The color drained from her face before rushing back in a violent tide. "Selene, it wasn't—I never intended—."
"Never intended? Did you trip and fall onto his cock the first time? And the second? And every night for twenty-six weeks?"
Her fingers writhed in the white linen like grubby worms. "He said you knew. That you were fine with it."
I offered her the smile I'd practiced in mirrors. "Of course. Whatever Father wants, Father gets."
Tears gathered at her lashes, crystalline beads of weakness I wanted to flick away with my fingernails until she bled. Each trembling drop fueled something savage in me—a dark, exquisite pleasure I hadn't known I was capable of feeling. Let her drown in those tears. Let her choke on them. The docile mask I wore for my father slipped away, revealing teeth. She wasn't him. She held no power here. And God, how desperately I wanted someone to hurt the way I did.
But I couldn’t do any of that in theory because the man who had ultimate authority in this hell would somehow turn it around and make it my fault she was hurt for sleeping with him even as he paraded his ownership of her before me like a fresh wound, he couldn't stop reopening.
"Wipe your eyes and sit up straight. You've seen what happens when he catches someone crying."
Because she wasn’t safe from his wrath either.
She drew herself upright, smoothed invisible wrinkles from her dress, and then tucked a rebellious strand of hair behind her ear, the same choreography I'd witnessed countless times at his approach. Coraline's breath audibly caught, her gaze flicking toward the doorway as if already feeling the weight of his palm against her spine.
I remained motionless, features arranged in practiced serenity. Dutiful daughter on the outside, seething captive within. My father's entrances were never subtle. He swept in as though rooms existed solely to frame him. Coraline stood and greeted him with a smile.
"Beautiful as always," he murmured, pressing his lips to her cheek while his fingers splayed possessively across her lower back, lingering a moment too long.
Then he turned and came around the corner to me and repeated a near identical gesture. His mouth brushed my temple. "And my daughter, exquisite as ever."
I remained perfectly still. Any reaction would please him, but he collected flinches like trophies.
"You're late, Father."
He settled at the head of the table like a king assuming his throne. "The world adjusts to men like me, Selene. Not the other way around."
Coraline's laughter tinkled like a bell. If she were to choke right now, I wouldn’t offer a single pat on her back. Now that my father had arrived, the kitchen staff appeared with our lunch. They were likely sweating bullets trying to keep it as fresh and warm as possible, knowing they would be blamed for anything he found distasteful even though he was the one who made everyone wait.
Seabass was arranged like artwork, greens so pristine they might have been painted. I hated the taste of seafood, but I had no choice but to eat what was in front of me.
"Alaric couldn't take his eyes off you last night. Quite the impression you’ve made," he remarked, cutting into his fish.
"He was courteous."
"Courteous?" He laughed low. "Alaric Kostas is many things, courteous isn't one of them. Whatever you did worked. The engagement is certain. Be careful not to undo your progress."
Each bite of fish congealed to paste in my mouth. I forced myself to breathe through my nose, swallowing mechanically to keep from retching.
Father dabbed his napkin against his lips, his eyes calculating my worth like a jeweler assessing a diamond's flaws. "Alaric will want to see you again soon. Play hard to get. Men of his standing need to believe they've conquered something. Never appear willing."
“I understand,” I lied. I didn’t know the first damn thing about playing games with men and he knew that. Not to mention Alaric was not the kind of man you toyed with.
Beside him, Coraline's fingers grazed his sleeve with practiced familiarity. The casual intimacy of it, how effortlessly they maintained this charade of normalcy, was almost admirable in its perversity.
Minutes stretched into a small eternity.
When I couldn’t take it a second longer, I placed my fork beside my plate. "What role do you envision for me in this arrangement?"
It was a question solely to placate him. I knew Alaric had his own ideas about this marriage, and they didn’t seem to be in-line with my fathers’. Thank God. He took his time responding. Another bite. Another chew. Another swallow. Only then did he meet my eyes with the condescending half-smile that made my skin crawl.
"Everything becomes intelligence. Your role is to remember every word he whispers when he thinks no one hears, and each conversation he allows you to sit on. I want to know what makes him weak. How he sounds when he comes. The moment his guard drops when he's buried inside you should be telling." His eyes dropped to my throat, to my mother's necklace, his gaze like a blade against my skin. "When I need to replace you, I'll know exactly what kind of whore to break him with."
Coraline froze beside him, a rabbit sensing a predator.
He lifted his glass, crystal catching light as he rotated his wrist in slow, deliberate circles, like a man considering where to cut first. "Men who want what's mine need to be controlled. We'll discuss your specific duties after I'm certain he hasn't fucked every last thought out of that pretty head."
