Page 134 of Morally Black Betrothal

“Maybe she has him confused with the doorman at his building,” Ronan added. “Nowthat’sa nice guy. Johnny always says hello when I arrive drunk. Even helps me to the elevator.”

“Shutup,” I ordered all of them.

“Maybe the reason he doesn’t show this side to you is because you treat him so poorly.” Simone’s voice was as even as ever.

To my surprise, my family actually shrank under her clear-eyed gaze. I’d never seen anything like it. These weren’t people who backed down to anything besides brute strength. They perceived kindness as weakness. Considered compassion a character flaw.

And yet, as Simone looked at them with an expression lacking anything but honesty, they struggled to meet her eye. One by one, their bravados toppled like dominoes under the sheer power of what I could only call her humanity.

Then she turned to me with nothing but adoration, and my heart felt like a puddle.

“The manIknow is kind, dedicated, and unfailingly generous,” she said loud enough for everyone to hear here. “He does everything he can for the success of his family, and not much less to help total strangers. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with him because there’s no one like him.”

It was witchcraft. Had to be. Nothing else could explain the way I couldn’t stop looking. The way that in that moment, I’d have set every penny I had at her feet as long as she promised never to stop looking at me like that.

She rose up on her toes, tipping her face toward mine, and as if led by a string, I bent down to meet her, our lips fitting together like two puzzle pieces.

Cheers rose from around the party. I barely heard any of them.

“To Brendan and Simone!” someone shouted from the crowd.

The toast was repeated again and again, but I kept kissing my girl. Ten, nine, eight…

I lost count of the seconds. Didn’t stop until she pulled away, though only a whisper remained between us.

“No one like me, is it?” I murmured, nuzzling her face.

Simone’s mouth curved against mine. “I couldn’t lie about that. And they needed to hear it.”

We continued to gaze at each other like fools who were really in love until Owen appeared beside us.

“Nicely done,” he said, low enough that only we could hear him. “Only one problem that I can see.”

As the crowd faded back into their own conversations, I turned. “Careful.”

“It’s all very sweet, but you’ve forgotten one thing. Everyone in this roomdoesknow you, brother, and knows everything that girl just said is a pack of lies. It won’t take long for them to figure out that this”—he glanced at my arm around her shoulders, theway her hand rested comfortably on my chest—“can’t possibly be real.”

He took a sip of his champagne and cast a bored look around the party. Simone couldn’t quite hide her horror. I didn’t bother to mask a scowl.

“It would be more convincing if Brendan ignored you completely or at least sold you out for a business venture, just like he does with everyone else in his family.” He turned back to Simone and winked. “Don’t forget, gorgeous. There’s a reason they call him The Black Prince. He doesn’t have a heart, so you should stop looking for one.”

Before either of us could reply, we were interrupted by three distinct taps on a microphone echoing through the speakers.

“I think this calls for a toast,” Dad said as he slowly made his way across the stage in front of the band, which had stopped playing.

I pulled Simone to stand in front of me, keeping my arms wrapped around her shoulders. She grasped my forearms like she was intent on keeping me there as a kind of armor.

“Don’t listen to him,” I whispered into her ear. “He’s just jealous.”

She turned to speak back into mine. “I think that’s what makes him dangerous.”

She was learning our world faster than I thought.

“Thank you so much for joining us today,” Dad began, almost like he was having a conversation with the crowd. “Here to celebrate my eldest son’s engagement to this beautiful woman he’s found. To Brendan and Simone.”

There was an art to his theater that I’d learned to recognize over the years but had never mastered myself. The crowd repeated after him like a congregation at Mass as they raised their glasses and took a sip. It was so odd to be cheered, and yetbarely anyone looked our way. I may have been the heir, but he was the king.

I wondered if I’d ever actually be able to fill those shoes.