My eyes roam over the gorgeous vineyard the wedding is being held at, the feeling bittersweet. It’s a beautiful wedding, befitting both the Windsor and Du Pont names, but it feels empty. It’s all a big pretense, a merger with two lives as collateral. This is how it’s always been for my family, but until now, it didn’t feel quite as real.
Ares is the first one of us to get married, but each of us will have to follow in his footsteps. I’ll likely be next. If it were up to me, I’d never get married at all. I have no desire to tie myself down with archaic contracts, and I most certainly don’t want or need anyone invading my personal space until my dying day. I can’t imagine anything worse.
I run a hand through my hair, a sense of inexplicable loss washing over me. My grandmother and each of her siblings werein arranged marriages, and so were my parents. It’s how we keep the Windsor family well-connected and invincible. It’s how it’s always been, and none of us will stray from the paths paved for us, but I can’t help but wonder what it was like for my parents. Thoughts of them no longer torment me, but on days like today, I miss them. If they were here today, what would they have to say to Ares, to all of us?
“It’s for the best,” Lex says, and I nod in agreement.
“She might still change her mind,” Ares replies, and we all shake our heads in unison. I fucking hope Hannah doesn’t change her mind.
“She won’t,” Zane adds. “And someday you’ll thank her for it.”
Dion inhales deeply and turns to face Ares. “Whatever happens today, Ares, remember that you’re a Windsor, and none of us choose our wives. It’s a tradition that’s served us well for generations, so have some faith, okay?”
Ares glares at him. “I’ll be sure to remind you of that when it’s your turn.” Even from here, I can see Faye, Dion’s fiancée, sitting in the back. He’s the only one of us, other than Ares, whose engagement had been decided upon years ago. Despite that, he and his fiancée barely speak. I suppose part of that is because he lives in London, but I wonder if there’s more to it.
Does seeing her remind him of our parents? She lost her mother in the same plane crash that took our parents from us, after all. It’s hard enough to make an arranged marriage work without that kind of baggage. I run a hand through my hair and shake my head. He can’t evade her forever.
“Would it really be so bad to marry Raven?” Lex asks. “How about I take your place?”
Ares is the calmest of us, trained to keep his face completely expressionless as he faces the media on all our behalf’s, butLexington’s words make him lose his cool. Pure fury distorts his face as he turns toward Lex.
“What?” Lex asks provocatively. “Can’t stand the idea of Raven being with anyone else? I thought you didn’t want her as your wife?”
“Fuck off,” Ares says through gritted teeth, much to my amusement. He has no idea that Hannah calling off the wedding is the best thing that’ll ever happen to him.
Music starts to play, and Ares’s entire body relaxes when he sees Raven standing at the end of the aisle, her father by her side. He smiles, unable to take his eyes off her, and I can’t help but shake my head. Fucking fool.
My brothers and I all breathe a sigh of relief when Raven’s father places her hand in Ares’s. It might not feel like it to them, but I have no doubt today is the result of destiny interrupting the paths they tried to forge. No matter what they did, I always knew their roads would end up merging, whether they like it or not. I’m glad it’s through marriage, because I suspect even a social construct like that wouldn’t have kept them apart.
I stare ahead during the ceremony, my eyes roaming over the crowd and settling on Valentina. She’s dressed in a beautiful red gown today, and it highlights her body perfectly. Even from here, she’s eye-catching and mesmerizing. Valentina wields her beauty like a weapon, and it’s one I’m glad is in my arsenal. She’s the perfect piece of armor, and she’s extraordinarily skilled at keeping coveting eyes at a distance from me.
Today, more so than ever, I need her. The sheer number of socialites eying me sickens me. I might pretend that I don’t, but I hear the rumors, the speculation. Everyone wants to know who my fiancée will be, and at least a handful of families here today are hoping it’ll be their daughter. It’s disgusting how eager they are to sell away their own flesh and blood. Watching Valentina handle them will be the highlight of my day.
There was a time I thought I’d found someone I wanted to marry even if it cost me everything, someone I loved beyond reason. I wish I knew then what I know now. Relationships are always transactional, and there’s no such thing as unconditional love. Hell, I don’t even believe love truly exists, and if it does, it’s fickle as fuck. It’s not an emotion I ever care to experience again. I suppose, in that way, an arranged marriage is a saving grace.
The crowd cheers when Ares kisses Raven, and I smirk to myself. The way he’s kissing her… yeah, he’s betraying how badly he wants her, and he doesn’t even realize it. Fucking moron.
I watch as the bride and groom walk away together, hand in hand. Ares has no idea how lucky he is — and not just because Raven is one of the most wonderful women I know. Love isn’t part of my plan, but Ares isn’t like me. He’s a hopeless romantic, and he wants a true marriage, the kind he’ll have with Raven. Just because I don’t want it for myself doesn’t mean I’m not happy my brother gets to experience it at least.
Yeah, even now, when their lives are in turmoil and the future looks uncertain, I can see it. There’s something between them that wasn’t there between Ares and Hannah.
Chapter Six
Luca
“Just one more photo,” Grandma says, a smile on her face. Raven and Ares both look weary and uncertain, but Grandma looks excessively happy. It’s almost as though they walked right into her trap. I suppose, in some ways, they did. If not for her insistence, they wouldn’t be standing here today.
“Grams,” I say, my tone indulgent as I wrap my arm around her waist. I pull her against me and smirk. “How about we let the happy couple rest? You’re turning this into a work event for my darling sister-in-law. She already has to model for hours on end, day after day. Let’s join the rest of our guests at the reception, shall we?”
She looks up at me with a sweet smile and nods. When she looks like that, it’s easy to forget that she’s the Windsor matriarch, the one who raised us all when we lost our parents. My grandmother rules our family with an iron fist, but on days like today, she looks like any grandmother would at a wedding. She looks proud and emotional, her eyes filled with genuine happiness for Ares and Raven.
I wonder if she’d look that way if it was Hannah that had married Ares. I don’t recall her ever smiling that way at Hannah.
I offer my grandmother my arm, and she loops hers through it. “Fine,” she grumbles, “but you owe me a dance.”
A soft chuckle escapes my lips as I lead her into the reception hall. “A dance with my favorite lady? It’s an honor.”
She narrows her eyes at me as I take her hand. “You’re a smooth talker, just like your father was.”