Page 85 of Theirs to Tempt: The Marriage Claim

Beside me, Dad says nothing.

When we reach the front, Lucian moves, extending his hand toward me.

Dad frees his arm from mine, and for one suspended moment, his fingers close around my hand.

Then he places it in Lucian’s.

The symbolism is so brutal I can barely breathe.

My father gambled me away.

And now he has delivered me to the man who won.

Lucian’s fingers close around mine.

Firm.

Certain.

Dad looks at me one last time, then steps away.

As if he feels the tremor running through me, Lucian strokes his thumb across my knuckles.

Caleb takes his place on my other side.

Three of us.

The officiant, Celeste Fallon, stands before us with a slim leather folio in her hands.

I know her by reputation. She’s a fierce lawyer, reputed to be a fixer for the city’s elite. It’s not a surprise Lucian and Caleb are associated with her.

“Family and friends, thank you for joining us today.” Her strong voice carries throughout the atrium. “We are here to witness not simply a marriage, but the beginning of a shared life.”

Shared life.

The words hit me hard, not because they are beautiful. But because they are permanent.

Lucian’s fingers tighten around mine.

Celeste continues. “A lasting commitment asks us to know one another deeply. To recognize strength without fearing it. Love isn’t measured by the ease of the road before us. It is measured by the willingness to keep taking the next step, even when that road asks more of us than we imagined possible.”

Her tone remains calm. Unhurried. Around us, the final daylight fades from the glass. The lights overhead glow more brightly.

“Today, these lives become forever intertwined.”

Lucian moves his thumb against my hand. Beside him, Caleb remains close enough that I can feel his presence without looking.

Then she says something about commitment being freely entered into.

Freely.

The word hits me like a blow. My breath catches, and the atrium contracts as the twinkling lights blur.

I force myself to inhale. The breath sticks somewhere high in my chest.

Marriage. Forever.

I can’t⁠—