Page 15

I fought the tug at the corner of my mouth before a tight murmur.

“Your drink.” Rafe murmured.

Movement shifted in the air. I lifted my hand, fingers skimmed the glass before it landed against my palm.

“This away, Gentlemen.” London muttered.

I tracked the sound of Rafe’s steps. Heavier on the right. An old bullet wound in his thigh that hadn’t healed right and I followed him across an open floor. Clusters at my left. Expensive Cologne. Hartford was here. I smelled him. There were others. Men I knew. Many I didn’t. And under that perfume, soft, floral…warm.

Footsteps echoed louder as the space closed in. Walls around me. A corridor. I kept pace until the air shifted around me and Rafe slowed.

We stepped into some kind of room. An office. One that smelled of stale smoke, perfume that didn’t whisper it roared as it soaked into the furniture. The door closed, cutting out the drone of voices and laughter and for a second I wanted it open.

Something clung to the air. Heavy. Humid. Sex.

“I wasn’t aware you knew.” London started. “I wasn’t keeping it from you, I just assumed…”

I tried not to breathe. “Assumed.”

“That this wasn’t your thing.” London continued, annoyed now.

Heat built in my chest. One draw and the stain of this room invaded my lungs. “And what exactly is this thing?”

“It’s an alliance. Vivienne. Daughters. Safety. Protection. A life.”

Snatches of his explanation. That’s all I heard. Because this room was too loud. Too hungry. Full of ache and need and longing.

The words didn’t hit. Not at first. Then my breath, slowed and I drew it deeper anyway. Like some part of me recognised the hunger in it. Like some hollow thing in my chest leaned toward the heat of it before I could stop. “And you’re forcing them to marry men like Hartford Cane?”

“Forcing is a strong word.” London snarled. “I set them up, if they like each other.”

If they like each other?

You didn’t need to like one another to co-exist.

Comfort was enough.

That you could trade years for.

Alaric, are you ready? My wife’s voice rose in my head. Perfect. Poised. A marriage that looked perfect on paper. She was kind, courteous. She gave me my Lily. But no ache followed the memory. Just an emptiness. A relationship that was…complicated.

“So there is no take over happening?” The words sounded like longing. Like I needed this more than I wanted to announce.

“No,” London answered. “Not tonight.”

I lifted the glass to my lips. Heat licked my lips before sliding down the back of my throat. The door opened and the rush of voices slipped in.

“Sorry, London.” Guild’s steady voice invaded. “You’re needed.”

“You’re welcome to stay.” London moved in front of me, moving closer, then to the side.

“No.” I answered and drank once more. “There is nothing for me here.”

“I’ll pull the car around the front.” Rafe was already moving to the door.

In an instant the room emptied, leaving me alone with the drink in my hand and annoyance. I drank, counted to five and stepped forward placing the glass on the end of the desk before I turned.

Five steps the door. Voices grew louder. I pushed them all away. I didn’t reach out. Didn’t hesitate. Just moved. Walls crowded in. My heartbeat loud in my ears.