Tragic King (The Dominant Bastard Duology 2)

“Why now?” Rodrigo finally croaked.

“If you choose him, I’ll snap his fucking neck.”

“It’s always been you. You’re the one who doesn’t want me, remember?”

Minnow’s hand had dropped to her throat, where she was pretty sure her heart had taken up residence. God, it was true! How had she not seen any of this before? The thought had crossed her mind a few times, in a pervy ‘I’d watch that’ kind of way, but...

Shit, what if they didn’t realize she’d followed them here?

Did this happen between them a lot?

No. They were both acting too freaked out for this to be their normal.

“You know why.”

“I know now. Before he came along, I was never sure. You can’t stand the thought of being with a man after what happened to you.”

“That hasn’t changed. You deserve more than what I can give you, and when Loïc showed up –”

“You thought I’d replace you with the younger, less fucked-up model.”

Severin gave a curt nod. “You do deserve a real relationship – like you said the other day. More than whatever things have turned into with you, me, and Minnow.”

Oh, God. This was so sad. For them. For her. Was she some sort of surrogate so they could be together with a barrier between them?

“Come here, Minnow,” Severin said, holding a hand out to her, but not taking his gaze off Rodrigo.

Reluctantly, she made her way over the discarded newspapers and fast food wrappers. It was ironic that the two richest men she knew would more or less declare their feelings for each other in a dark, garbage-strewn, cat-pissy alley.

When she reached them, Severin folded her in his arms. She wasn’t sure which one of them was shaking. Rodrigo started to pet her hair, but the tension in her wouldn’t ease off.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about...this,” Severin murmured.

“I probably should have mentioned this sooner, Minnow.” Rodrigo grimaced. “I have an unrequited crush on your fiancé.”

Yeah, right.

Minnow laughed harshly and pushed Severin away. “It didn’t look very unrequited from where I was standing.”

“I –” Severin actually fucking blushed. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Rodrigo tensed.

“Not without discussing it with you first, Minnow,” Severin amended. His face was full-on flaming red, and he looked even more uncomfortable than he had the day Rodrigo made her suck Severin’s cock.

Oh.

Ohhh.

Events like that looked slightly different when viewed through the lens of this new information...like their wrestling match the other day. Things had seemed weirdly tense, and Rodrigo’s parting comment had been odd. Had she interrupted?

“So am I – some sort of surrogate for the two of you so you don’t have to admit you have feelings for each other?”

“What? No!” Severin hugged her closer.

“That’s not what you are to either of us, Min.” Rodrigo kissed the side of her face that wasn’t pressed against Severin’s chest. “I never thought things would progress past my pathetic, drunken declaration of feelings for him a few years ago. This might not even change anything.”

“It won’t change anything at all if you’re not okay with it,” Severin said. “I’m sorry, Ro, but she comes first.”