I open my eyes as the strings draw to a close and find Lincoln observing me from the doorway. “You are truly breathtaking.”
I blush at his words, especially because I know I can look like a total idiot when I get lost in music like that. “What can I say? Music is my higher power.”
“Is that what you want to do? After school and college, I mean? Music?” I bite my lip as I realize we’ve never talked about what we might want for the future. We’ve spent so much time since I’ve been back fighting just to have a future that we haven’t taken the time to talk about what we might want from it.
I nod. “I always wanted to be involved in music. Not like my dad was, but have my own studio. Give artists the freedom to explore who they want to be with the support of a label rather than bog people down with the restrictions most other labels have.”
“That sounds like something you’d be good at.”
I smile as he grabs a mug of coffee and sits opposite me. “What do you want from the future?”
“My future is already planned out,” he says, the light falling from his eyes. “I don’t get a say in what I want. It’s never mattered.”
“Of course it matters.”
He shakes his head. “I’ll never be free from them, so it doesn’t.”
“What if you were free?” I ask quietly. “What would you want then?”
He sits quietly in thought before smiling. “Honestly, all I ever wanted was a simple life where I could help people rather than hurt them the way the Knights do. But I’ve never thought about it much because I know it’s an impossible dream. I’ve never been one to let myself hold on to impossibilities.”
I frown, hating that he seems so resigned to his fate.
There has to be a way to get him free.
To get them all free.
Maybe if this Regency thing is real, I can set them free. Even if I don’t get to be free with them, they’ve suffered enough already.
“Octavia.” His voice pulls me from my thoughts, his brow furrowed. “We need to talk about last night.”
I shrug, not really wanting to, but avoidance has never really been my style. “What part? The whole you’re-engaged-when-you-said-you-weren’t? Or the part where my uncle was arrested?”
He looks at me, his mouth set in a grim line. “Both.”
I let out a sigh and finish my coffee before speaking. “Blair as much as told us about the engagement. We should’ve known better than to take your father at his word. Self gain at the expense of others is entirely his speed. All I care about is how we stop it.”
“I don’t know,” he says sadly. “But I’m not going through with it. I told him as much. I will play his game and keep up the façade for now, but I will not marry that snake. As for your uncle? There is a lot more to that story.”
“Well, I figured he wasn’t arrested for being a nice person. I already know he isn’t nice. What do you know?”
“More than I probably should.” He grins, as his phone buzzes on the counter at the same time as mine. “The others are here.”
I nod, seeing the messages pop up on my screen.
Our conversation pauses while we wait for them and I refill our mugs. I take my seat again as the front door opens and the three of them filter into the kitchen. East walks gingerly across the room before easing onto the stool beside me, and I kiss his cheek before Mav slips behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my neck. “Morning, princess.”
“Morning.” I smile up at him, kissing him softly before he takes a seat next to Linc. Finn, who is already sitting beside East, gives me a smile that makes my heart flutter in my chest.
“Where were we?” Linc asks, and I roll my eyes.
“Nate.”
Maverick groans and jumps up. “I need a drink for these sorts of conversations.”
“All I have right now is water or coffee.”
“Coffee it is.” He moves to the coffee pot, Finn and East chiming in and asking for a cup too.