I glimpse softly rolling hills and a vineyard with newly sprung leaves opening to the sun, and my heart lifts the way it does every time I’m about to step outside. Human beings obviously need shelter from the elements in order to survive, but my soul belongs to the earth and sky and all the magical things growing between them. I can’t imagine spending an entire day cooped up indoors like my sister. I would lose my mind.
And then Andrew says, “Before I answer, I have a heavy question for you,” and my heart sags back into my growling stomach, which isn’t shy about sharing its displeasure with my paltry breakfast.
I shift my gaze to his face, ignoring the way my pulse flutters as our eyes meet and lock. “What’s that?”
“What if I said I would give you fifty-thousand dollars. Right now. No strings attached?” he asks in a hushed voice, almost as if he’s afraid someone will overhear him. “What would you do?”
“What do you mean what would I do?” I ask, my heart racing faster.
If I were myself, I know exactly what I would do. I’d take the money and run—with assurances to pay Andrew back as soon as possible, of course, but there would be no question in my mind.
I don’t want to marry someone who feels obligated to marry me. I want to marry a man who can’t imagine his life without me.
Yes, I find Andrew attractive, but that isn’t enough to build a marriage on. And even if we discovered we were genuinely compatible, I’d never be able to trust that he wanted me for me.
And I want that. So much.
A lifetime of feeling invisible to my parents and taken for granted by my sisters—even Lizzy, though I know she doesn’t consciously decide to retreat and leave me to tackle family problems alone—has left me dying to be seen.
Truly seen and heard and known and appreciated for exactly who I am. I thought I’d found that with Thor, but he burst that bubble. Thor wanted me because I was a princess, albeit an impoverished one. I think he enjoyed my company and was attracted to me, too, but I realize now that being a princess was definitely a big part of the attraction for him.
I don’t want to be special to someone because of my title or my castle or my strange and notorious family. I want to feel special because of who I am on the inside, and that’s never going to happen with a man who’s agreed to marry me because his grandfather and my grandfather made a deal over drinks before we were even born.
But this isn’t about me, or what I would do.
This is about Lizzy, and I know the choice she would make.
Before Andrew can say another word, I add, “I’m here because I want to be here. It’s important to me to honor the promises my family made. But if you want me to leave…”
“No,” he says quickly. “It’s important for me to honor the promises my family made, too. It was especially important to my grandfather. He was really more like a father to me. He’s the kind of man I want to be, and he would never go back on his word.” His lips curve. “So I won’t either. Not ever. I just want you to know that I would understand if you wanted to call off the wedding, and that I wouldn’t send you away empty-handed. You’ve put your life on hold in a lot of ways to honor this promise, and you should be compensated for that. One way or another.”
I narrow my eyes, searching his gaze.
Is he saying that he wants Lizzy to call off the wedding? Or am I reading what I want to hear into his words?
I don’t know, and in the end, this still isn’t my call to make. I have to talk to Lizzy before I go off script.
So I simply nod, and say, “I appreciate your compassion.”
He presses his lips together, searching me as thoroughly as I searched him, while I do my best to keep my thoughts to myself. My thoughts don’t matter, even though I’m dying to pull Andrew into a private room where we can start plotting the liberation of both him and my sister.
I’ve always thought Lizzy deserved a love match, but I’m beginning to think Andrew does, too.
Finally, his gaze softens, and he says with a wistful sigh, “Yes, I do want them.”
“Want what?” I ask, blinking faster.
He reaches past me for the door, coming so close I can smell the minty toothpaste on his breath as he says, “Kids. After the hell my brothers and I put my mother through, I’m probably out of mind, but I do want children of my own.” He tips his head nearer to mine, adding in a husky voice, “Have to pass these camera-friendly genes on to the next generation, right?”