And she isn’t the girl I abandoned.
She’s a woman now. A woman who wants blood.
I close the folder with careful precision, my pulse settling into something steady. Something dangerous. Something inevitable.
“So be it,” I murmur into the quiet.
Let her come.
I’ll meet her at the altar.
And this time….
I won’t run.
I’m still staring at her photograph when my phone rings.
I don’t look away.
The screen lights up on the counter, vibrating insistently. It rings and rings until it stops, the silence afterward thick and expectant. My gaze never leaves her face. The sharp mouth. The cool eyes. The woman she’s become.
I close the folder and slide it aside, then move to the minibar and pour myself another drink. The amber liquid sloshes against the glass. I take one slow sip.
The phone rings again.
I scoff softly and pick it up. It’s Dimitri. Another one of my cousins. Brother.
“What.”
“Seb.” Dimitri sighs on the other end. “I take it Lev has told you.”
“So you all ganged up against me and came up with this bloody idea?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
There’s a pause. A careful one.
“It had to be done,” Dimitri says. “What are you going to do? I know you won’t accept this so easily.”
I swirl the drink, watching the liquid climb the sides of the glass. “What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing stupid.”
Another sip.
“I’ll marry her.”
Silence.
Dimitri doesn’t speak immediately, and when he does, his voice is sharper. More alert. “Why?”
I scoff. “I thought you said it was the council’s decision. If that’s the case, why are you asking me?”
“Because,” he says slowly, “you won’t accept this without a fight. You never have. You agreeing this quickly means there’s something in it for you.”
I don’t answer.
The quiet stretches.
Then I hear him inhale sharply. “Wait.”
