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This woman at my fingertips, so close but untouchable. The heat of her skin branded me, making me crave relief I knew wouldn’t come anytime soon.
The way Theo’s body shook as he resisted the same urges pumping in my system gave me some semblance of comfort. We fought the same battle for self-control.
I turned my head, holding his gaze. His pupils dilated.
The draw for him tugged at me as much as the call for Nerine. This complicated mess with the three of us overflowed with loss and need.
Our woman belonged to a man we hated. Because of my stupidity, Theo and I had a boundary between us we couldn’t cross.
This was so fucked up.
After another minute, Nerine shifted back, dropping her head and looking away.
Through unsteady breaths, she whispered, “If only I hated you two. Then things would be so much easier. I…I…”
Wrapping her robe around her tighter, she moved to the farthest set of sofas in the room, took a seat on a chaise, and tucked her feet under her body.
She watched us with unsettled cobalt eyes as Theo and I followed her cues, taking the two armchairs near us.
“Answer my question, Nerine,” Theo directed when it became clear Nerine wouldn’t say anything unless we probed. “And don’t be a smartass. You know what I’m talking about.”
She narrowed her gaze, and I prepared for more of what had occurred, but to my surprise, she gave him what he wanted. “The escape I want means freedom from this life. You’re engrained in this life. Therefore, you’re not part of that freedom.”
The hell we weren’t.
“You want us to prove our love for you by letting you go?” I asked.
Before she could answer, Theo said, “No. How do we let you go after all of this?” He gestured to the room around him. “I sacrificed my dignity. I teamed up with that fucking loser of a boss. I lost my family. You’re the reason for all of this.”
“Nothing will bring Papa, Linus, Theios Mik, or any of your brothers back. And do you see me having any credibility taking the seat after what Andraius did to me? I have no power.”
“You’ll have us by your side,” I reminded her.
“First of all, I don’t want it. Second, the minute Andraius’s body is in the ground, vultures will circle to take his place. And they will use the same methods to force me into another marriage.”
“We would never let that happen again.” The vein on Theo’s forehead pulsed, telling me things were about to escalate.
“Maybe.” She shrugged, pursing her lips at Theo, and then glanced at me. “I’m not going to chance it.”
“It’s your birthright. Your sisters’ birthrights.”
“As women, do we truly have birthrights? Papa wanted to change things. But he is gone. My commodity is in my genetics, my bloodline. It’s my womb everyone wants. I’m nothing but a broodmare for the next bastard who wants to take on the Angelos name.”
“Don’t talk about yourself like that.” I glared at her. “You know that is not how we see you.”
Ignoring me, she looked up at the painted ceiling and mused, “If I’d been born a boy, I’d probably be dead, just like Linus. Well, no. Papa would have trained me from birth to run the family, and more than likely, none of this would have happened.”
“Where are you going with this, Nerine?”
“Oh, we’re using my name. It isn’t Angel anymore? I must be getting on your nerves, Theo.” She scowled at him. “My point is, without power, there isn’t a reason to take the seat. I don’t want it. My sisters don’t want it. The twins want to go into art and design, and at the moment, Fiona wants to study aerospace. If I get my way, they will have their dreams come true.”
“You’d let the family fall?” I asked, surprised by her desire to leave everything behind.
“If it means an escape for my mother, sisters, and me, yes.”
“I promise, we won’t let you down ever again. We aren’t the stupid kids we were before.”
She released a deep sigh. “Xander, are you even listening to me?”
