Page 339 of Split or Swallow

Leo nodded, although Tem had no idea how much of this was actually sinking in.

“Your sister will be spared too,” Tem said. “And her children.”

“And my father?”

Tem fell silent. Caspen said it for her:

“No.”

Leo closed his eyes.

Tem wondered if now, finally, it would be too much for Leo. This was more than he’d bargained for—she was more than he’d bargained for.

“Leo,” she whispered. “Say something.”

The prince was silent for a long moment. He looked down at Tem’s hands, his brow furrowed. Then he spoke:

“If you are asking me to choose between you and my father, I choose you, Tem.”

He said the words so calmly that she briefly wondered if she had hallucinated them. But then Caspen said:

“I would choose the same.”

This couldn’t be real.

“Are you two serious?” Tem whispered.

“I am,” Leo said.

“As am I.”

She stared at them.

They couldn’t be more different. But inside, they were cut from the same cloth. They had both been raised by power hungry, cruel men—men who had marked their sons, physically and otherwise. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they would choose her over their fathers. They had already done so—multiple times, in fact. They had proven themselves to her more times than she could count.

It was time to return the favor.

“I can do this,” Tem said.

Both men stared at her.

“You can do anything, Tem,” Caspen said quietly. “Of that I am certain.”

The gentle clinking of a glass broke the moment.

Maximus was standing on the edge of the stage, facing the aisle.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, his voice floating to the edges of the crowd. “It is time.”

Without another word, Caspen disappeared.

Tem looked at Leo.

She was immediately struck by the peaceful expression on his face. Was it possible that he felt freedom in this moment? For him, defying his father was his greatest wish. He was happy to be here with her—marrying her. For Leo, the limited time he had with Tem began today. And she knew he had no intention of wasting it.

Leo leaned in.

The rest of the world disappeared as he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Tem lost herself in their kiss, pretending that nothing was remotely wrong—pretending that this was simply her joyous wedding day. She focused on Leo’s cologne, on the way he smelled like summer. She’d always loved that smell.