“Eva, don’t,” Pauline whispers to me. “Not now, not here.”
“No!” I wave her off. “Primogeniture and representation are the law of this land, and my daughter is Geoffroy’s child. His only surviving child. And you—” I jab a finger at Alex, “—you haven’t spoken to your brother in what, five years?”
“Six,” Alex corrects me.
Pauline rises. “We’ll contest this. You can count on it.”
“You are within your rights, of course.” Duret lets out a sigh. “But until a court says otherwise…”
He trails off. Everyone looks at Alex.
Everyone waits.
“I’d like to see the estate’s financials,” Alex says to me. “If I’m expected to manage this duchy, be it for a short while or the long-term, I need the numbers.”
My blood boils.
Millie is breathing too fast beside me. Alex doesn’t even glance at her.
“You don’t deserve any of this,” I hiss.
He gives me a tight smile. “That’s never been a requirement.”
I want to throw something at him. I want to scream that I’ll fight him in the Royal Court, and in the court of public opinion. Oh, and I’ll also curse the entail. He’ll regret ever accepting it! I want to storm out, slamming the door…
But I can’t do any of those things.
I’m physically incapable of it.
Father made sure years ago, when I was Millie’s age, to whip such uncouth acts out of me for good.
4
ALEX
The waiting room at MESS headquarters in Pombrio smells like leather wax and state secrets. This is my first visit. In fact, my first timeeverdealing with the Mount Evor Secret Service. I’m not entirely sure why I’m here. All I know is that it has to do with Geoffroy’s death.
Was he a MESS agent?
I doubt it. Knowing his twisted, underhanded ways, I’d rather believe he was a foreign spy.
Across from me, Geoffroy’s widow Eva is tapping a slow, nerve-racking beat against the marble floor.
As always, I try not to look at her.
As always, I fail.
Her trench coat drapes elegantly over a black silk dress. Her auburn hair catches the light. But her mouth is set in a hard, angry line.
Is it grief that stiffens her, or fury at losing the duchy to me?
I’d wager the latter.
I stare some more, while keeping my expression as stony as I can.God, she’s beautiful!Even when she’s vexed. She could drive a lesser man to distraction. But not me. I’ve trained my brain to tune out distractions.
Eva Castellane, I remind myself, is a gold digger and an empty shell. The only reason I react to her this way is because she’s always been off-limits. Had things been different, I’d have taken her out with the goal of sleeping with her. Rejection or success, the outcome would’ve been the same—I’d move on.
She’s the forbidden fruit, the fenced-off pasture that looks greener than it really is. I’m sure that’s what’s causing the anomalous chemical reaction that Eva sets off in my brain. But acute as it may be, I’m thirty-nine, not nineteen. My willpower is stronger than my sex drive. I can handle the Eva Anomaly. Ihavebeen handling it thus far, and I shall continue to do so.
