Cassie tried not to show her surprise at Ares’s understanding of her brother. It unnerved her. If he saw her brother so clearly, would he see all the way into her where she felt as though no one had ever really seen her? Where she’d had to smile bright enough just to be noticed? To mitigate the tension and toxicity around her?
Her smile certainly didn’t work on him except to rile him and the way that left her feeling a little out of control and unsettled made her say, ‘Don’t change the subject. This princess…’
Ares sat back, wine glass in hand. ‘You won’t let this go.’
She shook her head. ‘Nope.’
‘Fine. I went back to my room after a long and particularly tedious day of shopping and socialising to find her naked in my bed.’
Cassie let out a bark of surprised laughter and put her hand over her mouth. When she took it away again she said, ‘How did you deal with it…without it…?’
‘Ending up all over the papers?’
Cassie nodded, mirth making her mouth twitch again. She could just imagine Ares going volcanic at such a stunt. But she could empathise with the princess. Whoever she was. A dart of something hot and not nice went through her at the thought that it might have worked. But the look on Ares’s face was so disgusted it told her all she needed to know. He hadn’t accepted her invitation.
‘I booked into another room for the night. And she woke up to a new security team the next day.’
Mischievously Cassie said, ‘So you’re telling me that if I were to—’
‘No.’ The crack of Ares’s voice made Cassie jump a little. He seemed to notice and said a little less curtly, ‘You’re not getting rid of me that easily and if you try a stunt like that, I’ll put you below deck. For your own protection, of course. I’m sure your brother would understand.’
Now he smiled and Cassie scowled. She speared some more food into her mouth to stop herself from goading him any more.
But now it seemed to be his turn when he asked, ‘So what is it exactly that you want to get out of this trip?’
Cassie sat back and pushed her empty plate away and took a sip of wine, wondering if she could possibly divert Ares with the spectacular view of the sky turning lavender and purple behind him as night fell. Stars popping out. But she knew that wouldn’t work. He’d barely noticed the sunset earlier.
Eventually she said reluctantly, ‘To be honest, I didn’t really put a lot of thought into it. It just…suddenly occurred to me, as my advisor was asking me to look at prospective suitors, that I hadn’t ever really taken time out for myself…and that, in a couple of weeks, it would no longer be possible. My every moment is scheduled, practically down to toilet breaks. My brother got to have his freedom, I wanted to at least…taste it.’
Ares raised a brow. ‘Prospective suitors?’
Cassie nodded wearily. ‘A whole file of them.’
‘Let me guess, they’re all from distinguished royal lines.’
‘Of course.’
‘And are any of them appealing?’
‘Not in the slightest. But…when it comes down to it, I’ll have to choose someone. But I won’t lie, I’m hoping for something or someone better than those files are offering.’
Ares cocked his head to one side. ‘In what way?’
Cassie bit her lip and then said, ‘I don’t want a marriage in name only…for heirs, like my brother was prepared to settle for. I want real companionship. Respect. At the very least.’
She also wanted passion and something much deeper but she could imagine the horror on Ares’s face. Or worse, mockery.
Before he could quiz her on that she asked, ‘What about you? Don’t you want to marry some day? Have a family?’
He smiled but it was grim. ‘No way, not for me.’
‘Why? Unhappy childhood?’
He looked a little startled, as if he wasn’t used to someone being so direct. He said, ‘Something like that. To our parents, we were seen as pawns to fit into the family business at strategic points, either in the running of it—for instance, grooming my brother to inherit the business—or by marrying my sisters off strategically to consolidate power.’
Cassie asked, ‘Where were you going to fit in?’
Ares waved a hand. ‘Some outpost where they figured I could do no harm with my limited capabilities.’
