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I scoffed. “I think your reputation is doing just fine.”

Sure, Adrian’s birth had upset the entire godly system. Maybe it had something to do with my age, that there were four years of recovery before I came into the world. Even longer before I could pay attention to whathis birth did.

But Adrian was as well-loved as they came. It was hard not to respect him—admire him—when the god of the skies could also charm a wall.

Adrian grinned again. “For the most part, but there’s always a little something. Your father, for example.”

Ah, so that’s what he was getting at. “My father doesn’t hate you. He hates the fact that he doesn’t have power.”

“So he’s doubled your families already formidable empire?” Adrian asked, cocking a brow.

"Complete with the crippling fear that it won’t survive him,” I answered.

Adrian’s body stilled, like that answer was exactly what he’d been looking for. “He wants you to take over?”

I nodded, letting out a heavy breath. “Sure does. He feels that my skills are better aligned than my brother's. But we’ve had a difference of opinion on how that should happen for years.”

The end of my sentence was cut off by a small gasp. I didn’t know why I was telling Adrian this. We didn’t know each other. And I didn’t air my family’s secrets to just anyone.

“He won’t budge on your requests?” Adrian asked.

I shook my head. “It would take a lot for him to change his mind.” Or for my brother to finally get his head on straight and decide partying with our cousin no longer suited him. I’d hoped his wife would help, but no such luck.

Adrian’s eyes flashed with a spark of lightning. “How much does he hate me?”

“I told you—he doesn’t hate you.”

“Fine,” Adrian corrected. “How much would heresent you associating with the gods instead of him?”

I thought for a moment, breaking eye contact to look at the sea outside. “Probably a lot.”

“And you would do anything for him to come around and see the reason in your requests?”

I was tempted to answer honestly. To tell him the full extent of my relationship with my father and how that affected the discussions about me taking over. But instead, I just kept it short. “I don’t need to make my family any more money. I either continue my work with charities. Or I take over and fix the parts of the business my father refuses to. ”

“And if I gave you a way to make that happen?” Adrian asked, stepping closer to me. Intimately close.

I looked up at him, forcing my voice steady as I asked, “What are you proposing?”

Adrian reached up and pushed a strand of hair out of my face. “I’m proposing that we begin a relationship. Well, a fake one, that is.”

Chapter 2

Reyna

I had to be hearing him wrong. Maybe the little zap I felt when he reached up and brushed hair out of my face had made me stupid. “A fake relationship?”

Adrian nodded, like the answer was simple. “Yes.”

“And why would I agree to that?” This entire thing wasinsane. Who even did that? And it certainly didn’t happen with the god of the fucking skies.

Something sharp zinged through the air as Adrian studied me, considering how to respond. Everything about him was so put together, so carefully selected.

I had a horrible urge to try to claw my way into his skull and uncover all his secrets. What he hid behind that suit of his.

But it was clear, even from afar, that the walls he put up were impenetrable. There would be no climbing them, seeing therealAdrian, unless he let me.

I wasn’t even sure I wanted to know.