“What time is it?”
I pulled my shirt over my head. “In an hour, I think.” I turned to look at him. George looked beside himself—tired and overwhelmed.
“Had a hard day?”
“Something like that.” He shifted in his chair. “I need to talk to you about something first.”
I nodded. “All right, go ahead.”
“John came to me today with some news.”
“Did we get any more information on the man in black?”
George shook his head. “Not that we talked about today, no.” He started to tap his hand on the arm of the chair; a habit he had when he was about to have a conversation he didn’t want to. “Sit down, Garr.”
I furrowed my brows. “What? What’s wrong now?”
“Sophia,” George said in a slow, low tone, and I rolled my eyes.
My God, I can’t wait to never hear that name again in my life.
“What did the chit do now?” Walking over to my closet, I pulled out a white shirt and pushed my arms through the sleeves. I peered over my shoulder at my brother. “Well?”
He blew out a breath. “John found out that Father signed a marriage agreement, binding the two of you together.”
I felt like someone punched me in the gut. All the air left my body and I staggered to turn around. George sat there, still tapping his damn hand.
“What in the actual fuck!” I exclaimed. “What the hell are you even talking about?”
“I’ve seen it, Garr; I read it. It looks like his signature.”
My mind reeled. I couldn’t comprehend any words he was saying right now. This couldn’t be right. Father wouldn’t do this to me.
Mind you, we never did finish talking about mine and Hara’s future, but he wouldn’t just go behind my back and make decisions for me. We had high respect for each other. We disagreed a great deal, but this… this was disloyalty.
“You marry by the end of the year.”
That was the final sentence I heard. I was on my way out my bedroom door to personally strangle Sophia Chitwood.
I was livid.
I was past seeing red.
I was going to kill that bitch today and personally dispose of her myself. It was something I should have done already. It would be so easy to just wrap my hands around her neck and squeeze.
“Garr, stop!” George yelled behind me. He ran ahead and tried to stand in front of me.
I couldn’t stop, and I pushed him aside. “Move!”
“We’re going to figure this out.” His hand found my shoulder again and he pulled.
I threw my shoulder back to get him off me. “Yeah, we are. I’m going to kill her right now!”
“Stop!” We passed a few men; I didn’t see who and I didn’t give a shit. “You can’t go raving like a lunatic. We need a plan.” He attempted to get in my way again.
“Fuck plans!” I shouted at him. “Get the hell out of my way, or I’m going to beat your ass and step over you.” George didn’t move.
I was going to hit the shit out of him. I didn’t care if he was now the king. He was my brother, and he would remain that way in my eyes.
“There’s more.” George looked torn to tell me; his eyes were begging me to calm the hell down.
“Hurry up and spit it out,” I seethed.
“It’s Hara. If —”
I pushed him away again. Now she wanted to threaten my sister’s life? She just signed her death sentence.
I was ending this right now. No one was going to stand in the way of what I had with Ava, especially some spoiled little bitch who didn’t like the word “no.”
“If you push me again, Garr, I’m going to fucking lay your ass out right here. Relax!”
I rounded on him. “Do you expect me to just sit here and let this bitch ruin my life? The life I finally have for myself? She isn’t going to take Ava away from me!”
“I know, I know!” He held his hands up. “I’m going to do everything I can, Garr. I already have John working on it.”
“What about Hara? What did they do?”
I was worried and couldn’t keep my breathing in check. My little sister was at risk, of Femme Fatale knew what. There were too many ruthless men out there who would kill her spirit and give her a life of sorrow. I’d die before someone would touch Hara.
“If you fail to marry Chitwood, Hara will go to King Leo Dufour.”
The breath I was holding in staggered. I’d met the fucker before, when he was married to his second wife, who was twenty years his junior. She was a small thing, quiet, and came to whatever the hell ball it was with a black eye. He collected mistresses and killed off his wives. I believed he was on number seven now.
“What do you want me to do? Sit the fuck back, while this whore plans our wedding dinner and the music that is going to be played?”
George tsked. “Shit, like you would.”
I pointed my finger at him. “You’re the fucking king. Do something about it.”
“Listen, if it were that easy, it would have been done already.” He pointed right back at me. “Not me chasing you around like a damn idiot.”
I ran my hand through my hair and looked around me, finding men trying to look normal as hell when really they were trying to eavesdrop. George must have noticed it too because he nodded for me to head back in the direction we came.
“He died before either of us were married off. Does that count for anything?” I whispered.
George shrugged. “Not sure. Like John said, Parliament stands behind Chitwood. Something just doesn’t seem right.”
“It’s fake.”
“But how do we prove it?”
“There had to have been witnesses,” I stammered. “It couldn’t have been them standing in a room alone.”
“I’ll do some digging.”
Digging. I was going to dig Sophia into a grave.
Alive.
My nerves were wrecked; I couldn’t focus.
Life wasn’t going to be without Ava.
She was mine.
And I’d destroy anyone who got in our way.
Ava
Chapter 38
Garrett had been quiet all night, and I knew something was wrong. It was in the air, stagnate and suffocating. From his glances that he didn’t think I saw, it was written all over his face. The crimped eyes and heavy sighs, he was keeping something in. And it pricked my nerves.
George and he exchanged strange glances throughout dinner. Garrett picked at his food, taking small bites to make it look like everything was normal. I seemed to be the only one to notice; Isabella and Hara laughed continuously at George’s jokes, that were far from funny.
When supper finally ended, Hara suggested playing cards, and I found myself tapping my leg in suspense, waiting to get Garrett alone. George was keeping his collected attitude, teasing Hara and trying to involve Garrett, who was zoning out. He lost every hand he played because he wasn’t focusing.
Garrett opted out a few hands in and walked over to the liquor cart. Excusing myself, I sauntered over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. His body stilled, which pricked my pride, and he stopped the decanter pouring the brandy into his glass. Like I’d caught him doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing.
“What’s wrong, Garr,” I asked him gently. “Don’t tell me nothing.”
He continued to pour his drink. “What makes you think something is wrong?”
I released his waist and turned him to face me.
“You barely ate, you haven’t said but a paragraph all night, and I’m not stupid.”
He gave me a smile; that smile that made me weak at the knees. The one he was purposely trying to distract me with.
“Never thought you were stupid, my goddess,” he murmured, wrapping his hand around my waist.
“Garrett, please,” I continued. “What happened?”
He gave me a light kiss on my forehead. “Not here, okay?” he murmured softly against my skin.
I nodded without hesitating.
He knew he must tell me, and that was all I needed right now.
∞∞∞
“Can you sit down for me?” Garrett asked in a strained tone. His shoulders were tense, and he wouldn’t stop pacing my room.
I did what he asked, watching his face the whole time. He raked his hand through his dark hair and knelt in front of me. “Before I begin, I need you to know that we are going to get through this.”