Chapter 12 #2
Julian’s smile returned. “Excellent taste.”
When the waiter left, Julian folded his hands on the table. He looked like a man preparing to negotiate an acquisition.
“I want to be clear,” he began. “I’m not here to disrespect you by pretending this is…romantic.”
Kaylani’s brows lifted. “How considerate.”
Julian leaned back slightly. “I’m here because I see value. Alignment of interests. Potential for both our families.”
And there it was. Kaylani was as much of a possession to Julian as she was to her father.
Kaylani’s eyes stayed flat.
“I do not have time for idle chit chat. Speak freely and say what you really mean.”
Julian’s gaze sharpened, then darkened.
“I meant that together, you and I can be formidable.”
Kaylani’s tone didn’t change.
“Formidable together? From where I’m sitting, you are the only one who benefits.”
Nathaniel would be so fucking proud to see his sister right now.
“Uniting our families sends a message. A nudge for all those who need reminding who holds the power.”
Ice crawled along my nerves.
Kaylani tilted her head, studying him. “That sounds an awful lot like a threat.”
Julian smiled, but it came off cold and calculating, just like the man. “It’s a promise. There’s a difference.”
I shifted my weight slightly, fingers brushing the line of my jacket where my gun rested.
Julian’s gaze cut to me, then returned to Kaylani with a calmness that made my skin itch. He knew we weren’t just a princess and her dedicated soldier, and he wanted me to know it.
“How long have you known my father,” Kaylani asked, redirecting.
Julian’s expression turned pleasantly thoughtful.
“Long enough to respect him. Not long enough to be bored by him.”
Kaylani’s eyes cut. “Most men get bored when they realize they can’t control him.”
Julian’s lips curved into a lopsided grin. “I don’t need to control Dimitri. I understand him. Control comes in many forms and is useless without knowing what makes the opposition tick.”
“So now my father is the opposition? Interesting. And what do you think you understand?” Her voice was as sharp as a blade.
Julian looked at her for a long moment.
“He’s a man who doesn’t forgive humiliation. He expects obedience and values power.”
Kaylani’s hand tightened on her water glass.
Julian continued as if he had offered some sage wisdom.
“You’re bright enough to know that already. But you’re also stubborn enough to test it. Interesting combination.”
Kaylani didn’t blink. “And you’re arrogant enough to think you can lecture me about my family.”
“No lecture. Advise. It would be a shame to waste your intelligence on rebellion when it could be used to build a lasting legacy.”
Kaylani leaned forward slightly, placing a hand on the table.
“And where do I fit into your plans, Julian?”
His eyes warmed, a practiced bat of the eyes as he angled his head, trying to seduce her.
“At my side.”
He dared to brush his fingertips over her hand but pulled away again before she could jerk it free.
Kaylani sat back in her chair and asked, dead calm, “What does, at your side, actually mean?”
Julian’s fingers tapped once against the table.
“It means partnership, of course. Respect. Freedom. Power.”
I almost laughed.
Freedom wasn’t something men like him gave. It was something they pretended to offer until the collar clicked closed.
Kaylani held his gaze. “Freedom to do what?”
Julian spread his hands. “To be who you are. To keep your passions. Your work. Your horse.” He said horse like it was a mere hobby.
Kaylani didn’t give anything away. “And what would you want in return?”
Julian’s eyes remained calm. “Loyalty and obedience. No more outbursts like last night, for example.”
There it was again.
Loyalty and obedience. He wanted her to take what he offered, pretend to be happy, and in return, her family would get richer, while she was trapped in her own personal hell.
Kaylani laughed as the waiter returned with their drinks, disappearing just as fast.
“Let me make sure I understand. You want me to look pretty on your arm and sit by your side. Give you however many children you desire, all so that I have the privilege of knowing I tied my freedom to you and your decisions. Sounds like trading a demon for a devil.”
“You misunderstand. I’m offering you the chance to do as you please. I’m offering you an exit, an out, an open door to the freedom you crave.”
Kaylani’s voice was light. “That’s a lot of pretty words.”
“Loyalty and freedom go hand in hand. They are the only words that matter in this world. You give me one, I give you one. Simple trade.”
“And what about trust?”
Julian’s smile thinned. “Trust is what you sell to people who can afford to believe in it.”
Kaylani’s eyes narrowed. “So, you don’t believe it’s necessary?”
Julian shrugged. “I believe in reality.” His gaze slid toward me, then back to Kaylani. “And the reality is that some people are born to lead and some are born to serve. There’s nothing wrong with either, as long as everyone knows their place. You and I, well, we were born to lead.”
My pulse jumped.
Kaylani’s posture stayed perfect, but I felt it. The contained rage.
Julian watched her reaction like a man who had never seen a match catch fire.
He smiled again, softening. “Forgive me. It’s not a popular way to phrase it.”
Kaylani’s voice was cool. “No. It’s a disgusting way. It’s the same way my father would phrase it.”
Julian chuckled. “I appreciate your honesty. And the compliment.”
“Do you? It wasn’t meant that way.”
“I have never met a woman quite like you, Kaylani. You’re…unique.”
Kaylani took a slow sip of her wine, eyes never leaving Julian.
“Tell me, how do you see your wife wielding power?”
Julian’s smile widened like he had been waiting for the question. “Publicly? With grace, elegance, and composure.”
Kaylani scoffed. “And privately?”
Julian’s eyes darkened ever so slightly. “Support.”
“Support for what?”
“For my decisions.”
Kaylani’s gaze remained cold. “And if your decisions are wrong?”
Julian’s mouth twitched. “Then she would be wise enough to tell me…in private.”
“And if you still choose wrong?”
Julian leaned back, studying her like she was an exam question. “Then she would be wise enough to stand beside me anyway.”
Kaylani set her glass down carefully. “So, your wife doesn’t get power or a voice.”
“My wife gets influence.”
Kaylani’s tone sharpened slightly. “That’s not the same.”
Julian’s gaze held hers. “A voice is loud. Influence is effective.”
My teeth ground together, and I made the mistake of shifting my position. Not much, but enough. Julian’s eyes lifted to me. That same lazy, confident glance. A reminder that I wasn’t part of this conversation because I wasn’t part of their world.
But I was part of Kaylani’s world, and Julian could sense it.
He leaned forward again, voice deep and sultry, the kind that had left a trail of women in his wake. “I’m not asking you to shrink, Kaylani. I’m asking you to direct your fire somewhere that benefits you.”
Kaylani’s gaze didn’t soften. “And you?”
Julian smiled. “Yes…and me.”
There it was. The truth slipped in as smoothly as a heated butter knife.
Kaylani’s expression remained unreadable. “You keep acting like this would be a partnership.”
“Because that’s what it would be.”
Kaylani’s voice was almost gentle. “Then why does it feel like you’re recruiting me?”
Julian paused. A crack in his mask. He recovered quickly, and his smile returned.
“Because, in a way, I am.”
She was studying him like she said she would. Listening to what he said, noticing what he didn’t, and reading the subtext he left behind.
When the food arrived, Julian switched gears to harmless topics. Ballet season. Charity boards. Business expansions. The importance of optics. But every anecdote circled back to one point.
Image.
How Kaylani would make him look in the public eye. But it wasn’t the public eye that worried me. It was what he would do behind closed doors. He was not a man who could be trusted. He was a man who took what he wanted, and for men like him, violence was second nature.
And Kaylani…my Lani, was forced to sit here with blood in her name and bruises beneath her makeup because of a man just like Julian. She was being offered a gilded cage under the guise of choice.
Julian lifted his fork. “You handled yourself well last night.”
Kaylani didn’t look impressed. “Others would not see it that way.”
Julian’s eyes stayed smooth. “Maybe. But you didn’t break.”
“Another compliment?”
“An observation. Most women in your position would have apologized. Sat down and resumed the meal.”
Kaylani’s gaze sharpened. “Most women in my position were bred to apologize. I didn’t receive those genes.”
Julian’s lips curved, pleased. “Exactly. You’re different.”
Kaylani leaned in slightly. “You don’t want different, Julian.”
His eyes gleamed. “I want rare.”
My stomach turned.
Rare. Like a gemstone dug from the earth. Like she was something to be displayed. Collected.
“You keep the right people close. That’s smart,” Julian noted, deliberately looking in my direction, taking his time as the implication settled between us. Neither of us reacted to the veiled inquiry.
“I keep people close who have earned it,” Kaylani said with a smirk. “Those who have proven their loyalty. You should be able to appreciate that.” She tossed his words back at him, and I wanted to kiss her for it.
“Of course. How wise.”
Julian rolled his shoulders as if he had just taken the hit on the chin, but would remember it for a long time. He was as deadly as the snake tattooed on his skin, and in that moment, I had never been so happy that Kaylani had married me.
Even if we could never be together, she had purchased an insurance policy for herself. Anyone who wanted her hand had to go through me first. And this guy…he wasn’t getting anywhere near her.
Not ever.