“But I’m a man who can admit my faults. He outsmarted me—and I let him.”
Tommaso didn’t nod in agreement. Didn’t judge me for what I’d lost. He felt more like a friend than a former boss. “Perhaps this is just a battle and not the war.”
“No, it’s done,” I said with finality. “It’s the price I paid to save my woman.”
“And was that price worth it?” He sat back too, crossing one ankle on the opposite knee.
I felt no doubt in my heart. Felt no resentment toward her. Only love. “Absolutely.”
We sat in silence for a while as he processed what I said. He held my gaze as his elbow rested on the armrest, his closed knuckles planted against his cheek. “You know terrible things are about to happen to a lot of people. Not just the Romans, but the president and the Senate and the government as a whole. With everyone at his mercy, who knows what he’ll do. He has no love for his country, so he’ll make deals with our enemies just to line his pockets. He’s reckless and lawless ... and not stupid.”
“I’m aware.” Painfully aware of all those things.
“Then I’m sure you’ll change your mind. When the time is right.”
I shook my head. “I’m a man of my word. He wouldn’t have let us go otherwise.”
“Then let that be his mistake.”
“It’s done.” I didn’t raise my voice, but my tone had an edge to it. I would never forget how it felt to hear from my men that my home had been compromised, that painful realization that Aurelia was the target. By the time I’d made it there, Darius had her on the floor with a gun to her head.
It was Edric all over again.
But this time, I was able to stop it. I was able to save her.
Another cloud of silence passed as he looked at me. “If you’re a man of your word, then it’s time you keep your word to me.”
My eyes narrowed as I failed to understand his meaning.
“My daughter.”
When the realization struck me, it was followed by a wave of annoyance. “I just gave up the Roman Empire for a woman. I’m clearly unavailable, Tommaso.”
“But are you married?”
“What does that matter?”
“It matters because you’re not committed.”
“Oh, I’m committed.” Very fucking committed. Committed for the rest of my life, whether she was my woman or my wife.
“You said if you weren’t married, you would consider my daughter.”
I’d come here to be consoled by an old friend, and now I was being propositioned for an arranged marriage. “We both know that was a stupid request—”
“But you agreed to it. And I put my life on the line for your stupid brother.”
I suddenly had a kink in my neck, irritation that flooded my entire body.
“Are you a man of your word or not?”
“Why do you even want me for your daughter?” I snapped. “I just handed the keys to the kingdom to a psychopath. I turned my back on my country and my people for a single woman. I’m not a hero.”
“And that’s why I want you for my daughter, Constantine. I want a man who would turn his back on everyone else before he would turn his back on her. Who would sacrifice the entire world before he’d let anything happen to her. There are so few men like you. A needle in a fucking haystack. That’s what she deserves.”
“I’m sure she does, Tommaso. But I did those things because I’m in love with this woman, a woman who will someday be my wife. I’m sure your daughter is lovely, but my heart belongs to someone else.”
“Con, you said you wouldconsiderit.”
