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It didn't mean that I hadn't thought about it every waking and sleeping second.
“I fully intend to leave this marriage as clean as I entered it. Once I know she's safe, once I'm able to set her up where she can make her own choices and not be in danger, then I'll let her go.”
Dante scoffed, a dark laugh ripping through his lips. “Come on, little brother,” he said. “I know you've been out of the game for a while, but you never forget. She'll never be safe. It doesn't matter if you give her a hundred million out of that billion of yours and send her off to some island nobody's ever heard of. The O’Briens aren't going to stop until they get their precious princess back. Either to re-break her or to punish her. This isn't just going to end because you throw money at it.”
I closed my eyes, doing my best to tell every single one of my muscles to relax. I knew Dante was right, but I also knew that I didn’t have another option.
Serenity couldn’t stay married to me forever. She was too good, too sweet, and too innocent to get entrenched in my world. If she got one genuine look at me? Got one whiff of my past? She’d be terrified.
I knew she’d grown up in the life, but women in our world were kept in the dark on purpose. At least with the way the O’Briens did things. The Maxfields had done that in the past, but thankfully we'd gotten progressive somewhere around the eighties. Still slower than everybody would’ve liked, but at least I'd grown up in a family where my mother had a say, and the business was only better for it.
Still, I wasn't going to ruin Serenity's life by ensuring she stayed shackled to me forever.
“From where I'm sitting,” Dante continued, and I opened my eyes to focus on him, “you have two options. One, you broker a deal of peace and give her back. Or two, you consummate the marriage and commit to her for the rest of your life. One of them keeps her safe, and one of them takes her situation out of your hands.”
I shook my head, immediately rejecting both options. “Neither one of those is acceptable to me.”
Dante threw his hands up. “There is no option three, Gareth. If there was, you would’ve thought of one by now. Would it be so bad to consummate the marriage, make it irrefutable? You obviously care about the girl or we wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation.”
“She called in a favor?—”
“Bullshit,” he cut me off. “I know the way your game works. And I know you can negotiate your favor and you did. You could have negotiated that favor into anything else. I know how smart you are, how cleverly you could’ve gotten out of this if you’d wanted to. But you didn't. You put the Irish Princess on a plane, flew her to Vegas, and tied your name to hers. You wouldn’t have done that if there wasn't some kind of emotion tied to her. And if that's the case, that's fine. You know we aren’t going to fuck with that. But you can't stand here with one foot in the door and one foot out.”
A low growl rumbled in my chest, and I raked my fingers through my hair.
What he was saying wasn't wrong.
I knew that, deep down in my gut.
I took the steps I did to protect Serenity, that was true, but I did it because every fiber of my being was drawn to her. The thought of her getting hurt or sold off like some broodmare pissed me off so badly I saw red.
But she barely knew me. I couldn't betray her by consummating this thing and irrevocably chaining her to a future she’d run screaming from.
“I need time,” I said. It was the most honest response I could give my brother. “I'll figure a way out of this where we all win.”
Dante sighed, and I felt the weight of the entire family in that release of breath. He had the curse of being the oldest, and while he loved our family and everything we did, he didn't exactly have the luxury of making choices like I did.
“If you’re determined to let her go, then you're right. Not touching her will give her bargaining power if she ever gets caught. But do you think you’re capable of that?”
“I told you, I am.”
“Fine,” he said. “But if I were you, I’d fuck her. She knows the life. She’d probably make a good wife. Live happily ever after and all that shit.”
I laughed darkly. “There are no happily ever after for guys like us.”
“Guys like me, sure. Guys like you? You could have whatever you want. All you have to do is have the courage to take it.”
“Are you calling me a coward, brother?”
Dante smirked. “I guess only time will tell.” He pushed away from the desk, rebuttoning his suit jacket as he made his way toward the door. “I'll keep you posted if I hear of any valid threats. If I were you, I would double security, and I wouldn't let her go out in public alone. There's no way that O'Brien is just going to sit back and let you keep his princess. Doesn't matter if he thinks you've consummated the marriage or not. You've offended him, and you know how that family is.”
I sighed and crossed the room, shaking his hand. “I appreciate the advice, and the heads-up. Stay in touch and stay safe.”
“Always do,” he said before releasing my hand and heading out the door.
I ensured he made it through the gates, and that they closed securely behind him before finally scooping up my coffee mug and heading toward the kitchen. Thanks to the brotherly meeting, my coffee had gone cold, and it was more than time for another cup.
I stopped just inside the kitchen at the sight of Serenity in nothing but one of my T-shirts. The fabric hung down to her mid-thigh, but her legs and feet were bare as she reached up on her tiptoes, trying to get something out of one of my cabinets.
