I bristled. “Fuck you very much,” I hissed. “You, of all people, should know what this kind of agreement means for the Thorpe Syndicate.”
His eyes narrowed, his lip curling into a sneer. “You’d really let your parents dictate your life for the sake of a business deal?”
“Yes. Because they’re my family, and sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the people we care about. Clearly, loyalty means nothing to you.” I stared up at him defiantly. “Why do you care, anyway?”
His jaw flexed. “I don’t.”
“Good. Great talking to you as always,” I ground out, pushing away from the wall and storming down the corridor. I hated him.Hatedhim.
6
JAY
As usual, the Thorpes had gone all out for dinner with an elaborate setup, almost as if they were entertaining royalty.
In a way, they were. The Volkovs were Bratva royalty, after all. I wished Dan could have been here to make this more bearable, but he was helping his family out—something involving sabotage and the Bellinghams that I really didn’t want to know about.
Plausible deniability. That was what my dad had drummed into me. Despite the fact that my life was so intertwined with these crime families, I’d been kept in the dark about most of their shadier dealings. I’d been thankful for that, except now, I burned with the need to know. To find out what exactly this deal was that meant Nova Thorpe was betrothed to Anton Volkov.
Nova shouldn’t be shackled like this. Dan had a point when he’d called her the brightest star in the sky. She was a fucking person, not a tradeable commodity. As much as I’d managed to convince myself I hated her and hadsuccessfully managed to drive a wedge between us, she didn’t deserve this.
Ryker had tried, and failed, to get the deal overturned, and if he couldn’t manage it, the likelihood that I could do anything was non-existent, even if I wanted to and had a death wish. I needed to remember that, and I needed to keep my head. I couldn’t lose my cool like I had during our hockey practice. What the fuck had I been thinking, letting Volkov get under my skin like that?
Lifting my crystal glass, brimming with organic de-alcoholised red wine that came from a local vineyard the Thorpes controlled as one of their “legitimate” businesses, I caught Volkov’s eye. Holding his gaze, I said, “To putting the past behind us and looking to the future.”
He lifted his own glass to mine, as cool and implacable as ever. “To the future, and to the joining of the Volkov and Thorpe families.”
My fingers closed around the crystal so tightly, I was worried for a minute that the glass would actually shatter. Outwardly, though, I didn’t react other than to give Volkov a short, sharp nod.
I didn’t look at Nova. Hadn’t been able to since I’d arrived. How had I let Ryker talk me into this meal?
My dad coughed discreetly, and when I glanced in his direction, there was a question in his eyes. I tried to telegraph that I was fine without using my words. Thankfully, the others were already deep in discussion about port access and transport options, so our exchange managed to stay under the radar.
“Would you mind passing me the salt, Jay?”
Nova’s voice was icily polite. Unwillingly, my gaze slid to hers, and my breath caught in my throat. She looked beautiful. Her blonde hair was twisted into an elaboratehalf-up, half-down style. Light makeup accentuated her cheekbones and the curve of her lips, and her grey eyes looked huge and luminous in the candlelight. And the sky-blue dress she wore… Fuck. I could only see part of it because we were seated, but it skimmed her curves, cut low enough for a tantalising hint of cleavage. She was everything I could never have, the ice princess herself, the untouchable woman who was promised to someone else.
When she angled her head, looking pointedly at the salt cellar near my elbow, a glint caught my eye. She was wearing the sapphire teardrop earrings Volkov had given her for her eighteenth birthday.
My entire body stiffened. “Excuse me. I’ll be back in a minute.” Without waiting for a response, I pushed back my chair and escaped from the dining room.
In the downstairs toilet, I splashed water on my face in an attempt to calm myself down. “Get a fucking grip, Attwood,” I ground out, avoiding my reflection in the mirror.She’s not yours. She never will be.You don’t even want her. You hate her.
What was I doing here? Why did I even care?
After stalling for too long, I returned to the dining room, where the discussion had moved on to engagement party plans. Unable to help myself, despite the fact that it was a stupid idea to bring it up, I dipped my head towards Ryker, who was seated next to me. “This is all moving so fast, isn’t it?”
He nodded, his mouth a tight line as his gaze flicked to his dad. “Yeah. I guess they want to get this deal locked down. My dad’s been working on it for a long time, and yeah, these things take time to set up, but I think they all feel like the negotiations have dragged on long enough.” His fingers flexed around his fork. “I wish… Nova should have been able to choose. I tried to talk my dad out of it, but you know how he feels about family. The Volkovs are the same. It’s the strongest bond in their eyes. If they’d had an eligible daughter of the right age, it would’ve been me taking Nova’s place. As it is, I’ll be expected to marry someone suitable when I’ve established myself in the syndicate, but at least I’ll have some say in who it is, thanks to my sister’s sacrifice.”
“She should have a choice.” My voice came out too raspy, and Ryker’s gaze flew to mine, his brows raised. Shit. “Not just her.Everyoneshould. I understand about the family connection, though. I’d do anything for my family, and that includes anyone who marries into it.”
Evidently, Ryker was satisfied with my rushed explanation, because he sat back in his chair, his posture a little more relaxed than it had been before. “Yeah. I did what I could. I managed to get the contract amended so she has options in the future. In the meantime, all I can do is keep an eye on Anton. Make sure he’s treating my sister with respect. He’s an alright guy, but you never know what goes on behind closed doors.”
“Yeah.” That was true. Especially in our world. The legitimate businessman who was running a criminal empire that had tendrils unfurling throughout the UK. The king with a small kingdom built on bribery and blackmail. The family man who ran a clinic for the elite and patched up crime lords after hours. Nothing was as it seemed on the surface.
“What do you think our chances are for the game?”
Ryker blinked at the sudden change of subject but fell into it easily enough. “First game of the season? Hard to say. Southampton were good last year, but we were better.” His gaze slid to Volkov. “Anton’s looking solid in the net. We’re lucky to have him.”
