Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
ASHER
I should have known my mother would do something like this.
Dinner with my parents is never normal.
What ordinary family has a dress code and an entire waitstaff? Silver platters and four-course meals? Most of these practices faded away when modern life made them inconvenient and costly.
But not in our family.
When I was young, my parents drilled into me that we were fortunate to afford the luxuries enjoyed by our ancestors. They said that someday I would inherit the Dunloch legacy and that it would be my responsibility to ensure all of this fanfare and frivolity continued.
But I didn’t want it.
I never had.
My mother guides me down the hall and into the library. It’s a room I spent a lot of time in as a child. I would sit here, reading tales of pirates and sea creatures. I’d imagine living in a world beyond this old house. At the time, it seemed more far-fetched than sea monsters.
“Why are all these people here?” I ask as soon as the door clicks shut behind us. I know she asked to talk to me, but I have questions too.
She shrugs, her diamond earrings glinting under the lights. “We can’t have parties anymore?”
“Father never mentioned anything about a party, Mum. Did it slip his mind? Or is it a coincidence that you just happen to invite a woman here tonight you’d like me to meet?”
“I do think you’ll like her once you get to know each other,” she says, ignoring my obvious frustration completely.
“I’m not dating her. I’m not dating anyone you throw at me.”
“Because of your girlfriend?” Her nose scrunches up as if the very idea is distasteful.
“Yes,” I try to sound convincing. “Because of Mercury.”
She rolls her eyes. “Oh, please, Asher. If you had a girlfriend, don’t you think we would have found out by now? You’ve been home a month, and you haven’t said a word about this girl. Not even when we mentioned marriage or—”
“It’s none of your business who I date,” I reply. Merc was right. We really should have planned this out better.
“Of course it’s my business. Everything you do is my business.”
I snort out a pained laugh, my eyes drifting to the window and the garden below. I would stare out that window, wishing there were a secret garden below that would transport me somewhere else. “Could have fooled me.”
“Let me correct myself.” She straightens her spine while smoothing out a non-existent wrinkle in her dress. “Everything you do now is my business.”
I shoot her a dubious glare. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means now that you’ve left your old life behind—” I wince. If she notices, she doesn’t react. “Now that you’re home, it’s time to take your responsibilities seriously.”
“I’m not—”
“You are,” she answers firmly.
“You’ve tried this before,” I say, staring her straight in the eye. “You tried to strong-arm me last time, and I left…for over a decade. Don’t think I won’t do the same. I have property and houses in other countries I can go to. This isn’t my only option.”
She looks away briefly, then turns back, her eyes glassy. “Your father is dying, Asher.”
Of all the things I thought she’d say next, I never expected that.
“What?”
“He was diagnosed with liver cancer last year, and he’s stopped responding to treatment.”
I feel like all the air in the room is slowly being sucked out. I may not entirely like the man, but he’s still my father. I don’t want him to…
“But he looks so healthy.” My voice is barely a whisper.
She nods. “He has good days and bad days. He’s only let you see him on the good ones.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “So you don’t just want me to come back and be your doting heir. You need me to take over.”
“Yes.”
Fuck.
This is why they’ve been so demanding. That’s why my father has been at my door every day, why my mother keeps talking about wives and responsibilities. Not just because I finally came home, but because they’re running out of time.
“What if I refuse?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“Then the title will pass on to your second cousin, Rian Kerr, and you will be the first generation in over five hundred years of Knights to lose it.”
“No pressure, then?”
“We prepared you for this, Asher,” she says, raising her hands in frustration. “None of this should come as a surprise. It’s your destiny.”
“My destiny?” I scoff. “And what exactly were you going to do if I hadn’t happened to come home just now? If I’d gone on another tour or decided to make another album? How does destiny factor into any of that?”
She turns away, guilt smeared across her face. My mouth falls open. “Please don’t tell me you had anything to do with those pictures, Mum. If you did, I will walk out this door and never come back. I swear to—”
“We didn’t!” She holds her hands up in surrender. “We didn’t. Greggory, your father’s press secretary, is a leech. He would have done almost anything to get you back here, but not that. We didn’t want that.”
“Of course not.” I shake my head. “Wouldn’t want to tarnish the family name any more than I already have. Can’t imagine it’s easy to find a proper girl to date your salacious son, especially when there’s evidence of it all over the internet.”
“Finding a willing woman isn’t the problem. It’s getting the parents on board that’s been the issue. But it helps that you’re rich,” my mother mutters.
I stare at her, eyes wide. “Are you even listening to yourself? I am not marrying some random woman to make you look good.”
She has the audacity to look offended. “She wouldn’t be random. Isobel comes from impeccable breeding and—”
“No.” I shake my head. “I told you. I’m with Mercury, and that’s final.”
“And you’re sure about that?”
I frown. “Yes, why?”
“Because if you’re going to inherit this title soon, you need to step back into the spotlight. No more hiding.”
The very idea makes my heart race. “The whole reason I came back here was to get away from the spotlight. Now you want to shove me back into it?”
“We don’t have much time,” she says quietly. “Your father isn’t improving.”
I ignore the pain in my chest and the conflicting feelings swirling in my gut. “You act as if I’m inheriting the throne, Mother. Last time I checked, it’s just a title. There’s no real power behind it.”
She shakes her head, disappointment painting her face. “It may just be a title, but you are the one who made it a spectacle.”
“Me?”
She furrows her brow in frustration. “You left to get away from all of this, and instead of living a simple life, you became one of the most famous people in the world. Now, when you take your father’s title, the whole world will be watching.
So yes, Asher, we might as well be royalty, thanks to you. ”
Christ, I can’t argue with her on that.
This is a mess of my own making.
“It’s going to be a shitstorm. You know that, right?” I warn her. “If I suddenly show up at a gala or a private function, all hell is going to break loose.”
“We’re prepared for that.”
“Are you?” I ask her, raising a brow. “The tabloids in Hollywood are bad, but they’re even more brutal in the UK.”
“We have strategies in place. Of course, we hadn’t accounted for a girlfriend we knew nothing about.”
“Why does that matter? She’s not part of this.”
She slowly shakes her head from side to side, just like she used to when I was young and said something dumb and na?ve. “Do you not remember what I said earlier?” I give her a blank stare. “No more hiding, Asher.”
She can’t mean…
“No. Absolutely not. Our relationship has been kept private for a reason,” I say, lying through my teeth. “There’s no reason it needs to be made public now.”
I am fairly certain my mother knows our relationship is fake. My suspicions are confirmed a second later when she calls my bluff. “Fine. But you will let me choose someone else for you, even if it’s for show.”
“Why?”
“Because those photos your publicist leaked did a lot of damage, Asher, and the only way—the fastest way—to repair it is to put a good, decent woman at your side. If you’re not confident that your relationship with Mercury can withstand public scrutiny, then—”
“I am,” I say far too quickly. “It can.”
She eyes me suspiciously. “And she’ll be okay with the press?”
I swallow hard. “I’ll talk to her.”
Shit, what am I doing?
This morning, I was trying to come up with excuses to end this charade before it got out of hand. Us going public is the definition of getting out of hand…
Her lips curl into a cruel smile. “Wonderful. You have twenty-four hours. Because tomorrow, the two of you will be making your debut at the charity gala in Edinburgh.”
Wonderful.
“And Asher?” I turn to her, eyes glazed as I contemplate the mess I’ve gotten myself into. “This has to go off without a hitch. We can’t afford another scandal. Do you understand?”
Yeah. I understand perfectly.
I just agreed to publicly date my best friend’s little sister—the one woman I swore I’d never touch.
I am so fucking screwed.
MERCURY
I don’t think Asher has said more than ten words since he came back from talking with his mother.
Theodora—that’s her name, by the way. Not that she ever bothered to tell me. I just remember it from my research on the plane.
Aside from a brief interaction with Asher’s father, when he tried to get me to reveal some nefarious plan, I am mostly ignored for the rest of the evening as the earl and countess parade person after person before Asher.
There are lords and ladies, a few dukes, and even a knight—the ones who kneel before the king.
Not to be confused with the Knights who live here.
And there are so many women.
They all flutter their lashes at him and scowl at me, obviously not knowing who I am but seeing me as competition nonetheless. Asher politely nods, but he saves all his words for me.
Or the few he manages to utter, that is.
He is constantly checking in on me.
Am I okay?
Do I need a drink?
Am I warm enough?
Do I want to leave?