Chapter 10 #2
We enter the house and make our way to the ballroom.
It’s already half-full by the time we get there.
Just my luck that the first person I lock eyes with is Tobias, and the smug grin on his face along with the accompanying wink has me cursing Loris all over again.
He won’t let this go. With purpose, I lead Grace and Juliet in the opposite direction, and even though I can’t see or hear him over this din, I know he’s laughing.
I hand each woman a glass of champagne, and right as I’m wondering how I can get Grace alone without making me look like a bastard to her friend, Donovan Sinner sidles up behind Juliet and lowers his mouth to her ear.
“Knew I recognized that pert ass.”
Juliet spins around and squeals. “I hoped you’d be here.” She turns toward Grace, and winks. “Have fun.” And with that, she links her arm through Donovan’s and disappears into the crowds.
Someone’s on my side this evening.
“How do they know each other?”
“They met last time we were here.” Grace tracks her friend until the crowds swallow her up. “I think she’s smitten, and by smitten, I mean horny. Juliet’s a one-and-done kind of girl, so I hope your friend isn’t planning on anything long term.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Donovan? Long term? I think the longest relationship he’s ever had is to buy his date breakfast the next morning before he sends her on her way.”
“Then, they’re the perfect partnership.”
“And what about you, Grace? Are you the one-and-done type?”
She lowers her chin, glancing up at me through her lashes. “No. I don’t do casual.”
If I’d been on a date with any of my previous companions and they said that to me, I’d already be figuring out a way to end it. Fast. Yet with Grace, knowing she isn’t the kind of woman who’s had scores of boyfriends only makes me more interested in her, not less.
She’s different. I don’t know how, nor am I bothered to examine the whys and wherefores.
All I know is I am feeling things for this woman I’ve never felt for anyone else.
In a way, it’s selfish and unfair of me to pursue Grace.
There is no long-term future for us. At some point, Dad will choose a bride for me, and that’ll be that.
But I can’t see him going down that road for a while yet.
We’ve had two weddings in twelve months, and I’m a few years younger than my elder brothers.
I have time to explore and enjoy Grace until it runs its natural course.
I mean, she said she didn’t do casual, but that doesn’t mean she intends to marry every guy she meets. I’m not being disingenuous by keeping the lack of a future for us from her. We’ve only just met. Who talks about marriage on their second date? No one, that’s who.
“Would you like to dance?”
She wrinkles her nose. “I’m not much of a dancer. I’ll probably step on your foot and break a toe or something.”
I chuckle. God, she’s so fucking different from most people I know.
Even though she’s part of the aristocracy, she doesn’t behave as though she is—that has to be related to growing up without the access to wealth many aristocrats enjoy—and I’m here for it.
She’s the most genuine person I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet.
“Are you hungry?” I gesture to the mountains of food at the far end of the ballroom.
Before she can answer, Loris and Destiny join us. The way Grace’s face lights up at seeing Destiny is so fucking adorable and momentarily quashes my annoyance at their interruption of our private time.
We’re in the middle of conversation when my father approaches me. “A word, Christian.”
I make my apologies and accompany Dad a short distance away. “What’s up?”
“Dominique Evans looks rather lovely tonight, don’t you think?”
I frown, following his eyeline, my gaze landing on the woman in question. She’s a regular at our events, but I can’t say I’ve shared more than a few words with her over the years.
“I guess.”
“And Adaline Walters. Green is definitely her color. Brings out the auburn notes in her hair.”
My stomach hollows out. I know where he’s going with this, but I won’t make it easy on him. “Dad, what’s going on?”
His palm lands on my right shoulder, and he pats me there. “Alexander and Nicholas look ecstatically happy, don’t they?”
I scan the room for my brothers. They’re on the other side of the ballroom with their wives, conversing in a small group. “They do, yes.”
“But they both had to work at it. The love they have for Imogen and Victoria didn’t appear right away.”
“They’re fortunate. Not all arranged marriages go that way.”
“True. But our family has a pretty decent record. My father, your grandfather, chose your mother for me, and we had eighteen wonderful years together. I like to think I’ve followed in his footsteps and know what’s best for my sons and daughter.”
I can’t believe it’s happening now, when I’ve finally met a woman who keeps me interested for more than a few hours. “You gave Nicholas a choice.”
“I did, and I was wrong to do so. If I’d picked Victoria from the beginning, then all that nasty business with Elizabeth wouldn’t have happened.”
Nasty and Elizabeth go together in the same sentence like strawberries and cream.
Victoria might’ve forgiven her sister for faking her death to get out of her marriage to Nicholas, but I’m firmly on my brother’s side when it comes to Elizabeth.
The fact it worked out brilliantly for Victoria and Nicholas is, in my opinion, moot.
What Elizabeth did is unforgivable. I note, with amusement, that she isn’t here this evening, even though her parents are.
That’s got my brother’s fingerprints all over it.
“Okay, Dad, cut to the chase.”
His hand tightens on my shoulder. “It’s time for you to start thinking about marriage.”
And there it is.
The walls close in around me. I don’t want to get married. I like my life the way it is. Inevitably, marriage would’ve come for me eventually, but I’d hoped for a few more years. I deserve a few more years.
“It’s too soon,” I say. “I’m not even thirty yet.”
“I was twenty-five when I married your mother, and twenty-six when the twins were born. Age has nothing to do with it.”
“Yeah, but Xan was thirty-five when he got married. Nicholas thirty-four.”
“This will be good for you,” he replies, doggedly. “Arranged marriages are what we do in this family, and it’s time we arranged yours.”
“George and Alice’s wasn’t arranged.”
My father rarely gets angry, but the blast of fury that explodes in his face is enough to force me to step back. “And look how that turned out,” he growls, his voice holding the kind of menace I’ve seen him use at Consortium business meetings when the occasion called for it.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“We don’t mention that man’s name in this house, Christian.”
“No.” I lower my gaze to the floor. “No, sir.”
He sighs the kind of weary exhalation of breath saved for the truly exhausted. A raft of remorse weighs heavy in my chest. He’s as frustrated as we all are with the lack of progress in locating my treacherous uncle, and the last thing he needs is me adding to his troubles.
“Son, you’ve had a tough year, what with the building collapse and the ensuing investigation. Settling down will be good for you, trust me. There are many wonderful women who move in our circles, and the right one is out there for you.”
With that bombshell, he claps me on the shoulder again and wanders off.
I stand there, glued to the spot, the remnants of my freedom scattering at my feet like ashes.