Page 10 of Thrown into the Mob

You’re basing your feelings on instinct, whereas my heart and head are leading me.

Pfft.

Evander had apparently been part of his father's plan from the beginning, and I wasn't giving him the satisfaction of seeing how badly I needed out of the room. The forced casualness between us had curdled since the meeting, and he kept his arms crossed in front of him.

Two guards walked us down an unfamiliar staircase and through a heavy door, and the sky opened above me. I closed my eyes, and using all my senses, I allowed the wind to tickle my face while the distinctive smell of wet grass washed over me.

I inhaled, and for a moment, I was just Madd Durand, the person Flint trusted to work undercover. I had a large extended family whom I loved. I wasn’t the guy who’d been given an ultimatum, making me feel as though I’d been whisked back in time to when matches were made to build alliances.

But a pretty garden didn’t change the forty-eight-hour deadline that was hanging over my head or having a fated mate that I loathed on sight but to whom my wolf was already devoted.

My beast pressed against my skin wanting to run, not to get away from the dragons but to experience the world that wasn’t four walls and a bed.

Not yet. Keep it together.

He wanted to find the other brother, but as that wasn’t happening, he settled for soil, grass, and wet flagstones.

The garden was large, bordered on three sides by high walls and on the fourth by the house. There were old trees along the edges, and the space was dotted with flower beds. A gravel path wound between them, and a stone bench sat under the biggest tree.

I strode toward the bench, not caring if Evander was near me. I couldn’t get out of this space, and the walls were too high for my wolf to leap over. But Evander would be aware of that.

Before yesterday, I would have asked about the garden's history in an attempt to build a rapport with the patriarch’s son. But there was no need to extract information from him now because I had my answer as to why I was here.

It didn’t take a genius to know I was pissed at the older twin and what his father had proposed. But from the corner of my eye, I could see him glancing at me. He’d open his mouth to speak and close it again.

Good, I hoped he was uneasy and perhaps consumed by more than a little guilt.

I dropped onto the stone bench which was cold and damp, but I didn’t care. Evander looked around the garden. His back was to me when he said, “I understand if you're angry.”

I didn’t acknowledge him with a nod because he didn’t deserve that courtesy.

“The arrangement wasn't my idea.”

He seemed to think that made everything okay, and I couldn’t hold back.

“But you went along with it. You brought food and gave me a better room. You were auditioning, and I was the only one who didn't know it was a casting call.”

He flinched. “I thought if you got to know me first, it might be okay.”

“Your father had me dragged out of a bar at gunpoint. There's no version of this that doesn't feel forced.”

“Think of what we can achieve together.”

I made a face. Was he talking business or personal? I looked at him properly for the first time since the meeting with his father. He had the decency to hold my gaze.

“What if I want to choose my own destiny, live close to my extended family, and work for the family business? What if I want nothing to do with your dragon flight, no matter how much money or fame I might earn?”

“Not everyone can choose their fate.”

That was certainly true.

“I didn't fake any of it. The conversations were real. What I thought of you was real.”

A warning bell rang in my head. Was he suggesting I was his fated mate? Nothing I said could make the situation worse, except if I refused to mate him. That’d tip things over the edge.

“And the mating? Was that real too or were you just following orders?”

He didn't answer immediately but nibbled his bottom lip.