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Melody purses her lips.
“Tomorrow, then,” Mace says with a nod.
Adalie exhales and loosens her grip, taking a bite and humming in approval like nothing happened, but somethingdidhappen. Do Mace and Darius not get along? Outside of this dinner, I don’t know much of anything about the Astors or anything about their family dynamic. Obviously, it’s not good.
I try to catch Mace’s attention, but he’s brooding into his glass. A tornado of unease tears through me. What, exactly, am I getting myself into?
eleven
MACE
The sun has yet to fully set, ripples of purple and orange cloud cover the sky, and I take a deep breath of the fresh air. There are only a few things I truly like about the Astor compound, and one of them is having such a large piece of property that the worst of NYC’s air pollution isn’t clouding around us.
Hands stuck in my pocket, I escort the girls to the main house, waiting for them to drill me with questions I know they were too polite to ask in front of my bride-to-be. Our pace is intentionally slow as we cross the perfect green lawn. None of us are in a hurry to get to the main house, and that all has to do with our father. For Mom’s sake, I hope he’s in a good mood. I have no intention of going inside tonight. Seeing me after the story that broke on NYC Socialite might set him off. He hates surprises, and me suddenly having a fiancée is a big one.
“So, that story was bullshit, right?” Not even twenty steps from my front door, Melody is the first to crack.
“Obviously,” Adalie murmurs. “How did you really meet Cassia?”
“Cassia and I actually went to high school together, and she’s a friend of a friend. But I meant what I said. She’s the hottest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. More than that, though, she’s smart.”
“Interesting,” Melody says, looking back at my house. “And she wants to marry you?”
I don’t like lying to them, but I don’t want them to see me as an evil monster. It’s not like I stole Cassia from her home. The lack of consent to marry is surrounded by complicated circumstances. Becoming my wife will keep her safe, but does shewantto marry me?
Absolutely not.
“She’s agreeable,” I tell them, using what truth I can and omitting that her only other choice was a bullet to the head.
“Who said romance was dead?” Melody mutters.
“Do you think Dad will be okay with it?” Adalie asks. “She’s...different from who he would have picked.”
Adalie isn’t being vicious, only stating the facts. Cassia didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in her mouth. She never took etiquette lessons. She’s not uptight. She may not fully understand the stupid politics of our world, but that’s why I like her. I like that she doesn’t give two shits about kneeing me in the nuts, no matter how much it hurts.
“I don’t care if he doesn’t like her. He gave me the freedom to make the choice, and she’s the only one I want.” It’s true, too. Out of all the women in the world, she’s the only one I can imagine being my wife, and maybe if I’m lucky, having my babies. The archaic Astor family rule is meant to ensure someone will always inherit the estate, but that’s not why I want one. Ever since I put that ring on herfinger, all I want is that gorgeous woman’s belly swollen with my baby. To see a mini version of her and me running around our yard, terrorizing Tony and the guards.
My lips twitch at the thought.
Adalie side-eyes me. “You look happy... Dad’s been asking you for years. Why did you finally do it?”
Too curious for her own good. They’d lose it if they realized why I took a wife. Despite knowing that Dad is an abusive asshole, they’ve mostly been shielded from his ruthlessness. Sure, they’re both in college like he demanded, but they have yet to understand he’d willingly trade them if it meant he’d gain a little more power.
He wanted to marry them off to the mafia, for fuck’s sake.
“I’m not getting any younger,” I say, grinning at her.
She holds my gaze, blinking, and for a few seconds, I think she’ll call me on the lie, but slowly, her lips tip into a smile. “I thought I saw graying hair.”
Laughing, I sling my arm around her and Melody. “Now, let me tell you how your big brother is going to destroy NYC Socialite.”
They listen to my plan with rapt attention, leaving the truth we’re all dancing around twenty feet behind us. Eventually, we won’t be able to avoid it. They’re too perceptive, Adalie especially, and soon enough, that bubble is going to pop.
It nearly bursts when we reach the main house and Dad steps out of the shadows, surprising us all. “I need to talk to your brother.”
Adalie sucks in a breath and Melody sighs, patting my arm and tugging Adalie toward the door.
“Come on, let’s go find a dessert.”Melody goes up the steps first, stopping in front of Dad and beaming at him. “Hi, Daddy.”