He throws out the word like it’s poison, and I have even more pity for my mother.
“You believing you love her makes you weak, and it’s blinded you to your reality.” He leans back in his chair, looking contemplative as his tongue darts out, wetting his lips.
“Me loving her makes me strong,” I contend, “and you should be happy because she is the only thing that could ever make me toe the line.”
He taps his fingers on the table in a steady beat. “You would sacrifice her, sacrifice the so-called freedom you have fought me for over the past few years, all to protect her?” he asks, sounding incredulous as he connects the dots.
“I would do anything to protect her including”—I pause for a breath, drawing bravery from some hidden place to force these words from my mouth—“letting her go if that’s the only way to keep her safe.”
“Hmm.” He inspects my face with the intensity of a magnifying glass. “You truly mean that.”
“I do.”
He clasps his hands on the desk in front of him as I swallow over the massive lump in my throat. I drag a hand through my hair, sending waves of dark locks tumbling across my brow. I haven’t cut my hair all summer because Ash loves when it’s longer on top. More for her to tug on when I have my face buried between her thighs and my tongue thrust so far inside her pussy I see stars.
“If I promise to leave the girl alone, you—”
“And to protect her,” I add, risking his wrath by cutting across him. “You won’t harm her, and you’ll ensure no one else does either.”
“I didn’t raise an idiot. You understand I can’t promise that. I give you my word no harm will befall the girl at the hands of our family. I cannot be responsible if she falls prey to any other family.”
“You mean the Sloth Luminary.” It doesn’t take a genius to guess who he means, but he shakes his head.
“I believe the girl is safe with James Manford.”
I crank out a laugh. “Now you’re treating me like a fool. I know he knows I’ve been fucking around on his daughter with Ash. I know their two families are close. You can’t tell me he isn’t pissed.”
I was seventeen when Chad approached me about joining him and Ash in the bedroom. I had been lusting after her for a long time, and it was becoming harder and harder to disguise my attraction from my best friend. So, it was a no-brainer. The words had barely left his mouth when I agreed, and we’ve been in this three-way ever since.
It might have started out as sex, but it’s so much more now.
If it wasn’t for this shit hanging over my head, this past year and a half would have been the best time of my life. Rebelliously stupid, I hadn’t given much thought to how this might impact Ash at first. As we quickly grew closer, I thought she could be my ticket out of this nightmare with Julia.
I knew The Luminaries were aware of our relationship because they are all-seeing and all-knowing. I thought the billionaire owner of Manford Media, the most publicly recognizable of the four luminaries, might eschew the arrangement made with my father in light of the insult.
But James Manford has taken no action, continuing to welcome me warmly at the quarterly meetings at HQ and at family dinners.
“No man in his position would ever hold that against you. Men have needs, and there is no required exclusivity until after college graduation. Then you will be expected to remain loyal to your intended, outside of your responsibilities of course.” He lets loose a feral grin. “You may not be my heir, but you are still a second son. That comes with great responsibility, and the time has come to step up to the plate.” A sleazy grin spreads across his mouth as acid churns in my gut. “You can hardly fulfil your duties as part of the Lust & Envy Luminary family by sticking your dick in one pussy.” A hearty guffaw slips from his mouth in a moment of uncharacteristic humanity. “You need to start thinking like your brother. Balthazar sees the benefits of the responsibility under our control. You could be stuck weeding out addicts or narcissists like some of your peers. Count your blessings you get to fuck and manipulate for a living. There are far worse things in this life.”
He disgusts me. The whole situation does. But there is no point waging a pointless war. This is my future. My reality. My responsibility. My burden. My death sentence.
“Can we get this over and done with,” I snap, needing to be out of here before I wring his neck. “Do you give me your word Ashley Shaw will be protected to the best of your ability?”
“I do—as long as you commit to Julia and your role in all the ways we have discussed.”
I would rather stick pins in my dick than share a bed, let alone a home and a life, with that insipid, vain, weak, whiny bitch. But she’s the Manford heir, a first daughter who was highly sought after. Dad considered it a coup when he won her hand on my behalf. We were chosen for one another at age eight when we were formally inducted and our training commenced.
I have known this day was coming.
Been dreading it from the moment I found out.
I’m still not prepared to lose Ash. Lose Chad.
I doubt I ever could be.
Unless I can find a solution, I know the only way this will work is by cutting all ties and making it irreversible. They will both need to hate me.
“I will commit to Julia as is my duty. I will move in with her as you wish, but I want two months before the engagement announcement is made.”
