“Father,” Olivia said softly, shrugging out of her own jacket and pushing her sleeves up her forearms.
Her dad’s eyes locked on the mating mark on her wrist, and his jaw flexed twice. “Fifty years,” he said quietly, turning his attention to me. “You mate my daughter in secret without her family. Without my permission or her mother’s presence, and then you wait fifty years to bring her home?”
“Sir, it’s a bit more complicated than that.” I leaned back in my seat and casually flicked open the buckle of my seatbelt in case I needed to move quickly.
“Sir?” He roared.
Olivia flinched, crinkling her nose. “Daddy, it’s not—”
“I am the Duke of Sorokin!” he snapped, tilting his chin upward. “She—” He pointed toward Olivia, “is a lady, and a lady-in-waiting to the Princess Avianna, and you think you can just mate her with no regard for her rank? For our customs?”
Olivia shot me an apologetic look and inhaled, getting ready to speak. I took her hand in mine and laced our fingers, giving her a squeeze to let her know I had this handled.
“I’m well aware that you’re the Duke of Sorokin,” I replied, my voice level and calm as the duke’s face reddened.
“Then you shall address me as such and not Sir!” He pounded his fist on the table between us. “How dare you treat my daughter as some dirty little secret—”
“That’s enough.” I leaned forward, my fangs flashing even though I couldn’t remember them descending. “I have nothing but the utmost respect for your daughter. I have known Olivia for two hundred years, and I cherish our relationship.” There was no lie, and he knew it by the way he sat back in his seat. “And I’m sorry for not bringing her sooner, but as you know, the Princess Avianna was sequestered at school until last year, which means I myself have only seen Olivia a few times in the last fifty years, and we’ve been in the middle of a war since her return.”
“You mated her and left her at…school?” Her father questioned, stroking over his beard.
“I have a duty to the princess, father, and Ransom—”
“Ransom, so that’s your name,” he snapped. “Now we get to know?” That glare was directed at Olivia.
Her spine stiffened. “I told you that his duties within the royal household demanded I keep his identity quiet.”
“Because you mated a servant?” His gaze jumped between us, and if not for the hurt evident in his tone, I would have lost it.
“Ransom isn’t a servant!” she blustered.
“Because being my mate doesn’t just come with my mark, it puts a giant target on her back,” I hissed. Olivia’s thumb stroked over mine, and the small motion soothed away the sharpest pieces of my anger. “And yes, I am a servant to one man, and one man only—my king.”
The duke’s eyes softened slightly. “At least give me your family name.”
“I have none to give.” I shook my head.
Another growl slipped from his chest. “You don’t even bear a family name, and you think you are a deserving mate for my daughter? You think you can protect her?”
“This is going well,” I said to Olivia.
“Wait until you meet my mother,” she responded, squeezing my hand.
“Answer me!” her father roared.
Yeah, that’s it.
“First off, I never said I deserved your daughter. Fate chooses our mates. Secondly, members of the Order of Onyx Assassins bear no family name once we swear service,” I answered, tilting my head. “Or did you forget that part of our customs?”
His mouth dropped open for a few heartbeats before he managed to snap it shut. “You are an Assassin?”
“I am.” I nodded. “I’m Ransom, the king’s master of combat, the deadliest of our Order, so you can trust me when I tell you there’s no safer place for Olivia to be than at my side.” Not that she couldn’t handle herself, but she’d hidden that from her parents, and I wasn’t about to out her five minutes into our two-week charade.
“You’re the master of combat,” he repeated.
“He is,” Olivia confirmed. “I met him when he came to check on Avianna at the academy you and mother sent me to for finishing school.”
We had just enough truth in our story to carry out this lie.
The duke nodded slowly, and my fangs drew back, sensing the threat had passed.
“Please forgive us for the secrecy,” I said softly, then bowed my head. “Forgive me for any injury I may have caused through my actions. I promise that when it comes to Olivia, I have only her safety in mind.” Another truth.
“And the king blessed this mating?” he asked.
Olivia’s skin heated. “He gave us his express permission,” she answered.
Still a truth, just not the full one.
The duke sighed. “That might help appease your mother, but I wouldn’t count on it, darling.” He arched a brow at Olivia. “Words can’t express how happy I am to see you, daughter, but I can’t help but wonder at the timing.” He glanced between us. “Did you wait for the festival? Is that why you’re here now?”