“He told me that the man I thought would be myfiancéis not myfiancéany longer,” she whispered. “And, as usual, I don’t have a say in it.”
“I didn’t have a say in who I married,” I said. “And neither did Lucien.”
“It’s barbaric,” she said, shaking back her long, dark hair. “Have you met V?”
“Yes, he’s kinder than I thought,” I said. “Very traditional, conservative even. His house is absolutely magnificent. If it were up to me, I would have stayed longer…but Lucien has duties elsewhere.”
She bit her lip. When she raised her champagne glass to her lips, there was a large, gold ring glittering on her finger.
“Is that Aurelio’s?” I asked.
She nodded. “Lucien told me to wear it.”
“Probably for the best.”
Iris pressed the back of her hand to her cheek. “I need a drink. Does anyone want to go to the bar?”
I nodded. “I’ll have a little champagne. We need to make sure to stay sober though.”
We gathered by the bar and I ordered a glass of chilled champagne. Everywhere I went, I felt eyes on me. Once or twice I caught the glances of some of the made men from other territories and I felt their gazes undress me as I walked by. When I met their eyes, they looked away, although it knew it was only out of respect for Lucien.
“Sienna.”
We turned and Aurelio Romano stood there, one hand in his pocket and the other cradling a glass. He was handsome enough, but there was a sharp cruelty behind his eyes that he’d inherited from his father. Sienna was lucky to be marrying Viktor instead.
I gathered my courage and held out my hand. “It’s nice to see you again, Aurelio,” I said smoothly.
He accepted my hand, brushing his lips across my fingers. His eyes trailed over my breasts without shame and I fought the urge to look away. He clearly felt he had some claim to my body, the way his father had when he’d touched me in the garden, and it roused red hot anger in my chest.
“Does your husband allow you out in that?” Aurelio said coolly, raising a brow. “Or is he just being cuckolded? I know what you did the first time you came here with Lucien so it wouldn’t surprise me.”
Iris gasped and Sienna’s mouth fell open in shock. They both looked at me, unsure of how to react. My heart pounded in my chest and, for a moment, tears blurred my vision. I blinked rapidly, forcing myself to remain calm. He would be dead before the end of the night and there was no need to make him pay for his words.
“My husband is secure enough to allow me to wear what I please,” I said coldly. “He has nothing to overcompensate for.”
Aurelio’s jaw twitched. “You know, if you hadn’t been sold off to Lucien first, I would have gotten you.”
I took a slow sip from my glass. “I doubt it. Arranged marriages are only useful if both of the people involved are actually important.”
“You fucking bitch!”
“I didn’t come here to start a fight, you did,” I shot back.
“What the hell is going on here?”
I jumped as a firm hand slid down my back and rested just above my ass. Lucien stood behind me, his broad body squared up to Aurelio. He was as relaxed as ever, but there was a barely perceptible tenseness to his jaw the sent off warning bells in my head. Whenever Aurelio was killed, Lucien would see to it that he died painfully.
“You should keep your woman in line better,” Aurelio snapped.
Romano appeared behind him, putting his hands on his son’s shoulders. “Now, now, let’s diffuse the situation. We don’t want our New Year’s Eve party turning into a bloodbath.”
“No, we don’t. Thank you, Carlo,” said Lucien, his tone almost warm. Sometimes it chilled me how well he was able to conceal his true feelings.
Romano pulled his son back into the crowd and Lucien turned to face the three of us. Iris and Sienna stood perfectly still, both too shocked to speak. A twinge of guilt went through me for causing a scene, but it wasn’t enough to make me back down. Angry blood still surged through my veins. I turned on my heel and headed toward the bathroom in the hall, but Lucien caught my arm as I left the living room.
“You are jeopardizing this,” he said softly.
“He was rude to me,” I protested.