Page 42 of Royal Surrogate 1

I shoot a panicked look in Caspar’s direction, but he’s been detained by his father, and there’s no one to rescue me from being pulled aside.

“You don’t have to look so frightened, my dear. I don’t bite.” Her eyes are kind, but there’s a slight edge to her words that makes it clear she’d cut me to shreds if she needed to. “You’ve signed the contract and agreed to the new terms, so I’d like to believe you mean no harm to my son or this family. If that remains the case, I’m satisfied.”

I nod. “Of course I don’t mean you any harm.”

“I just want to make sure you understand what you’re getting in to.”

“Believe me, I understand,” I assure her. “I’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Forgive me, but it couldn’t have been that much thought, given how quickly everything has come together.” Her eyes, still kind and sharp at the same time, bore into me. “Caspar is my firstborn son. And this isn’t the sort of marriage I imagined for him. But it appears he’s committed to this. I don’t understand why, when there were other options available, but I can’t make his decisions for him. So let me be clear—you’d better be entirely sure of your commitment to this, or my husband and I will do what is necessary.”

I don’t even want to think about what that might mean. “I’ve signed the new contract, my lady. I am committed.”

“You had better be.” Her eyes still haven’t released me. “I’ll give you the rest of the night to make your final decision. If you change your mind in that time, my husband and I won’t sign the new contract and you’ll be released from its terms. But after that?—”

“That won’t be necessary.” My voice is firm. “As I told you, I’m committed. I’ve already signed the dotted line, and nothing short of an act of God will stop me from fulfilling my end of the bargain. I swear.”

Her eyes search mine for a long moment, but whatever she finds there seems to satisfy her.

“Very well,” she says. “It’s done. I suppose that means I have a wedding to finish planning. Welcome to the family, Renae.”