as he looks bored by our conversation already.
“Look, Sora. I don’t know what misconceptions you might have developed in your mind after last night, but it’s common enough for women when they lose their virginity to make it into something bigger than it needs to be. So let’s just get one thing straight. We aren’t in love—we never will be. You’re my wife because our families agreed on an alliance and we signed a contract. I’ll fuck you because it’s your duty to give me an heir, but otherwise, you’re here to run my household so I can focus on business. Understood? We don’t need to pretend to be friends. In fact, I would prefer it if we don’t.”
Leo doesn’t even wait for a response as he turns and stalks away, leaving me frozen and speechless in the hallway. He couldn’t have shocked me more if he’d slapped me across the face.
It would seem the honeymoon phase is over, and as my cold new reality sets in, I can’t seem to stop the trembling that racks my body.
I should have known better than to trust a Chiaroscuro.
14
LEO
Bitter frustration rises like acid in my throat as I walk away from Sora. Her stunned expression mingled with open hurt feels like a knife to the gut. But I couldn’t look at the hope in her eyes and promise her any of the love or devotion she might deserve.
I never should have let her think I could.
But for one blissful night, I let my fantasies get the better of me, and I fell fully into the delusion that, as my wife, Sora could be completely mine. That I could shield her somehow from the conflict between our families that I knew from the start could never come to an end through one pointless marriage.
It took no time at all to regret everything I’ve done. Starting with the moment I chose not to wake her before leaving our room this morning. She just looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to disturb her after I kept her up half the night. So instead, I crept out to find some breakfast that I could bring back to bed for us.
“You look like you’re in an exceptionally pleasant mood,” Miko observed dryly the moment our paths crossed, and I couldn’thelp but smile thinking about Sora, lying naked in my bed, just waiting for my return.
I had plans for her morning. Starting with a meal that would end with her as dessert. She just didn’t know it yet. I was so lost in the clouds, I nearly slammed into my father before realizing he was watching me, cold distaste etched across his face.
“We’ll meet you in the breakfast room, Miko,” he said. “I need a word with my heir.”
My heir.He always has had a way of saying it with an edge—like he’s already confident I’m going to fall short of the great honor, and at the same time, Miko could neverdreamto merit such a title.
My gut clenches when I think of the look on his face, the condescension as he lowered himself to remind me of a fact I should have already known.
“Wipe that look off your face,” he snapped. “The Tanaka girl is supposed to be a tool so we can manipulate the Tanaka-kai, not some birthday present for you to enjoy or a woman for you to developfeelingsfor.”
The way he said that word, ‘feelings’, like it was a revolting concept, still chafes, because he wasn’t wrong. My attraction to Sora has started impacting my emotions, and after last night, I’m dangerously close to feeling something more than desire for her.
“I want you to break her to your will,” he commanded. “I don’t want another report that says you’ve spent the night making her scream your name. She’s not your fuck toy, and she’s most definitely not here for you to play Casanova. Got it? She needs to understand that you’re her master, that she’s here to serveyourneeds. Otherwise, she’s of no use to us, and accepting this alliance was a waste of time.”
