“No. We don’t keep fiancées in the vault, but we do keep our money there. Along with all sorts of priceless heirlooms and knickknacks. Our fiancées are all free to walk around out there in the world somewhere, but they’re chosen for us in order to make sure all the money and the knickknacks get to stay in the vault, and be joined by lots of friends with every new generation.”
My jaw suddenly felt decidedly less firmly attached to my body when all I saw looking back at me was complete and total sincerity. “Are you talking about… arranged marriages? Is that what you meant when you said your fiancées are chosenfor you?”
“Yes.”
“You’re joking.”
“I’m not. Every last one of us will be married off for the good of the family and to protect what we’ve been building for decades. No one is getting out of it.”
“That’s…” I trailed off in a desperate search for the right word, but shit. It took me a few seconds to land on one that actually felt accurate. “That’s archaic.”
His expression cooled several degrees. “Seeing as your previously old-money family never put faith in that system and consequently failed at keeping their wealth, maybe archaic isn’t the worst thing in the world.”
My spine straightened. “Excuse me?”
“Three generations of your family name resting in the dirt,” he said evenly. “Your father had to pick up the pieces and build a hedge fund from scratch. That’s never happened to us, so it might be archaic, but it works. The evidence is irrefutable.”
My heart thudded against my ribs, heat shooting to my cheeks. “That’s rich. Truly. Nothing sayshealthy relationshiplike a legally binding business merger with occasional kissing privileges. Although I’m assuming those are strictly reserved for when procreation is required.”
His teeth ground, a knot forming at the back of his jaw. “It ensures stability.”
“No, what it ensures is that your family stays stuck in the stone age.”
“It’s called tradition.”
“I think you spelledsuffocationwrong.”
His jaw flexed again and he took a step closer, close enough that I could see the darker ring around those stupidly striking blue eyes. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I have every idea,” I retorted. “I just won’t romanticize it.”
In the aftermath, silence crackled between us, tight and electric. I tilted my chin when I remembered how we’d gotten onto this topic in the first place. “Wait, isthatwhat this is about?”
“What?”
“Are youjealousof me talking to Will?” I asked. “Or is it that you’re jealous ofhimfor being a lot more social and easygoing?”
His eyebrows shot up and he scoffed. Loudly enough that it was a little offensive, if I was being honest. The idea that he could be jealous of his brother or of me flirting with his brother wasn’t that ridiculous, but he’d made it sound like I’d asked if he wanted to go horseback riding with an alien.
“Trust me,,” he said firmly. “I am not jealous. I was simply doing you the service of telling you the truth, because my brother won’t pay you the same courtesy. He’s still harboring the illusion that he’ll be the exception to the rule.”
“Oh, please. You’ve been sulking like someone canceled your favorite sport ever since you came in here and I started talking to him. Don’t pretend it was a favor.”
“I don’t sulk.”
“Okay. You brood, then. Very dramatically. So dramatically, in fact, it’s almost like you’re sulking.”
“I wasn’t brooding either,” he said, his voice dropping lower. “If I were, it sure as hell wouldn’t be about you.”
“Good, because you’re the last person on earth I’d want to be with.”
His answering laugh was harsh, the sound ringing with disbelief. “Trust me, Kate. The feeling is mutual.”
“Fantastic.”
“Incredible.”
I shook my head and finally rose from the chair, taking a step closer so I could look him right in the eyes. “You really are exceptionally arrogant, do you know that?”
