Page 114 of The Oath We Give

Not until one of his fingers traces the length of her arm.

I roll my tongue against my cheek, downing the rest of my drink and setting it on the bar.

I can’t blame him.

Coraline is dark honey.

Sweet, irresistible, but with an edge like no other.

The perfect-looking doll for high society who could slip into heels and steal the heart of any person she crossed. But beneath the surface, there is a sharpness, a wickedness that told you she’d be a minx in the sheets.

She’s what every man standing in this room wants but could never have.

Because she’s mine.

I step behind Coraline’s small frame, looming over her to stare at the man in front of her.

“Silas—” she breathes when my chest touches her back. Something tightens in my gut, knowing she didn’t even need to look to know it was me.

“Carson Bloom,” Blond highlights says, reaching his hand out for me to shake. He’s unaffected by my arrival, confidence in his grin.

He’s definitely the son of a politician.

“Silas Hawthorne.” I take his offer, slipping my palm against his. “You blind?”

“What? No? Why—hey, man, what the fuck!” He groans as I tighten my grip, crushing the tendons in my grasp. My knuckles whiten from strangling his finger, and I can just hear the crunch of bones cracking beneath my grasp.

I tilt my head. “That’s the only excuse I can think of for why you didn’t see the ring on her finger.”

“Silas, stop,” Coraline murmurs, turning to face me, hands on my chest.

A chill spreads over me like icy venom, unaffected by the pain twisting up Carson’s face as I keep squeezing. He chokes out a grunt of pain as I narrow my eyes at him.

“Touch my wife again and the next scandal your daddy will have to cover up will be your murder.”

I release his hand, sliding my own into my slacks pocket. He clutches his wrist to his chest like he’s afraid I’ll steal it from him.

I nod my head behind me. “Thanks for coming, Carson.”

He doesn’t even spare a glance at Coraline before he bolts. If I had to guess, to get medical attention. I run an irritated hand across my jaw, peering down at the center of stress.

Sexual fucking stress.

She thinks this is a game, that I’m kidding when I say I’ll kill him if he comes too close. I’m in control of this board, and Coraline is two moves away from being checkmated.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She seethes, glaring up at me like her scary face is actually going to scare me. She uses it on Lilac all the time. It’s fucking adorable. Like a little tiny kitten who thinks she’s a big bad panther. If she thinks me breaking bow tie’s hand is bad, just wait till she sees what I do when we get home.

“We’re leaving, Hex,” I grunt, running the back of my knuckle across her cheek. “Now.”

CORALINE

“You can’t do shit like that, Silas. If he did something I wasn’t comfortable with, I would have handled it.” I seethe, embarrassment burning my cheeks as I slam the door to his bedroom behind me.

I’m glad my sister is with her parents tonight because I have a feeling this is going to be a loud argument. Unfortunately, my things are in his massive closet, which means in order to get out of this dress, we have to have this conversation again.

“I’m more than aware of what you’re capable of, Coraline.”

“Then stop putting me in a position where I have to keep reminding you.”