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“What do you mean, I’m not really married to Adrian? We… we had a ceremony in the church.”

“After he murdered the St. James boy, yes. I know.”

I ignore that sly jab. “We filed a marriage certificate. I have an appointment at the DMV to change the last name on my driver’s license. I’m sorry, Mr. Collins, but I think we are married.”

“Perhaps,” Jack says, steepling his finger on his desk. “And maybe I put that wrong before. Youdidmarry my nephew, but Ms. Dougherty?—”

I swallow the nervous lump in my throat. “It’s Heller. Mrs. Heller.”

His lips twitch, but that’s no real smile. “Yes. But that’s why I called you down to my office… Mrs. Heller.” He makes a face like saying my married name is the same as sucking on a sour lemon. His lips twitch again, his eyes dull yet angry. “In the Order, an Offering is given to her Owed, but only if she accepts his Claim. It’s come to my attention that you were never given the chance to acceptAdrian’s Claim, were you?”

Technically, no. He just walked into St. Catherine’s with a gun, and after Desmond was dead, he married me. I guess my saying ‘I do’ the wedding vows I repeated counts as my acceptance, but the way Jack’s watching me right now… I don’t think he agrees.

I fold my hands in my lap, trying to hide how shaky they are. Something… something’s not right. “I married him,” I repeat. “I am his wife. I’m sorry… is Adrian okay? That man… Luke… he said something was wrong. That I needed to talk to Adrian. But I’ve asked before and no one will tell me where my husband is.”

Jack glances at the large clock on his wall. It’s one-thirty. “I assume he’s out to lunch. If not, he’ll be in his office. There’sa very important meeting he’s attending at two-thirty, and if I know my daughter’s boy, he’ll be preparing for it.” He laughs softly, but there’s no humor in it. “But that brings me back to my point. What if he wasn’t?”

“In his office, preparing for this meeting?”

“No, dear girl. Yourhusband.”

What? “I… I don’t understand.”

“Oh, I think you do. That fancy education you got outside of Harmony Heights… I think you know exactly what I’m asking.”

The way he mentions leaving Harmony Heights feels dangerous somehow. The lilt to his voice makes it worse.

“No. Sorry.”

He exhales roughly. Great. I’ve annoyed the King. “Then let me make it clearer. I can annul your marriage.” He snaps his fingers. “Just like that. I say the word, make a few phone calls, and you go back to being Loni Dougherty. You can leave Harmony Heights, go back to your new life as… ah, yes. Marie Howard. How would you like that, Marie?”

Jack knows. I shouldn’t be surprised that he does—like Adrian, it makes sense that he would know everything about his Order, including those who managed to escape it for a time—but I really, really wish he didn’t throw the fake name I uselessly adopted all those years ago in my face like that.

He leans back in his seat, his gaze roving over my face, looking for some sign that I’m going to crack.

I refuse.

And then he says, “You look so confused. I wouldn’t have thought that any of this would be news to you. Especially since I warned Adrian right after that wedding of yours that he had to let you know that, if you don’t accept his Claim, there is no marriage. But looking at you now… why do I get the feeling that my secretive, plotting nephew decided to keep that little tidbit from his wife, hmm?”

Shit. “No. He didn’t. I knew…”

His face calls me a liar, and I am. “And you chose to stay? It’s okay, my dear. It’s just you and Uncle Jack. If I told you that your father could live out his retirement in the Order… hell, I’ll even promote him a rank… and all you’d have to do is refuse Adrian’s Claim, what would you say?”

Holy shit. He’s really pushing this. For some reason, and I have no idea what that is, Jack doesn’t want me to be Adrian’s wife.

Well, tough shit.

If he’d come to me six weeks ago and made that same offer, I would’ve jumped at it. I know better now. Why didn’t Adrian tell me that our marriage would only truly be finalized in the eyes of the Order—in the eyes of Harmony Heights—if I did some kind of bullshit ‘acceptance’ of his Claim. Jack doesn’t come out and say it plainly, but considering it’s coming up, I assume he wants us both to take part in the Claiming ceremony.

No. That goes against the rules of the charter. I married him. That’s it. Whether I wanted to or not is a moot point. We got married, and no one has a Claiming ceremonyafterthat. A delayed wedding reception, sure, but attending the Claiming ceremony with my husband is like him proposing after we’ve already gotten hitched.

No wonder Adrian didn’t mention any of this to me like Jack told him to. It was pointless—and that’s not all. My husband swore he would never let me go. If he thought that Jack would use his position as King to separate us, he would’ve done everything he could to put a stop to it.

It’s not lying, right? More like an omission of truth, and I get it. I do. This is the man who spent ten years stalking me. Even longer telling all of Harmony Heights—in words and in twisted actions—that I belonged to him. Hekilledfor me. And maybe I’m as broken as I once accused him of being, but to me, thoseare signs that when he says that he loves me, he is one hundred percent telling the truth.

I blame it on growing up in the Order. As a future Offering, I was warning that love might look different between the Owed I was given to and me. There might not even be love at all, but there would at least be an agreement. An arrangement.

So Adrian is a murderer. So he’s obsessed. He also adopted Peaches for us, and likes to watch TV with me, and cooks like a damn pro. His touch has me melting no matter what, and I finally believe him when he says that he worships me.