A hand on my arm startled me. “That’s not the reaction I was expecting. What’s going on?”
Turning to face my dad, I took a sip of my whiskey. “Nothing.”
“This is what you’ve been training for your whole life. As soon as we swear you in, you’ll be the head of the biggest, most influential family in Chicago. Yet all I see is regret.”
There wasn’t much he missed. And reading people well was one of the things that had made him so successful.
“Things have changed.”
“It’s Quinn, isn’t it?” He nodded, taking another sip of his drink. “You know in this life we don’t get to choose.”
There was no point denying anything. “I know. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Althea and I are happy.”
Theirs had been an arranged marriage, and they’d been one of the lucky ones who had fallen in love. But that rarely ever happened. Mistresses and affairs were common in our world. Expected.
Yet I’d always hoped for more. Especially after seeing how in love Mom and Dad were. I’d always wanted something like that for myself. But hopes and dreams were for the weak, and I had to be strong to take on my new role.
“I know.”
“You can still be happy. And the marriage can be on paper only. Nothing’s stopping you from finding Quinn once the dust settles.”
I let out a bitter laugh. He made it sound as if this was one of his business transactions. “Except I’ll be married, and I’d be cheating on my wife. Besides, I’d never put Quinn through that. Making her the other woman. If I’m married, I’m committed.”
“Don’t make any hasty decisions yet. See how it all plays out first.”
That was the last thing I wanted to do. I liked to take action. And I knew with absolute certainty that if I got married, there would never be anything between Quinn and me. She had strong morals and was ready to fight for what she believed in. She would never become a mistress. And I didn’t want her to. She deserved to have the world handed to her, not be someone’s dirty little secret.
“I can’t.” My voice sounded as tortured as I felt. This was all wrong. How was I supposed to go through with it?
“You’ll have to. The contract is ironclad. If you break it, the Russians will come for us. And they won’t stop until they have our heads. Do you want to put your mother and sister through that?”
No matter what decision I made, someone would suffer. At least if I went through with the marriage, I’d be the only one suffering. After the way I’d treated Quinn, she’d move on without a backward glance, if she hadn’t already.
“Of course not.”
Dad walked to the leather couch that sat in front of the fireplace and took a seat. His gait was still unsteady, his hands shaky. He needed to rest more.
He cleared his throat to regain my attention. “You always knew this would happen.”
I did. But nothing could have prepared me for it. “Back then I didn’t know how things would change.”
Or how I would come to despise having my choice taken away from me. Who I’d marry should be the least of my worries right now. We were on the brink of war. And before I met Quinn, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Now it was all I could think about.
“Maybe it’s a good thing she took the decision out of your hands, then.”
My blood froze in my veins. “What do you mean?”
“She left this afternoon.”
The glass in my hand exploded, the shards cutting my skin. The pain didn’t register. “And you’re only telling me this now?”
“It’s for the best.”
“For who? You? The business?”
“For you, son. You need to let her go. Maybe in a year you can revisit this.”
