Page 16 of Obsessively Yours (Fae Kings of Eden #2)
16
THREE MONTHS LATER
Violet stood on her toes and planted a kiss on Titus’ lips. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” The corners of his mouth tightened, and she added, “Not for sex. Just to stay.”
He pulled her close and smoothed back her hair. “I wish I could. More than anything.”
The strain in his voice caught her by surprise, and she leaned back to look at him. “Is everything okay?”
His lips, warm and soft, pressed tenderly against her forehead. “Stress from work. That’s all.”
“I’ll make you your favorite sweet rolls tomorrow,” she promised and stepped back. “Have you decided what you’re wearing to Vivian and Roman’s wedding? If your clothes need to be altered, I’ll have to start on them now.”
If it weren’t for Roman, Violet doubted she’d attend the wedding at all. Supporting her friend was the only reason she planned on attending the grand affair. Vivian ignored her more than before, but she and Roman saw each other at least once a week. Sometimes he had lunch with her, Griff, and Slayton, and every now and then, he even came to dinner with her and Titus.
Violet didn’t know much about Roman and Vivian’s relationship. Asking Roman about Viv resulted in him changing the subject. Every. Single. Time. Violet hoped they were as content as she and Titus.
Who knew, she might have a wedding of her own soon, if Marissa spoke true at lunch yesterday. According to her, Titus walked out of the jewelry shop last week carrying a small, square box. When Marissa and Roman left the sandwich shop, Violet had squealed like a schoolgirl.
Not even the fact Marissa delivered the news could put a damper on her excitement. A tall, statuesque woman with cool ivory skin, bright red hair, and the prettiest face Violet had ever seen; Marissa checked all the boxes on the ideal woman list. Griff’s words, not Violet’s.
The woman tagged along with Roman sometimes, and while Marissa had never given her a reason, Violet didn’t like her. It made Violet feel rotten because she couldn’t put her finger on why. She said nothing to Griff about it because they were friends, but she’d confided in Slayton.
He hadn’t said much other than he’d keep an eye on her, and that if Violet ever felt uncomfortable or threatened to tell him or Roman straight away. It hadn’t escaped her notice that he didn’t mention Titus. Violet had a sneaking suspicion Slayton wasn’t her boyfriend’s biggest fan. He hadn’t seemed happy, either, about what Marissa saw, but Violet knew he’d support her no matter what.
Titus didn’t answer her question about the wedding, his eyes filling with something akin to regret. What’s going on with him?
“ I understand if you can’t go,” she assured him, trying to mask her disappointment.
“I’ll be at Vivian’s wedding.” He kissed her again, his lips lingering on hers. “You know I love you, right?”
She chuckled and patted his chest. “I do, and I love you too.” She gestured toward the front door. “Now go before I tie you to my bed.”
He smiled and opened the door before looking back at her again. “I do love you, Violet.”
She shooed him outside with a teasing smile. “You said that already.” As she shut the door, she couldn’t help but sense doom looming over her.
* * *
The next day, Roman waited for his mother and father in his sitting room, pondering how they would take his refusal to marry Vivian in three weeks. He’d hoped by now she would have gotten cold feet and run off with her lover, whom Roman knew she’d started seeing again if her love and orgasms traveling down the bond were any indication.
Elated did not begin to describe what he felt when she’d fucked the mystery man again for the first time. It meant Roman’s plan had worked, but she’d not disappeared and broken their bond yet. He couldn’t hold off on canceling the wedding any longer and sent a request that morning for a meeting with his parents about his upcoming nuptials.
He mentally went over the reasons him marrying someone else wouldn’t harm the kingdom. It mattered not to him, but his parents cared.
1. The bloodline wouldn’t end if he married someone else, it would only weaken, but even a weak royal fae was stronger than the strongest non-royal fae, and when his child married their mate, it would strengthen again.
2. There were no other royal heirs to take his place if Roman denied his mate because royals only had one child. The gods couldn’t kill him or the Tropical line would die out. Maybe .
No one knew what the gods might do. They were ethereal beings who’d created Eden, left instructions to the first humans and fae, and left. They’d only come back once, thousands of years ago, to erect the magical barrier separating the humans from fae and hadn’t returned since.
3. He would kill Vivian if he had to.
Surely those three reasons were enough to placate them.
“Knock, knock,” his mother sang as she walked into his sitting room with a bright smile.
Roman stood and met her halfway, kissing her on the cheek. “Thank you for coming.”
She pulled back. “Why are you being formal?”
“Sarah, leave the boy be,” his father interjected and guided his wife to one of the plush chairs against the wall. When his father took his own seat, he indicated for Roman to sit down. “Tell us what this is about, Son.”
Right to the point then.
“I’m not marrying Vivian.”
His mother huffed, her mouth turning down at the corners. “I know marriage can be scary, honey, but we cannot postpone the wedding again.”
“None of the other three heirs have married yet, and they’re older than he is,” Roman’s father countered.
Roman’s brows rose. Royal fae heirs not marrying on their twenty-second birthday was unheard of. But all four? Unfathomable.
“I’m not postponing the wedding,” Roman cut in. His parents’ bickering came to a halt. The queen looked confused, but his father’s eyes narrowed. Here goes nothing. “I’m not marrying Vivian at all.”
The words silenced the room in their wake. His father’s face reddened with fury, and his mother’s paled with shock.
“What do you mean?” his mother asked, rising from her seat. “She is your mate. You must marry her.”
“Why? Because gods whom we haven’t seen nor heard from in thousands of years said so?” he challenged.
“Because it will put our kingdom in danger,” his father bellowed and stood. “Of all the selfish, immature things you’ve done, this is too far. You will marry Vivian.”
Roman stepped closer and snarled, “No, I will not.”
His mother’s voice quieted. “Why, Roman? What could be important enough to forsake your kingdom and defy the gods?”
Roman shifted to look at the woman who’d taught him the importance of love. He’d planned to wait until Violet agreed to marry him to reveal his true reasoning, but he knew the only way to win his mother over was to tell her the truth.
“I’m in love with Violet.” He stared at her, imploring her to understand. “I always have been. The gods made a mistake. I know they did.”
“Love?” the king scoffed. “You would put your entire kingdom at risk because of an infatuation? Son, think about what you’re saying.”
Roman’s head twisted eerily slow to look at his father. “There is nothing in this world more important to me than Violet Maekin. Nothing. Not even you two.”
“And how does Violet feel?” his father asked snidely. “She has a serious boyfriend. Confident of you to think she’ll give him up.”
Roman threw his head back and laughed maniacally. “You think I’m worried about Titus?”
At the same time, his mother surprised the hell out of both men by saying, “People disappear all the time.”
Roman gaped, and his father blanched. “Sarah, do you hear yourself?” the king asked his wife.
“What?” She placed her hand over her heart. “I knew he loved her when they were kids. Even I thought the gods were mistaken, but eventually they outgrew their young love.” Her warm fingers wrapped around Roman’s, and the king mumbled to himself as he paced the length of the room.
“I thought you outgrew it,” his mother continued, “but had I known, we could have announced her as your mate instead. No one in the kingdom would have been the wiser.”
The guilt in his mother’s voice made his heart swell with gratitude. But none of this was her fault. The gods dealt Roman a shitty hand that he must rectify himself.
He smiled wryly. “I’ll have her. Even if I must kill any man who stands in my way.”
His father’s head whipped around so fast, Roman thought it might snap off. “Dear gods, there are two of you.”
Sarah smiled sweetly up at her son, ignoring her husband. “Okay, honey, but we can just as easily send him to another kingdom. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
The king looked between his wife and son. “You two cannot go around killing and exiling people for dating the ones you love.”
The queen’s face darkened. “Tippy Glenn did not date you, and if she had, more than her grabby hands would be fertilizing my garden.”
Roman’s father rubbed his forehead. “Maybe diluting the bloodline wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” he mumbled under his breath.
Roman stared at his mother, wondering how she’d kept animals from digging up the remains in her garden. It was the main reason he didn’t leave bodies there, like Kincaid. The man’s body had finally given out, and Roman had been forced to get creative with his disposal.
Roman’s mother sniffed and lifted her nose in the air. “Hush. We need to meet with the scholars and come up with a plan to lessen the blow when we announce Roman’s decision.”
* * *
Roman stared longingly at his bed the next morning. His nightly routine, while worth it, left him tired most days until he had his morning coffee. Each night after Titus left Violet’s house, Roman came back home for a few hours of sleep and would wake in the early hours of the morning from a nightmare. He’d then slip back into Violet’s house to check on her and watch her sleep until just before dawn.
If he thought he could survive on no sleep, he’d stay with Violet all night, but he couldn’t. He’d tried a few times.
Roman rubbed at his sternum, annoyed with Vivian’s giddy excitement laced with a strange sort of anxiety. Odd . If there was one thing about Vivian, she rarely experienced anxiety or fear.
A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. He passed through his sitting room and opened the door to find his parents on the other side. He stepped aside and waved them in. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
His mother bustled into the room in a flurry of pale pink skirts. “We need to discuss the situation with your mate.”
Roman led them to the small dining table in the corner of his sitting room and pulled out a chair for his mother before he and his father joined her. “I assume you have a plan.”
His father leaned back and crossed one leg over the other, looking deceptively relaxed. “We have, and the council agrees.”
Roman wanted to slam his fist on the table. The fewer people who knew about this until they had the logistics figured out, the better. “You didn’t think to check with me before involving the council?”
“The council helped concoct the plan,” his mother explained, pushing an stray piece of hair out of her face. “And we agreed.”
Roman looked between the two. “Why do you both look as if you’re delivering a death blow?”
His parents exchanged a wary glance, and his father answered, “Because we know you won’t like it.”
“I’ll not marry Vivian.” Roman asserted and stood. “End of discussion.”
“Sit.” His mother tapped his chair. “I would never force you to marry when you’re in love with another.”
The tension in Roman’s shoulders loosened a fraction as he eased into his seat. “Then what is it?”
“You’ll marry Violet,” his father began, “but to everyone else, she will be Vivian.”
Roman shot to his feet again. “No,” he snarled. “I’ll not have my mate pretend to be someone she’s not. Especially not her unworthy sister.”
“Vivian is your mate,” his father snapped. “This is a compromise that allows you to risk your kingdom without them knowing.”
Over Roman’s dead body would he hide Violet behind Vivian’s mask. “No one in the capital would buy it. Everyone knows the twins are night and day.”
His mother adjusted the sleeve of her dress. If she was avoiding his gaze, he really wouldn’t like the next part of their plan . “Vivian will leave the kingdom, and Violet will train with your father, Edgar, and me to pass as a warrior; learn to act and dress the part of Vivian publicly. We will announce Vivian’s retirement as a warrior in lieu of her taking over as queen.”
Roman scoffed and moved to the center of the room before he threw something. “I never took you two for fools.”
His father straightened and leaned forward. “Watch it.”
“No, you watch it,” Roman returned with a lethal note in his deceptively calm voice. “I will marry Violet. If our people refuse to kneel before her, I will cut them off at the knees. They will have no choice but to kiss her feet.”
A searing pain tore through Roman, and he cried out, clawing at his chest as he lurched toward the table to steady himself. His mother screamed and jumped out of her seat to kneel at his side.
The sound of her voice was a distant murmur, muffled by the blood roaring in Roman’s ears. He couldn’t speak or breathe, and he gritted his teeth against the sharp pain. Were the gods punishing him for his disobedience?
A sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead. How long would their useless punishment last? Not even the greatest pain imaginable could force him to give up Violet.
It didn’t make sense that they’d punish him early, and fear gripped him. What if something happened to War? He closed his eyes and reached for his familiar, greeted by nothing but darkness and silence.
“War?” he bellowed down the bond.
The beast’s vision blinked open until Roman stared out at an array of colorful trees. He watched through War as the cat jumped from a tall branch and ran toward the palace. Roman breathed a sigh of relief.
“What’s wrong?” War demanded.
“I don’t know. My chest feels like it’s being destroyed from the inside out, and I was worried something happened to you.”
“I’m on my way.”
A vague awareness of his parents yelling his name and his mother’s hands fumbling over his torso teased at the corners of his mind. The pain dissolved as quickly as it came, and he sat back on his heels, panting. What just happened?
“Roman, speak to me,” his father’s strong voice ordered.
Roman pushed to his feet. “It was like being ripped apart from the inside out. I thought something happened to War, but he’s fine.”
Deep lines formed between his father’s brows until his face paled. “Where is Vivian now?”
“Vivian?” Roman’s face matched his father’s. “How would I know?” A pause, followed by hope. “Do you think she broke the bond?”
A triumphant smile tried to tease Roman’s lips, but he pushed it down, too scared to truly hope. He connected with War and told him to find Vivian.
He reached inward for Vivian’s emotions, but they were gone. Not even a whisper of her remained.
Opening his eyes, he stopped fighting his grin, and his mother gasped, covering her mouth. “She either married another or she’s dead,” he confirmed, answering the question on both his parents’ faces.
And he cared not which one.