Chapter 19
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Violet
T he first time I was at the Monarch’s estate, when I first met the Monarch before becoming her Luxe, feels like years ago. It seemed massive to me then, but now the hall feels too small, too harsh, and the air’s way too thin. It’s like I can’t get enough into my aching lungs.
I sit on a settee while my brother paces. His fury flows off him in waves, his fire-and-smoke scent swirling all around him.
“I should fucking call Mom, Violet,” he hisses.
The Monarch’s Omega and two of her security detail had taken Stephan and dragged him into a separate limousine, while Heath ushered me into another, and we were whisked from the park in a squeal of tires. I saw him once, when he was marched into the Monarch’s estate, but then he was dragged into her interview room and we were left to wait in the hall outside of it.
“Heath—”
“You’re young, sheltered, but you’re smart, and I thought…fuck me, I thought you’d know better than to fall for lines from an oversexed Alpha.”
“I didn’t.”
My stomach knots, and I’m being crushed. I’ve brought shame on my family. I already knew I was out of my league. I never should have been named Luxe and now…
“I’m sorry.” I look at Heath. “I messed up.”
“No, Vi. Don’t. I don’t really blame you. I blame him. He knows the Season’s rules, the etiquette. He was born here. He knew what I expected of him if he was serious about courting you, and still— ” He growls, his shoulders bunching. “Still he risked your reputation.”
“Did anyone else see us?”
“No. At least I don’t think so. We got there in time.”
“How did you even know where we were?” I ask.
“Stitch. Ashford’s little fighting stunt was all over the damn app. Rue was practically foaming at the mouth when she showed me,” he says sharply. “In one of the videos, I saw Quinn in the crowd and knew you couldn’t be far behind.”
“And the Monarch?”
Heath stops pacing and comes in close with a hushed tone. “Her Omega was already there. She must have sent him to keep an eye on Stephan.”
Or on me.
“Regardless, he took advantage of you. There have been too many close calls as it is, and now this? The Monarch is involved. ”
I hear the implications loud and clear. If she’s now involved, it can’t be good. Feeling sick, I close in on myself. Things in me hurt in ways they never have because…I wanted him.
I wanted Stephan.
Even with how furious I was to learn about him and Alicia, I wanted to jump him and rip his cock out of his pants. I almost couldn’t control myself. I wanted to do things to him I’ve only seen glimpses of in porn.
Two minutes of wild things I didn’t know how to process when Iris, Mari, and I had looked up naughty sites on the internet when we were younger. Heath caught us, an eighteen-year-old Heath who snapped shut the computer and changed all the passwords to make sure we’d never look at knotting porn again.
But those scenes—of Omegas getting filled and knotted in every hole—filled my mind when Stephan grabbed my wrist so that I wouldn’t walk away. And when he kissed me…
Something down inside me, deep between my legs, starts to ache in ways I’ve never felt. Slick dampens my panties, and all I can do is put a shaking hand to my cheek to try to get myself to settle down. It’s burning hot. I’m burning hot. My vision blurs.
“Heath?” Tears burn my eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Hey. Hey.” His fury dissipates as he sits next to me and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “It’s okay, Vi. We’re going to sort this out. I’m going to sort this out. You don’t have to worry. ”
I know he’s just trying to make me feel better, but his touch is welcome. Needed. And I lean into him.
“The first thing we’re going to do is forget Ashford. He’s done for. Stockton’s interested,” Heath says. “He’s good-looking, rich, ready to settle down. I say you go on a few dates, see if you like him, and if you do, there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll propose to you within the month.”
“That fast?”
“He wants a family,” Heath says. “You want kids. It works.”
As if it’s that simple.
The man’s everything I’m supposed to want, so I’m not sure why I’m worried about what my brother is suggesting.
“Ashford’s a fuckboy. He always has been. There was a time I thought he had grown up, but after?—”
“After what?”
He was going to say something, but he changed his mind somewhere along the way. But I want to know.
“Heath?”
“Nothing. I’m saying we find you someone you want. Who will mate with you.”
“Mr. Gardener? Miss Gardener?” The man in blue is there, door open. I stand up on shaky legs, and as we step inside, all I can smell is the seductive aroma of rich, earthy oak. The touch of sweetness that turns things on within me.
I grab Heath’s arm, both for support and to stop him from rushing Stephan, who’s beside the Monarch in the center of the room. She’s somehow more intimidating in her black suit than she was when I was first presented to her .
“I have to say, Miss Gardener, you’re not the quaint little Omega I thought you were,” she says, coming up to me. I dig my fingers harder into Heath’s arm. Her gaze flicks to my brother. “Fredrick will escort your brother from the room. He isn’t needed for this conversation.”
“With all due respect, Monarch. She’s my sister and I am her guardian,” my brother says with a bow of his head.
Sophine looks him up and down. “You are aware of the importance of an Omega? They are the jewels in our society’s crown. With breeding and manners, they are elite. Now add that extra something, that sparkle, and you have the standout.”
He frowns. “Violet can find a mate on her own. She doesn’t need the Luxe title.”
“Oh, but she does. With your family’s mishaps with money and your father’s untimely passing, you’re lucky Mr. Ashford’s even sniffing around.”
Stephan steps forward. “Sophine, that’s not?—”
“Shush, Stephan,” she snaps, and he freezes. “You’ve done enough damage with that mouth of yours for today.” She turns back to Heath. “Out. Now.”
The male Omega, Fredrick, walks over to see Heath out and misery strikes hard. My brother gives me one last sorrowful look before leaving.
When the doors shut, the Monarch waves her hand for Stephan to take the empty space beside me. He does.
“Now, tonight has been…intriguing,” she begins, glancing at each of us before resting fully on me. “You know, before tonight, I was considering removing the Luxe status from you, maybe giving it to another Omega, but now… ”
Words tumble from my mouth as fear sets in. “Nothing really happened, Monarch. It wasn’t much of a kiss. Something innocent and?—”
“Not the kiss.” She cuts me off. “Stephan informed me of your arrangement.”
I look at him as betrayal rips through me. “Wha-what?”
“He’s told me everything. About your fake courtship to attract a suitable Alpha and so that he could dodge the Season’s expectations of him.”
I start to sway on my feet as the room both stretches and shrinks. Prickles dance along my skin, and I’m suddenly feeling too hot, sweaty. But something cool and calm encircles me, and someone’s fingers are curling into mine.
“You’re okay, Princess,” Stephan whispers. Even so low and gentle, his Alpha voice reverberates inside me. “I had to tell her. To save your reputation.”
“Interesting,” the Monarch says, watching us. “You react to him. Can you smell him? Even now?”
What an odd thing to ask. “Yes. Why?”
“He’s wearing scent blockers. Strong ones. As you are. I can’t smell either of you, but clearly, you know each other’s scents.”
Stephan and I both glance at each other and nod.
“They say that means something,” she says. “Maybe what Stephan told me is true.”
What did he tell her?
I’m about to ask, when she drops the next bomb on me. “Do you like him?”
Oh god.
Humiliation burns. I glance at Stephan.
“Well? Do you?” she presses. “I need to know. ”
There’s no reason to lie at this point.
“Yes, I do,” I whisper, “but?—”
She nods, as if my answer doesn’t surprise her at all.
“But—”
“Unfortunately, there have been too many scandalous moments from you two,” she says, raising her voice. “It’s almost as if you cannot stay away from each other, even though the courtship is a fake one.”
“Wait, no.” I let go of Stephan’s hand and press it to my chest, where my heart is beating rapidly. “I was trying to end it before…before…”
The Monarch moves to her high-backed chair and sits, one leg perched over the other. “Are you telling me you want to end the courtship with my nephew, Miss Gardener?”
Her…what?
Nephew?
When I glance over at Stephan again, he’s glaring at her, eyes full of a long-running disdain.
His aunt ? It makes sense now how he was able to get a meeting with her so easily at the first ball.
What other secrets is this man keeping?
Sophine goes on. “As I see it, you both have two options. I order Stephan back to Emporia, and you, Miss Gardener, will be left to suffer the consequences of these actions, more than likely losing any social standing you and your family now have.”
Ruin me, she means. It’ll ruin me and any chances I—or my sisters—have of finding a mate.
“ Or… ” Stephan prompts through clenched teeth .
“Or there’s a mark.”
“What?” Stephan’s fist clenches. “Those can’t be the only two fucking options!”
“Language, Stephan.” A small smile lifts one side of Sophine’s mouth. “I’m trying to help you here. If you don’t bite her, then word will get out. Violet’s only dodged scandal before because of a blurry picture and an unreliable eye witness. Do you think she’s going to be able to skate by a third time?”
“No one saw us tonight. We were in the dark. Alone,” Stephan argues.
“Can you guarantee that? Will you stake her reputation on it?”
At that, Stephan stops.
Even he doesn’t know what to do.
“That’s what I figured.” Sophine stands again, looking us both over. Then her piercing gaze falls to her nephew and the smile returns, this time stretching across her face. “You’re all in now, Stephan. There’s no running from it this time.”