My blood runs cold. They are talking about my father.
“Agreed. But the offer is… substantial. This marriage would seal a level of peace we haven’t seen in decades.” Omero’s voice has taken on a teasing tone, light and measured still. “And his daughters are bound to be pretty enough. I mean, you obviously like the oriental look — look at Chloe. There are worse fates, Basili.”
Shufen. They have to be talking about my older sister. Father is trying to marry her off to Basili?
My mind starts racing.I should knock, tell them I’m Delan’s other daughter, the one who ran away. Or maybe I should leave. Do anything other than listen through the doorjamb. But I can’t force my feet to move. I can’t breathe.
“I’d like to suggest an alternative. How do you feel about marriage, Omero?”
“Me?” Omero sounds amused by the idea, but all I can hear is the roaring in my ears.
A marriage alliance. Basili is being offered a bride on a silver platter. My brain can’t quite catch up to my thoughts, absorbing each thought seconds after it occurs. An arranged marriage to my sister…
And last night, he’d had me at his mercy, his hands all over my body. His mouth on mine, his fingers…Damn him. Was I just… entertainment? A distraction?
“The wedding would need to happen within the next two months,” Omero continues. “Tao wants this solidified before —”
I can’t hear the rest of what he says. I knock sharply on the door, pushing it open before either of them can respond. Both of them look up. Basili sits on a couch across the room, Omero opposite him in an armchair, papers strewn across the coffee table between them. I know what they were without looking at them — contracts, terms, and conditions for selling someone into marriage like chattel.
“Chloe,” Basili says my name with a hint of surprise. “This isn’t a good time. We’re in the middle of —”
“Emmanuel spoke.” It comes out flat, emotionless. The joy I’d felt minutes before is drowned out by everything I’d just heard. “During our game of Monopoly. Thought you’d like to know.”
His eyes widen, genuine happiness flashing across his face. “He spoke? Really?”
“Really, yes. He went back to signing after, but it’s progress.” I’m already backing toward the door. “I’ll let you get back to your meeting. Seems important.”
“Chloe, wait —”
“Congratulations, by the way.” I gesture vaguely at the papers on the table. “On your engagement. Or Omero’s engagement. Whichever it is.”
Basili stands abruptly. “You don’t understand.”
“I understand far more than you think, Basili.” I force a smile that feels like glass cutting my face. “Arranged marriages, alliances, pretty straightforward stuff to me.”
“It’s business, Chloe. Nothing more.”
“Right. Business.” The word tastes bitter. “Tell me, did you ask your new bride how she feels being sold off to you like a prize cow?”
“I’ve never —”
I don’t let him finish, anger flaring. “And what was last night between us in the kitchen? Is this some sort of game to you? Or was that just business too?”
Omero is suddenly fascinated by his hands as he wrings them together in his lap. Purposefully staying out of the line of fire that’s quickly forming between Basili and me.
Basili’s jaw tightens as he takes a step around the table toward me. “That was different.”
“How? How is it different?” My voice is rising, and I can’t stop it. The hurt and betrayal I feel in my chest become unbearable. “You did all that. All while you’re busy negotiating a marriage to someone else?”
To my sister!The words almost slip out, but I catch them just in time.
“You’re overreacting. This arrangement has nothing to do with —”
“With what? With us?” I laugh bitterly, and it sounds wrong even to my ears. “Oh, wait, that’s right, there is no us. Because you’rejust using me as a distraction while you plan your future with someone you’ve never even met. Someone who may not even want you in the first place.”
“That’s not —” He stops, his expression turning stone cold. “You know what? You’re right. This doesn’t concern you. Because there is no us. What I do and don’t do regarding business and alliances is none of your business whatsoever.”
His words sting even more than every emotion I’m already running through.
