Page 33 of Ruthless Chaos

If I mark her as mine, no one would dare touch her.

“I choose Allie Clarke,” I say, picking her file from the pile before I have time to register what I’m doing.

The stunned silence in the room is deafening.

I clear my throat and walk back to my seat, averting their eyes. I can imagine Ezra and Vance’s faces just fine. I don’t need to look at them to know their jaws are on the floor.

The moment I sink into the chair, reality hits me.

I just let my cock trick me into thinking marking her as mine is a good thing.

Even though Ijustswore off even looking at her because of how crazy she makes me. I rarely act off emotion, but already this girl is affecting me.

This just proves what I knew from the beginning—being around her is a risk.

I’m plagued by my thoughts as the other Council members make their picks.

It’s no surprise that Vance chooses his “friend” Nya—he mumbles something about protecting her, and I wonder if he’s having the same struggle as I am.

Ezra picks a medical student as usual, Cesare, a girl whose entire file is printed in Italian. He doesn’t give us an explanation. Surprisingly, Keller doesn’t make a choice.

He usually does. That makes me suspicious.

With the Courtesans removed, the next phase involves compiling the list so it can be placed on the Kingmaker House notice board.

Cesare and Keller leave the room to do that, as the responsibility rotates every year.

Unfortunately, that leaves me alone in the room with Ezra and Vance, who aren’t even trying to hide the fact they are stunned by how the meeting went.

“Someone finally thawed your cold heart, Duke?” Vance asks.

I frown, shaking my head slightly. “Don’t read too much into it.”

Ezra scoffs. “Don’t read into it? You’ve never chosen a girl before,” he says. “What’s so special about her?”

He tries to grab the paper out of my hand, but I move it out of his reach. Allie is my secret to keep.

“She’s for my amusement. It’s my last year, can’t I enjoy it?”

That seems to pacify them enough to leave me alone.

However, glancing down at her picture pulls the truth to the forefront of my mind.

I’ve sunk myself into a precarious situation.

There’s so much riding on this year. I’ll need to retain my title as Head Kingmaker if I am to have a chance at joining the Kingmaker Society. I don’t need a complication like this muddying my mind.

Making me emotional.

Making me fucking protective.

The longer I stare at the picture of her, the more my chest clenches.

Maybe I just need to get her out of my system.

It must be the unfinished business we have that’s making me feel this strange. I’m an all-in kind of guy. I just need to prove that she’s not as important as my cock is making me believe. Once I do that, things will go back to normal.

She’s just another girl.