“Des Claimed her.”
Sebastien is right. I don’t want to believe that.
Desmond. Are you fucking kidding me?
Suddenly, I’m thrown back to the moment of the first August ceremony I attended as an eighteen-year-old kid. If Adrian had stepped forward nine years ago, putting his Claim on Haven, Iwould’ve had to kill him. Brother or not. Friend or not. Along with Dallas and Bas, Adrian is the closest thing I have to family apart from my parents, and it wouldn’t have mattered. If he tried to put his hands on Haven, if he had tried to take her from me, I would’ve slit his throat before he said I do.
He knows that. Hell, if I’d lost my mind and made a move on his girl, I would’ve expected him to do the same.
Back in high school, our group of five nearly broke up because Desmond asked Loni out. He tried to say that he took Adrian’s bullying of Loni to heart. While Adrian was trying to make Loni untouchable, Desmond was a snake. He went after Loni, dumping her publicly after accusing her of fucking Adrian.
She had been, of course. While I had to wait until I was twenty-seven to be with my Haven, Adrian seduced Loni when they were both seventeen. He was so obsessed with the idea of being the only one to have her, he couldn’t even make it to the Claiming ceremony in August.
He thought that meant he would have her sooner. The opposite happened. When he tried to play the Order’s game, hoping he’d be the big winner in the end, he lost Loni instead.
At least, that’s what it seemed like. For years, Adrian’s been manipulating Loni’s life—her job, her home, her love life—behind the scenes. He won’t be satisfied until she has his name and wears his ring… so how the hell did Desmond Claim Loni ahead of this year’s August ceremony?
I have no clue, but there’s definitely one thing Idoknow.
“Des is a dead man,” I tell Bas.
“Yeah. That’s Adrian’s point of view, too.”
I look at him, waiting for him to continue.
Bas finally takes a sip of coffee, probably to give himself a second before he explains. “Adrian reached out to someone as soon as he got word that there’s going to be a wedding between Desmond St. James and Avalon Dougherty. He’s looking forhired help outside of Harmony Heights so that it doesn’t get traced back to him. If it comes down to it, though, he said he’ll handle Desmond himself.”
As he should. “Good.”
“Figured you’d say that.”
“What does Dallas think?”
Bas snorts, but there’s no humor in it. “Dallas is the one who brought her back to Harmony Heights so she can be forced into marrying Des.”
Oh. SoDallasis a dead man, too. “Adrian and Dallas aren’t just cousins. They’re bros. Why would he do that?”
“Because Jack sent him after her with the invitation to her own wedding. Dallas delivered it, brought Loni back when she accepted because, fuck, we all know Jack made it so she had no choice. Then, as soon as he could, he went straight to Adrian to tell him what happened. Which means,” Bas adds, “that Adrian has a plan.”
Of course he does. Adrian Helleralwayshas a plan.
Sometimes that plan is brilliant. Sometimes that plan ends in bodies.
How much do you want to bet that, this time, it’s both?
“Let me guess. There’s going to be a wedding.”
Bas nods. “Adrian thought he had to wait until Loni hit thirty before he could stop pretending that there’s ever been anyone else for him. Looks like he’s moving the timeline up a little. Next Tuesday, our boy’s gonna be a married man, one way or another.”
I know I should be happy for Adrian. He’s wanted Loni even longer than I’ve needed Haven. And yet… I can’t think of Adrian Claiminganyoneand not remember that, since he was twelve, it was understood that Haven was his intended.
I knew Adrian would never take Haven from me. It still gave me one hell of a complex when no one else in Harmony Heights—including my future/current wife—did.
Bas is thinking along the same lines as me. He takes another sip of his coffee before asking, “You gonna tell her?”
“No.”
“Connor.”
