Her gasp is theatrical enough to belong on stage. I almost clap.
Langston smiles.
It’s small. Barely there.
But it’s real.
And somehow, that tiny curve of his lips kicks up something inside me I thought I’d buried years ago. Something warm and dangerous.
“Can I speak with her alone?” he asks suddenly, voice cutting through the chaos.
“No, you may not—” Celeste starts, but my father cuts her off.
“Go on,” he says, almost reluctantly. “If it will help this... situation.”
Langston doesn’t wait for more permission. He steps toward me, brushes past the disbelief radiating from my family, and places his hand at the small of my back.
It’s warm. Firm. Unyielding.
And completely unnecessary, but I let it stay.
He guides me down the hall, turning into a long corridor of empty, echoing space lined with oil paintings and family portraits—none of which include me.
Behind us, I can still hear Celeste arguing with my father.
Good. Let her.
Langston stops when we’re out of earshot and turns to face me.
His gaze is steady, unreadable. The calm in the storm.
“I meant what I said,” he tells me.
I snort, folding my arms again. “What, the part where you tried to claim me like a real estate deal?”
That earns me a flicker of a smile. “No. The part where I said I wantedyou.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.”
“You know what Ilooklike. That’s not the same.”
He doesn’t flinch. “I know how you walked into a room full of power players and told them no. I know you came here to protect your sister. I know you didn’t blink when the stakes got high.”
I pause. Just for a breath.
He’s not wrong.
But that doesn’t make this less insane.
I laugh, shaking my head. “Well, thanks for the rescue mission, but you don’t have to marry me to get Ariana off the hook. I’m sure you’ve got someone else lined up—someone more… compliant.”
His brow furrows. “Why would you think that?”
I blink. “Because this isn’t a movie? Because men like you don’t just throw away power plays for redheads who work at bars?”
His eyes flash. “I don’t throw things away. I make decisions.”
