Violet didn’t know much about Roman and Vivian’s relationship. Asking Roman about Viv resulted in him changing the subject. Every. Single. Time. Violet hoped they were as content as she and Titus.
Who knew, she might have a wedding of her own soon, if Marissa spoke true at lunch yesterday. According to her, Titus walked out of the jewelry shop last week carrying a small, square box. When Marissa and Roman left the sandwich shop, Violet had squealed like a schoolgirl.
Not even the fact Marissa delivered the news could put a damper on her excitement. A tall, statuesque woman with cool ivory skin, bright red hair, and the prettiest face Violet had ever seen; Marissa checked all the boxes on theideal womanlist. Griff’s words, not Violet’s.
The woman tagged along with Roman sometimes, and while Marissa had never given her a reason, Violet didn’t like her.It made Violet feel rotten because she couldn’t put her finger on why. She said nothing to Griff about it because they were friends, but she’d confided in Slayton.
He hadn’t said much other than he’d keep an eye on her, and that if Violet ever felt uncomfortable or threatened to tell him or Roman straight away. It hadn’t escaped her notice that he didn’t mention Titus. Violet had a sneaking suspicion Slayton wasn’t her boyfriend’s biggest fan. He hadn’t seemed happy, either, about what Marissa saw, but Violet knew he’d support her no matter what.
Titus didn’t answer her question about the wedding, his eyes filling with something akin to regret.What’s going on with him?
“I understand if you can’t go,” she assured him, trying to mask her disappointment.
“I’ll be at Vivian’s wedding.” He kissed her again, his lips lingering on hers. “You know I love you, right?”
She chuckled and patted his chest. “I do, and I love you too.” She gestured toward the front door. “Now go before I tie you to my bed.”
He smiled and opened the door before looking back at her again. “I do love you, Violet.”
She shooed him outside with a teasing smile. “You said that already.” As she shut the door, she couldn’t help but sense doom looming over her.
* * *
The next day, Roman waited for his mother and father in his sitting room, pondering how they would take his refusal to marry Vivian in three weeks. He’d hoped by now she would have gotten cold feet and run off with her lover, whom Roman knew she’d started seeing again if her love and orgasms traveling down the bond were any indication.
Elated did not begin to describe what he felt when she’d fucked the mystery man again for the first time. It meant Roman’s plan had worked, but she’d not disappeared and broken their bond yet. He couldn’t hold off on canceling the wedding any longer and sent a request that morning for a meeting with his parents about his upcoming nuptials.
He mentally went over the reasons him marrying someone else wouldn’t harm the kingdom. It mattered not to him, but his parents cared.
1. The bloodline wouldn’t end if he married someone else, it would only weaken, but even a weak royal fae was stronger than the strongest non-royal fae, and when his child married their mate, it would strengthen again.
2. There were no other royal heirs to take his place if Roman denied his mate because royals only had one child. The gods couldn’t kill him or the Tropical line would die out.Maybe.
No one knew what the gods might do. They were ethereal beings who’d created Eden, left instructions to the first humans and fae, and left. They’d only come back once, thousands of years ago, to erect the magical barrier separating the humans from fae and hadn’t returned since.
3. He would kill Vivian if he had to.
Surely those three reasons were enough to placate them.
“Knock, knock,” his mother sang as she walked into his sitting room with a bright smile.
Roman stood and met her halfway, kissing her on the cheek. “Thank you for coming.”
She pulled back. “Why are you being formal?”
“Sarah, leave the boy be,” his father interjected and guided his wife to one of the plush chairs against the wall. When his father took his own seat, he indicated for Roman to sit down. “Tell us what this is about, Son.”
Right to the point then.
“I’m not marrying Vivian.”
His mother huffed, her mouth turning down at the corners. “I know marriage can be scary, honey, but we cannot postpone the wedding again.”
“None of the other three heirs have married yet, and they’re older than he is,” Roman’s father countered.
Roman’s brows rose. Royal fae heirs not marrying on their twenty-second birthday was unheard of. But all four?Unfathomable.
“I’m not postponing the wedding,” Roman cut in. His parents’ bickering came to a halt. The queen looked confused, but his father’s eyes narrowed.Here goes nothing.“I’m not marrying Vivian at all.”
