Getting caught.
If that happened, I would have to invest in an armory and a team of bodyguards. The Constantines weren’t a forgiving bunch. Especially when it came to their youngest princess.
On the heels of that thought, I buttoned up the shirt she’d borrowed and led her out of the bathroom. Before I could stop her, she darted past me and disappeared inside my bedroom.
I shouldn’t go in there. I really fucking shouldn’t. But my feet were already moving, chasing. I would chase her to the ends of the earth.
“Do you know why my mother chose Sion Academy?” Her voice cut the chilly darkness.
Crossing the small room, I found her on my narrow bed. She lay on her back, staring up at me in the gloom.
“Do you?” The anger in her tone gave me pause.
“No.”
“She negotiated a merger with the Kensingtons. The Constantines will increase their holdings, and the Kensington heir will get a virgin princess.”
“Tucker?” My stomach plunged into a free fall. “She expects you to marry him?”
“It’s a done deal. Trust funds are modified. Contracts are signed. I’m here to get to know my future husband and vice versa. Maybe I’ll be a good little girl and give him a blow job or offer up my virginity as an early down payment, an incentive for him to go along with this. You know, since that’s all I’m good for.”
Rage caught me in its strangling grip and painted my vision red.
I’ll kill him.
The thought bled into my awareness as I shouted, “Walk away from the trust fund. You don’t need her goddamn money!”
“It’s not that simple now. If the merger is already underway—I’ll confirm that tomorrow—I won’t be able to walk away. I would have to run, hide, and do both of those things better than her henchman for the rest of my life.”
“She won’t kill you.”
“No, but she’ll use any force necessary to ensure I’m handed over to the Kensingtons as part of this merger. It doesn’t even matter if I stay here or return to Bishop’s Landing. Nothing I do will change my future.” Her voice cracked. “This is the ten percent part, isn’t it? The part that’s happening whether I like it or not. That’s life.”
I set a knee on the bed beside her and tried to tame my furious pulse. Then I lay down with her and gathered her in my arms.
“I’m going to figure this out.” I kissed her tense brow and the silent tears collecting in the creases around her mouth.
“You aren’t going to do a damn thing, Magnus. Any interference will only get you killed.”
“Don’t underestimate me, princess.”
“Don’t underestimate my family.” She shifted closer, touched our foreheads together, and ran a hand through my hair. “Can we not talk about this tonight? If I only have two hours with you, I’d rather hear about your family or your life before Sion Academy or anything that’s not related to the future. We don’t even have to talk at all.”
For the next two hours, I set out to take her thoughts off Tucker Kensington. I held her in the dark and kissed her into mindlessness.
When we came up for air, I told her about my childhood with Crisanto and our skateboarding escapades around New York City. I talked about my parents, their monotonous life in the suburbs, and their realized dream for me to be a priest. I avoided topics related to my sexual history and the tragedy that had brought me here nine years ago.
When she broached that subject, I kissed her until she forgot to breathe.
I’d never engaged in a kiss that didn’t lead to sex. I’d never kissed a woman just for the sake of kissing. But I kissed Tinsley for two hours. I kissed her until our lips were numb and swollen and the taste of her mouth embedded itself in my soul.
Eventually, I helped her into her blood-stained dress and escorted her back to the residence hall.
The lights were out in the building. Everyone assumed she’d been at the church, safe with her teacher.
I needed to be that for her. Safe. Protective. Someone she could trust.
No more crossing lines. No more kissing. No more naked Tinsley in my private quarters.
I wouldn’t touch her again.
That was the biggest lie of all.
CHAPTER 26
MAGNUS
I lasted five days.
Five days of no touching. No kissing. No naked Tinsley.
She continued to earn punishments every day, which amounted to after-school detention with me and a Bible.
Her tardies and disrespectful mouth had become part of our routine. She gave me reasons to discipline her, and I used those punishments to make it impossible for her to participate in off-campus activities.
Since the Winter Formal, she hadn’t seen Tucker Kensington, and I would keep it that way by monopolizing her time.
Was I controlling? Absolutely.
Was I wrong to keep her close? Debatable.