He played stupid games and now he's going to find out what happens when you fuck around with a Mariano.
Finally Ronan Delaney turns to leave, but just as he reaches the door my father stops him.
"Ronan." His voice is ice cold once again. "I trust you'll be dealing with your daughter and Rurik appropriately?"
Ronan's eyes harden, no doubt hating being told what to do. "You can count on it, Cesare."
Thankfully he leaves and my father turns to me.
"Son," he starts, "I?—"
"Don't." The word comes out flat. "I don't want to talk about it right now."
He holds my gaze and I see what he wants to say. I can see the weight of it behind his eyes, the apology he wants to give. But I don't want any of it.
"Very well," he says. "But know that I'm here when you're ready."
I give him a single nod and walk out of the room, glad to finally get the peace I've been wanting since I learned the news.
The corridor is empty as I step into it. I take a deep breath and walk back to my office as I think about tomorrow's meeting. I wonder what the other families will say, how they will react. No doubt Ronan and Olezka will have some shitty story to spin about it to save face. But for me, it's too late, the damage is done and I expect the same can be said for Quinn Delaney, who'll be known as the replacement bride.
I reach my office, push the door open and slip inside. The second the door closes, I'm able to breathe easier. I sit down at my desk and I look at the report I set down when my father called. The same report, the same desk, everything exactly as I left it forty minutes ago.
I pick up the report and keep working. I can't help but think about Dáire Delaney somewhere with Rurik Morozov. I think about a year of meetings and functions and a formal engagement and all the careful Syndicate protocol wrapped around something that was already decided before any of it started. I think about an eighteen-year-old girl I have never met who is now the solution.
Everyone is going to know that I was supposed to marry one woman and now I am being handed another like it makes no difference. And perhaps it doesn't. Perhaps that is the honest reality of it. The Syndicate needed a Delaney daughter of marriageable age and a Mariano heir to marry her, and those two things still exist, just in different configurations.
The alliance holds, the cog keeps turning, and I will marry Quinn Delaney because the Famiglia requires it. Quinn will have my name, my protection, and my household, and none of it will be anything more than what it needs to be. I already knew this before today. I committed to it before today. The only thing that has changed is the name.
It doesn't matter who I marry, Dáire or Quinn, because it was never about me.
Chapter 2
Quinn
I hear the door of the library open but I pretend I don't. I already know who it is, who it always is. No one else knows that I come here other than Caden. My brother knows me better than anyone else. Then again, he's the only one that bothered to actually get to know me. The others all like to pretend that I don't exist.
It takes Caden two minutes to find me. As usual I'm curled into the window seat in the library with a cup of tea. I had to escape the madness and coming to the top floor of the house is the perfect hiding spot. I don't know what's happened but the tension in the air this morning was unbearable. I haven't seen my da angry like this in a very long time. I didn't want to be on the receiving end of him losing his mind, so I've hidden away in the library. Mamie, our housekeeper, has been bringing me cups of tea for the past three hours. She too has been hiding the best she can. Everyone in the house can feel the tension. Something's coming, we can all feel it. Even Mamie can, and that woman rarely speaks out of turn.
Caden's footsteps grow closer until they stop. I feel his eyes on me and take a deep breath, close my book and look up at him. He's standing against a bookshelf watching me, his expression unreadable, which I hate. If I can't read his face how on earth am I supposed to brace for impact?
"Da wants you," he says, his gaze softens as he watches me.
"Me?" I question, not used to being summoned by our da, usually it's our mam that calls for me.
"Yeah."
I wait for more, but he doesn't say anything else. He just stands there with an expectant look that tells me to get my ass up and go to da. I place the book down on the table and rise to my feet, giving a longing look at the cup of tea that lies almost untouched beside my book and follow Caden out of the library.
The air in the house is stifling. I can breathe, but it feels thick, and I know it’s because of whatever is going on. Da’s on the warpath and whatever the hell has happened, it isn’t good, and now I’m being summoned. That has never happened before and I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to brace for.
I’ve grown up in this house, I’ve learned every tell that everyone has. I know that when my Da’s jaw clenches, it means that he’s trying to reign in his anger. When his eyes narrow sightly he’ll be reaching for his gun with his next breath. I know that Mam wrings her hands together when she’s worried. She runs her hands over her clothes to smooth them out when she’s trying to impress, and she’ll purse her lips when she’s angry. Dáithí, my eldest brother, he strums his fingers on his thigh when he’s about to kill someone. Even the staff have tells.
Growing up as the unseen Delaney child, I’ve learned too damn much about hiding away.
The staff are quieter than usual. They carry out their usual tasks but their heads are down and their movements are hurried. They’re trying to get things done without being noticed more than normal.
I keep my head held high as I walk slowly toward the main room. There’s no point rushing. Whatever it is that has happened, already has, and there’s nothing that I can do to change that. I just wish I knew what the hell is going on.
