Forbidden Fate (Crowne Point 3)

“You were moving into Crowne Hall. You didn’t know the rules yet. You came up and you asked me where the servants’ quarters were.”

He smiled, in on some secret. My lips parted, horrified.

“No I didn’t. I wouldn’t do that.”

He was totally grinning now, pearly-white teeth stretching his hazelnut cheeks.

“You asked me to throw away your trash,” he said. “No, you told me to. You handed me a bubblegum wrapper, and then you just left.”

I vaguely remembered the time in my life when I wouldn’t have thought twice about giving a du Lac my trash. When it wouldn’t have filled me with horror. The learning period after I moved in, when Grayson kicked over my bucket because I’d dared to clean while he was awake, or when I’d looked Mrs. Tansy in the eyes.

West fixed me with his gaze. “I’d never had to find the garbage before.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

His brow furrowed at my words. A few seconds passed as he played with the ring on my finger.

“My time with you is almost up. Have you thought any more about what I asked?”

“I…” I trailed off.

Despite my best efforts, I was starting to feel something for West, but we were sitting on a bed where I’d only just locked lips with another.

I wasn’t supposed to want a future with either of them.

“I haven’t been a good wife, West…I’m…”

“In love with Grayson Crowne?”

I coughed. “No.”

West stood, giving me his hand. “We’re late for breakfast. Again.”

With the table so filled with Crownes and du Lacs, it was easier to blend in, because the Crowne extended family needed to stand out. Every five seconds someone was making a toast. West held my hand and refused to let go. He would set down his fork if he needed to raise his drink again.

“I think our cook is learning a new recipe for the steak,” Tansy said with a tone I knew meant He’s taking too long. “I apologize for the delay.”

“I’m sure it will be worth it,” one of Grayson’s great-uncles said. “I know steak is your favorite, Grayson.”

“I hate steak. Not eating it anymore,” Grayson said. “But I’ll eat it every day for a year if the right person asked me.”

I coughed on my eggs.

“Uh…” Grayson’s uncle trailed off.

Grayson pinned me with his gaze as he spoke, and my neck heated. I suddenly wished I was wearing something a little less thick.

Tansy smiled as though what Grayson said was a joke, then faced her in-laws. “Everyone settled, I assume?”

“I think our wing is smaller than last year,” one of Grayson’s twice-removed cousins noted.

Tansy smiled thinly, expertly maneuvering the conversation to this year’s masquerade.

Everyone was dressed down for breakfast, and by dressed down, I mean in designer jeans and one-of-a-kind sweaters and jackets. Grayson’s black zip-up fit him in a casual, sexy slouch and I hated that I wondered about the softness.

West dragged my gaze away with his finger, lifting my chin up to meet his warm brown eyes, leaning so his lips were against my ear.

“Do you like it when he watches, Angel?”