“Foolish,” Old Bern said, shaking his head, but he frowned thoughtfully.
Maeve narrowed her gaze in my direction. “And what does she think about all this? Is the girl prepared to smooth you out, as you say?”
I looked at Winter.
Hate gazed back.
“No.”
Winter turned and fled. She ripped open the doors and disappeared into the hall.
Silence fell. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
“She’ll change her mind.”
“Sounded like you should return the engagement ring,” Old Bern said, grinning.
“It doesn’t change anything.” Kaspar again. Why was he arguing for me? “His idea is sound. Take a wife, prove his worth. Bringing the Kane family into our fold will add strength to our group.”
“More like strength to Darren’s cause.” Maeve shook her head and smoothed out her blouse, avoiding my gaze. “I don’t even disagree with you. It’s only that I find it hard to trust a man who says he’s going to marry an unwilling woman.”
“She’ll change her mind.”
“We’ll see.”
“Take some time and consider what I’ve said. I want to change the Oligarchs for the better, and I’m asking for some time to prove it. My first step will be to marry Winter, and after that, I’ll help reshape the world in our image.” I stood up and bows my head respectfully.
Kaspar gazed back, smiling. The others seemed more hesitant.
I walked away. I needed to leave the details of my plans as vague as I could—that way I’d have more latitude in the future. I’d deal with the big picture issues later on.
First, I had to find Winter and propose.
13
Winter
He never said anything about getting married.
My head swam as I hurried through the back hallways of the hotel. Other guests stared like I’d gone insane. I couldn’t blame them.
I must’ve looked crazy.
My ears still buzzed from the attack. I knew going off alone was a bad idea—anything could happen to me without Darren around to keep me safe.
Only I didn’t care.
My life was over. My future destroyed.
This bastard wanted to own me, and it was becoming clear how far he was willing to go to make that happen.
This was never part of the plan. But then again, he’d never told me what exactly he planned on doing with me.
Marriage. It made no sense.
I tried a few doors at random. They were locked—probably guest rooms. I finally found one that opened into short, dim hallway, and hurried down it until I shoved my way into a bustling, crowded kitchen.
Nobody looked in my direction. The space was hot and the staff worked at a fevered pace, shouting over the sound of sizzling food. Delicious spices wafted down my throat, but it only made me gag. I drifted over into a corner, found a stool beneath a large corkboard covered in a shift schedule, and sank down.
A man cutting bread frowned at me. I looked down at my hands, trying to disappear. He came over, and I expected him to throw me out—but instead he held out a hunk of fresh, fluffy baguette.
I accepted it. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “You stay there long as you need, yeah?” He winked and got back to work.
I felt a little better as I ate the bread.
At least there were still some decent, normal humans left in this world.
For the last few days, all I knew were monsters lurking around every corner. Darren was the worst of them all, haunting me like a ghoul, keeping my soul trapped in a little cage.
Torn to pieces. Ripped in half.
Wondering when he was finally going to let me go—and realizing that he never would.
Darren wanted me. He’d made it clear from the start and hadn’t been shy. I knew what he thought when I walked into the room—I saw it in his eyes.
And I played with that emotion. I wanted to knock him off his game and hoped he’d make a mistake that I could exploit somehow. I wanted him as distracted as possible so that when Roman finally came to pull me out, Darren would be at his weakest.
Roman wasn’t coming. Not the way I hoped. And Darren’s distraction morphed into something so much worse.
Possession. Control.
He thought he could dominate me. Make me his wife.
And I didn’t know what I could do about it.
I finished the bread. Crumbs covered my lap.
The worst part of all this was—some disgusting, broken part of me wanted to find out what it would be like to give myself to that man.
To quit fighting. To stop struggling.
To let him have his way.
There was a pleasure in tasting him. That kiss, right before the bomb went off, was so exquisite that it sent shivers down my skin. Goosebumps prickled my flesh.
I would’ve gone further. I wanted him to have more.
And yet now I saw that it was only just a prelude.
He was tasting the wares.
I shivered and hated the way it made my heart leap into my throat.