“This has nothing to do with punishment,” she said coldly. “I’m an opportunist. I no longer see an opportunity here.”
“Crewe is a brilliant man. You can’t downplay that.”
“How would you know? All you ever do is suck his cock and manipulate him.”
I narrowed my eyes, feeling my skin prickle at the insult. “I love him. And you know that, Ariel.”
I couldn’t see her eyes, but I imagined she just rolled them.
“Meet me halfway here, Ariel. What can I do to get you to stay?”
“Disappear. I already told you that.”
“Well, that’s the one thing I can’t do. Anything else?”
“Nope.”
“Ariel,” I said through gritted teeth. “I wouldn’t be putting this much effort in if I didn’t love Crewe so much. I could just turn my head the other way so you’ll leave. It’s not like I like you or you like me. I’m only doing this for him. So that right there should be enough to make you consider everything.”
She took off her glasses and hooked them on the front of her blouse. With a cold and calculating expression, she stared me down like an enemy about to attack. “I’ll make a deal with you, London. You want to prove yourself to me? Here’s your chance.”
I held my breath, hoping she wouldn’t ask for anything ridiculous.
“You can stay with him until this relationship runs its course. But Crewe needs to marry someone else, someone royal, and you’re going to make sure that happens. You need to give me your word that you’ll never marry him, that you’ll encourage him to find someone else, and if he asks you to marry him, you’ll say no.”
My heart stopped beating, not from adrenaline, but from depression.
“Give me your word, and we have a deal.”
I could spend a year with him, maybe longer. But now our relationship had a deadline. I could love him every night for now, but one day, I’d have to give him up. I’d have to step aside and watch him spend the rest of his life with someone else. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to grow old with him until the option was taken away from me.
“London?” she pressed.
Could I really do that? I asked Crewe to trust me. By doing this, I was lying to him. But I didn’t want him to lose Ariel. Maybe Crewe and I would never get married anyway. Maybe our relationship would grow old and stale. Anything could happen. This was the only compromise I could think of that allowed Crewe to have both of us. “Okay…”
“Yes?” Ariel asked.
“Yeah. I give you my word.”
She couldn’t keep the surprise from flooding her features. “Maybe you do really love him.”
“Of course, I do.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the front door.
“When are you going to talk to him?”
“It’d be too obvious if I did it now. I’ll wait a few days.” She turned away and walked to the driver’s door like our conversation was finished.
“Okay.”
“If you ever tell Crewe we had this conversation, I’ll deny it.”
“Have a good night, Ariel.” I walked away before she got into the car and shut the door. I heard the door shut and the engine start as I walked up to the front doors.
Dimitri watched me like a hawk. “What was that about?”
“Just wanted to say goodbye.”
I spent the afternoon reflecting on my conversation with Ariel.
More formally known as the devil.
I made a deal I never wanted to make, but I knew it was best for Crewe. He couldn’t marry someone like me anyway. I wanted to have my own life, my own ambitions. Being his wife would involve a lot of etiquette and social decorum. I would be a full-time wife, not a physician or anything else. People would stick their noses in my business around the clock.
So maybe it was better this way.
Joseph hated him, and I couldn’t have my brother hate my spouse. And I couldn’t have my spouse hate my brother either.
And I brought nothing to the table except for piles of student loans.
When Crewe came to the bedroom after five, I was dressed in the bustier with my hair big and my makeup heavy. I pushed my conversation with Ariel from my mind and tried to concentrate on the fact that I had Crewe right now—and for the foreseeable future. I wanted to soak up every moment, not think about the day when we would part ways.
He walked inside and immediately looked me up and down, the shadow on his face nearly a full beard. His brown eyes were fixed with colors of amber and gold, and the intensity was enough to make the sun melt. He slowly removed his jacket and tossed it on the ground before he slipped his shoes off.
I stood near the foot of the bed, my hand propped on my hip and my feet aching in the five-inch heels I wore. I would be lying if I said I didn’t love it when Crewe looked at me that way. I loved every second of it, seeing the fiery desire in his eyes that was going to explode like hot molten lava.