19. CHAPTER 17 #4
Then from nowhere I was interrupted by a little Fernández. It was mildly amusing.
One of her younger cousins—a boy of maybe eight—stared at me like I was a creature from mythology, as he stood in front of Julian and I.
“Are you really… Orion Kade?” he asked.
I sat up straight to get a better look of the dark skinned boy, with a buzz cut, and big brown eyes.
“Yes,” I responded in a low voice.
He nodded solemnly, then cupped a hand beside his mouth and attempted a whisper, “My mom says you're dangerous.”
I arched a brow. “Is that so?”
He nodded again, whispering again, “But I think you’re cool.”
Then he ran off. Julian nearly choked on his drink laughing.
Elias who I didn’t know was listening turned around and said, “Well done Orion, you’re now a bedtime story. Just don't let the kid know you actually eat people for breakfast.”
Julian laughed out loud this time.
I snickered under my breath, my eyes roaming the room until I found my wife again. She was with a group of women now; her posture was perfect, but she looked more tired now, than tense.
I was already counting the minutes until we could get the hell out of here. I could imagine my mother’s face if we left before the first dance, but I didn't care. The charade was taking too long.
“If you stare any harder, she’s going to file for an annulment on the grounds of being hunted,” Zane announced himself from behind me.
“Do you ever get tired of hearing yourself speak?” I asked, trying to hide the smirk that was forming at the corner of my lips.
“Never,” he said. “But I do get thirsty. I’d hydrate from just hearing you talk about your wife.”
Adrien and Marcus, who both took seats not far from me, chuckled in unison.
I was about to tell him—them—to fuck off when movement near the entrance caught my eye.
Blaise, threading through the guests, heading toward Severin with a seriousness that didn't belong at a wedding reception. He said something in Severin’s ear. Severin’s gaze immediately sought me out.
A second later, he was at my shoulder.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “But Andreas Doukas needs to speak with you. He says it’s important.”
I stared at him. “Now?”
Severin nodded. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
I glanced across the room.
Léonie had just turned her head, her eyes finding me like she sensed the mood change before it happened.
Her gaze flickered briefly toward the men around me before returning to mine.
She held it for one small second. Resentful.
Guarded. Then she looked away again—wide awake to exactly what I was, and refusing to give me the acknowledgment anyway.
My chest squeezed hard at her expression.
I set my glass down, told Zane to behave, and headed toward the door with Severin and Blaise as the reception carried along.
“Didn’t he get a wedding invitation?” I asked while we walked.
Severin’s mouth twitched. “He sent a gift.”
I shouldn’t be surprised. Asshole.
Blaise and Severin lead me down the corridor to the Fernández study.
By the time Andreas’ face came on the screen, and he smiled his smooth, Grecian smile, I was already counting the minutes.
Blaise moved automatically to withdraw. I stopped him with a look.
“Sit.”
His brows shot up, surprised, but he obeyed. He sat on the armchair to my right. Severin took the other. If I needed a Fernández in the room, it was Blaise. He was level-headed enough to keep his head while everyone else was losing theirs.
My decision to keep him here wasn't born of trust. It was a calculated move. In my world, most men were liabilities, but Blaise was a high-functioning asset. I was absorbing his family’s empire, and I only kept what had value.
“Congratulations, my friend,” Andreas said. “Sorry I couldn’t be there—”
“What’s so important that you had to pull me out of my wedding?” I asked, not bothering to soften my tone.
He smiled wider. “I’ll keep it brief. You have a big night ahead of you.”
“Exactly,” I cut in. “So get on with it. I’m yet to dance with my wife.”
The impatience in my voice surprised even me. Suddenly the thought of it became a steady thrum in my blood.
I wanted the dance with her, not for the performance or the cameras. I wanted the heat of her body against mine, I wanted to see how much of my proximity she could endure before the restraint between us fractured, and how much of her fire would try to melt my ice.
It was more than a facade. It was a test of her resolve, of how we'd fit together in the dark when no one was watching.
I wanted to feel her heart racing against my palm and know, with absolute certainty, that she was the only one in the room strong enough to withstand me.
I forced myself to focus on what Andreas was saying, but the annoyance was already there. A sudden unquantifiable need to have her back within my reach.
I didn't want the dance for our families, the board, or the crowd. I wanted it just for me.
I wanted to know what would happen once proximity stopped being accidental. To see if she was strong enough to survive the man I was about to become… just for her. Only for her.