Page 1 of Theirs to Tempt: The Marriage Claim

Chapter One

Lucian

Houston, Texas

There are some things a man should never have to bet, but Richard Langford is about to discover I don’t give a damn about his moral boundaries.

I watch as he stares at his cards. Sweat beads on his forehead despite the perfect climate control of Altair’s Houston domain.

The chair beneath Langford is probably slick with his desperation.

How sad.

I mask my satisfaction behind calm indifference. The man’s fear might sway a lesser man toward mercy.

But not me. Every move Caleb and I have made over the years have pushed Richard Langford to this moment.

And the only thing I really want is about to be mine.

Right now, the second floor of the Retreat stretches around us like a monument to controlled power. Crystal chandeliers refract light across art worth more than most people’s annual salaries. The subtle scent of expensive leather mixes with the quiet hum of the technology that monitors every inch of Altair’s empire below.

On the massive projection screen, camera feeds flicker between scenes from the club’s main floor. There are bodies bent in submission, power being exchanged, and boundaries being tested.

How perfectly appropriate for what is about to happen here.

Across the table, I catch my partner’s eye. Caleb and I are always on the same wavelength and have been since those dark days in Geneva.

His almost imperceptible nod tells me we’re thinking the same thing. It’s time.

“Your call, Langford.” Caleb’s voice cuts through the silence with that surgical precision I’ve come to rely on over the past eight years.

He sits motionless behind the dealer’s position, missing nothing, his dark eyes cataloging every microexpression, every tell, every sign of Langford’s mounting panic. Where I project casual dominance, Caleb is pure predatory focus. We’ve perfected this dance.

Langford’s gaze darts to Altair, who observes from his position near the bar like some golden-eyed god of the underworld. Langford is smart to look for salvation from that quarter. Tonight, he won’t find it.

Nothing happens in Altair’s territory without his blessing, and Altair Montgomery understands the value of what we’re after tonight. The fact that he’s allowing this game to continue proves where his loyalties lie.

Langford swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing like a man drowning. “I need more time to⁠—”

“Time’s a luxury you exhausted two hands ago.” I lean forward, letting him see the predator beneath the polish.

I’ve learned that confidence is the ultimate weapon, especially when backed by the kind of power that can make or break lives. “Your markers total four point eight million. Your liquid assets wouldn’t cover half of that, and we both know your wife’s treatments aren’t getting any cheaper.”

The words hit him like I intended—physical blows that make him flinch. Elizabeth Langford. His wife is his Achilles’ heel. Love makes a strong man weak. Fortunately for me, I don’t believe in love.

Over the years, I’ve watched him hemorrhage money in a desperate attempt to save her. I’ve seen him spiral into increasingly desperate gambles. All leading to this moment. This beautiful, inevitable conclusion.

I can be his salvation and his destruction, wrapped in the same deal. “However,” I continue, savoring the way his face goes pale, “there is one asset you possess that we might consider…equivalent collateral.”

His eyes widen. Has his heart stopped?

“Sophie.” Caleb speaks her name, and I feel that familiar tightness in my chest. Sophie Langford.

The woman who has haunted my thoughts for eight years, who looked at me with such fury and heartbreak the night we saved her from that bastard, Adrian. The woman who thinks she’s built herself a life outside our reach.

She has no idea how wrong she is.

“Your daughter’s hand in marriage.” I lean forward. “To both of us.”