Which I would, if I could.
He steepled his fingers and rested his chin on his hands. “You want to say something.”
I quickly looked away. The man was eerily good at reading my moods. Probably from observing me so intently for so long.
“It’s nothing.”
“Go ahead, spit it out before your sister arrives.”
“What’s your end game with this?” I asked, gesturing at myself. “Say I really do refuse to marry you. What then?”
“I keep you chained in my basement and treat you as my concubine.”
I felt my stomach twist. “You wouldn’t.”
His lips curled. “I wouldn’t.”
“Then why are you doing this?” I felt on the verge of exploding and I didn’t want to become emotional before my sister even showed up.
“I’m doing this because I care about you,” he said softly, and there was a hint of sadness in his tone.
I went to argue—wanted to tell him he was a real piece of crap—when a single SUV pulled into the lot and parked. Two people stepped out: my sister and Chika Abarra.
I gaped at Chika. I didn’t expect her here. She was the head of the Servant Manor and very much aligned with my mother—but the way she hustled after Erin suggested that certain alliances had shifted.
Erin wore a dark pantsuit and strode over like a general on parade. Chika was dressed in her usual formal attire, black slacks and a cream-colored top. Her hair fluttered in the breeze, and her dark eyes gazed at me—longingly? Confused and angry? I couldn’t quite tell.
“Thank you for coming to meet with me, Erin.” Kaspar stood and held out a hand.
Erin shook it, but she kept looking at me. “You didn’t say she’d be here.”
I leaned back in surprise. Erin wasn’t expecting me.
Kaspar was messing with her?
“I think you two need to talk.” Kaspar gave me a meaningful look.
What the hell was happening?
“I said all I had to say the last time we saw each other.” Erin turned her chin up toward me. Chika lurked behind her menacingly.
“That’s it then? My own sister sells me out to an Oligarch and she won’t even have a conversation with me?” I dug my fingers into the table.
“There’s nothing to say.” Her eyes snap back to Kaspar. “This is unacceptable. You can’t just—”
“I can, Erin, and I will. Remember, you have no real power over your household. You might work in the shadows, but Darren is still the head of the Servants.”
Erin ground her teeth. She wasn’t often rattled, but Kaspar had her practically screaming with rage.
“I came to ensure you were moving forward with our deal.”
“Maeve is next. Nothing’s changed. For once, our plans align.”
“Then there’s no reason for me to stay.” She turned to go.
I stood up and slammed my fists down. Chika raised her eyebrows in surprise. She likely never saw me upset in all the time we’d known each other.
“Erin, you selfish little asshole, come sit down and talk to me right now before I rip off your fake eyelashes and shove them down your throat.”
Kaspar grinned happily and waved as he walked off.
Erin glared at me. She didn’t move at first, then slowly drifted to the bench and sat. I lowered myself back down onto the bench and folded my hands in front of me, mostly to keep from trying to strangle my insane sister.
She seemed more annoyed than ashamed—though she had a lot to answer for.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, meeting her gaze. It wasn’t easy. Erin’s stare was like a wildfire, liable to burn whatever didn’t get out of its way.
“I have my reasons.”
“Share them with me.”
“You’d only become resentful.” A little sneer. I hated when she did that. Erin was smart—insanely smart. But she was still my sister.
“I know you’re jealous of Darren. You think you should run the family, even though he’s older.”
“I’m better suited.” Bitterness dripped from her lips.
“Maybe you were, but do you think you’re stable enough to control an entire Oligarch family? Based on the way you’ve been behaving, I suspect not.” I glanced at Chika. She seemed interested, but remained standing a respectful distance away.
“Are you going to waste this opportunity by insulting me, Pen? If that’s all you have to say, I’ll get up and go now.”
“Wait.” I sucked in a breath. “Kaspar really does want to kill Maeve. What’s his game?”
Erin seemed amused. “So now you want to play?”
“I don’t have much of a choice.”
“Maeve’s one of the strongest Oligarchs. I suspect Kaspar wants to get her out of the way before he starts consolidating his power.”
“It’s more than that. He gets angry when she’s mentioned. It’s like this is personal.” I frowned down at my fingers, thinking back to Blackwoods—to Kaspar’s fingers in my hair, to his lips on my throat, to his arms drenched in blood.
“If it is, he hasn’t told me, and despite what you might think, I don’t know everything.”