“What you overheard, it’s nasty business,” I tell her, keeping my voice low so that we don’t wake Emmanuel. “Complicated. I justwanted to shelter you from it. I don’t want you caught up in that part of my world.”
“And you thought you would achieve that by lying to me?”
“I didn’t lie —”
“No. You dismissed me. Talked to me like I was nothing, no one.” Her voice cracks. “After everything that happened between us, you just pushed me aside as if none of it mattered.”
“It mattered. All of it mattered.” I reach for her, but she flinches away, and that single movement stops me cold. “Chloe, please. Just listen to me.”
“I don’t want to hear it, Basili. I can’t do this.” She shakes her head. “Just please, let me go to bed. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Not until you talk to me. Really talk to me, not this cold, distant version you’ve been giving me for the past three days.”
“What do you want me to say?” Her eyes shine with unshed tears. “That it’s fine? I’m fine? That it doesn’t bother me in the slightest that you’re planning on marrying —”
“I’m not planning a marriage.” The words come out forced, definitive. “I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”
“Yet,” she repeats. “You haven’t agreed yet. But you’re considering it, aren’t you?”
I can’t deny it, so I don’t even try.
“It’s complicated,” I say instead.
“That’s what people say when they’re doing something that they know in their gut is wrong.”
“It’s not that, it’s just — business.” I run a hand through my hair, frustrated now. “The head of the Tao family — they are a part of the Chinese Triad — they are the ones who sent the proposal. It would be an alliance, one that we could really use. They’re offering territory, a peace treaty.”
She goes still, listening intently.
“In exchange, they want a marriage. A traditional alliance between our families.” I watch her carefully. “It’s how things are done in my world, Chloe. Marriages are strategic. It’s been that way in my family for generations.”
“And you’re considering it.”
“I am considering the benefits to this family. To the people who rely on me. Do you know what a time of peace could mean for Emmanuel’s future?” I step closer again, and this time she doesn’t back away. “But Chloe, I haven’t agreed to anything. I told Omero no that night.”
Her eyes flash up to meet mine. “You did?”
“Before you walked in, I’d already told him no.”
“Then why are you still considering it?” Her voice is steady, low, and full of emotion.
“Because it’s my duty, my responsibility.” The words taste bitter. “Because I’m the Don of this family, and sometimes what I want doesn’t matter.”
“That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s the life I was born into. The responsibility I took on when I accepted this position.” I reach for her slowly, giving her time to pull away, and when she doesn’t, I cup her face. “But you need to understand that you are never, ever the other woman.”
A tear escapes then, sliding down her cheek and over my thumb.
“Then what am I?” She asks, the words an echo from days before.
“You’re the reason I said no in the first place.” The confession is out of my lips before I can stop it. “The reason I can’t think straight right now. I can’t focus on the things I need to be focusing on. I can’t do anything but think about how much I want to fix this between us.”
“Basili —”
“I know I hurt you. I’ve handled so many things wrong from the moment I met you.” I bring my other hand up to frame her face. “Whatever this is between us, it’s real. It matters. You matter to me.”
She closes her eyes, raising her hands to my wrists to pull my hands from her face gently. “But not enough.”
