Tamsin watched her father move behind the couple. His grip on both of their shoulders was tight. She wondered if anyone else could see it. Emma was a good actress, and she didn’t give anything away.
“Dinner is served.”
Usually her mother was the one to cook. Tonight, her father had brought in a special chef to cook the meal.
The table, the room, it all looked like something out of a restaurant, not her family home. A lot of things had changed in the past few years.
Taking a seat, she saw the glare from her mother.
“Do well to play nice,” her father said, whispering in her ear.
She didn’t say anything, made no move as if to understand him.
“We didn’t know Landon would be joining us,” Mrs. Savona said. “We heard he was away.”
“I’ve been chained to my mattress on the floor,” Landon said.
Tamsin smirked as Mrs. Savona went white.
“It’s quite a funny story actually. I don’t know if you heard about the family legacy.” Landon didn’t give anyone a chance to say yes or no before he carried on. “Well, here’s the thing. It’s true. We all know when we see our woman. She becomes our everything. We fail to care about and see any other woman other than her. That’s why we’ve got Gabriel Colton there. Spoiler alert, he’s not a Colton.”
“Landon,” Maddox said.
“Before our dear old daddy met our mother, the fierce Charlotte Denton, he decided to fuck around with his enemy’s wife. Tada, lo and behold, our old half-brother. What was I talking about? Oh, that’s right. My girl. The one I call my own, she died. Some prick ran her over, killing her. Kind of went a bit sick in the head.” He put his fingers to his temple and pulled a stupid face. “I’ve been chained up. Of course, I had to meet the perv that would marry my little sister. Sorry, sorry, did I say perv? I meant fiancé.”
She was struggling not to burst out laughing.
If looks could kill, Landon would be dead with how their father glared at him.
“Wow, that is an overshare, and we’ve not even had soup.”
Mason was next to her, and she did everything in her power to ignore him. He was clearly used to having attention. She didn’t know why she felt like that, only he rubbed her the wrong way.
I need to get away.
She made it through the first course, and by the main meal, they were talking plans.
“We think on Tamsin’s eighteenth birthday we can have the wedding,” Maddox said.
“We can make it a double event, birthday and wedding. Wouldn’t that be lovely?” Mrs. Savona said.
“Great.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice.
“Where will Tamsin live?” Jacob asked.
He hadn’t spoken much since she arrived downstairs. Landon seemed to take all of the attention away.
“She’ll live with me,” Mason said. “I have a penthouse suite.”
“Close to home?” Charlotte asked.
“No. I’ll take her back home with me.”
She wouldn’t be close to her brothers. After listening in to her parents’ previous conversations, she knew it took over five hours.
“I need some air.” She didn’t wait to be excused. Leaving the dining room, she walked straight past the kitchen and out into the garden.
Gripping the stone wall, she took in several deep breaths.
This was going to happen. Her time was running out.
She didn’t want to get married.
She didn’t want to do as she was told.
The only escape for her was one she created herself.
Running away.
“Are you okay?” Mason asked.
She turned to see he’d followed her out. They were in privacy, and clearly her parents were keeping her brothers at bay.
“Are you a pedophile?” she asked.
“No.”
“Then why are you not fighting this?”
“You’re not like a lot of fifteen-year-old girls, are you?”
“Newsflash, I’m a Denton. I don’t want to get married to you. I’m fifteen.”
“You think I haven’t fought?” Mason asked. “They were planning on us marrying on your sixteenth birthday. You think my father will care that you’re young? This is a business deal to them. A means to an end.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You think I do? I tried to make them wait. To see that you needed time.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“You’re fifteen, and as I’ve been told, you’re not going to stay young forever. It seems my father likes the idea of having a Denton under his roof. Negotiating a virgin one is just the cherry on top of the cake.”
“You’re sick.”
“I’m a realist. This wedding is happening whether you like it or not.”
“Tamsin, it’s time to come back in,” Landon said.
She stared at her brother. He looked so much better. She hadn’t realized until just now how much she’d missed him.
“I’m coming.”
“You will stay away from her,” Landon said to Mason.
She followed her brother in.
There’s no way she was going to fall in line and do what her parents wanted of her. She was running away the first moment she could.