Page 199 of Vexatious Queen

Dad placed his hand on Vicky’s and took the lead.

“Romeo, you work for your family. You voice your opinions and suggest ways to improve. Sometimes, I’m sure you would feel better off without the overbearing guidance of your father. Would you refuse valuable insight from a female family member because of their gender, even if they were right?”

“Well, that’s more complicated⁠—”

Eddie cut him off.

“That is a no. In your current position, you are quite similar to Victoria. You are both looking for a marriage, living off your family, and very opinionated about what you believe in.”

“Yes, but we are talking about a marriage, not a business contract,” Romeo said.

Dad smirked.

“We are discussing both, are we not? How foolish of me to think that,” he said, his voice taking a hard edge. “I suppose the large dowery, business connections, and allyship are not enough for you to wed, love, and care for your wife without treating her like an object you tolerate. I see now how you view marriage, Romeo, and I thank you for attending.”

“I didn’t say that I wasn’t interested,” Romeo said.

This was like watching an intense tennis match.

“And yet you have. If you can’t see the extraordinary qualities that my daughter brings to any union, well…then you’re not the man for my daughter,” he said, leaving no room for Romeo to argue further.

Romeo glared at Saul, who was snickering under his breath. He was enjoying his friend being knocked down a peg a little too much for Romeo’s liking.

“Well, I for one do not think that you can have a marriage with both ambition and loyalty. One always ends up sacrificed,” Vadin said.

Eddie’s eyes turned as violent as two raging storms when he looked at my grandfather. I swallowed hard.

“Well, you would certainly know the firsthand truth of that, Vadin. You have lived and sacrificed everyone around you for your ambition.”

You could hear a pin drop as the two men glared at one another.

“It is much harder to lead when those who follow you expect greatness,” Vadin said, and Dad smirked.

“Please, brother, what would you know of it? Everything you had was either given to you or stolen. You certainly never built anything original,” Dimitri fired back.

“I’m not sure having them all in the same room was a good idea,” I whispered to Nash.

He glanced at me, rubbing his thumb over my hand.

“Yes, like you’re so much better, Dimitri. You’re still going on about the same old quarrels, like they happened yesterday. Ancient history. You can’t truly believe that you need love to have a good and profitable marriage. Considering all you were given when you wed Helena and the four children you had together,” Vadin said.

Dimitri looked like he was going to shoot him.

“I did,” Ethan suddenly said, and all eyes turned to him. “I had it all. The love of a lifetime. And she was as caring, loyal, and ambitious as any woman I’ve ever met. She was way out of my league. But as my right hand, she kept me in line and made me better. Ella challenged me to be the best I could be, and she loved me fiercely.” His hand balled into a fist. “She was taken from me by the actions of a greedy man, but I wouldn’t trade one minute of the pain of her loss or what we shared for a larger bank account, an extra deal, or anything else. Not ever.”

He stood and dropped his napkin on the table.

“Excuse me for a moment, I need some air.”

My heart ached, and I wanted to chase after Ethan as he walked out, but Theo got up and left with him.

It was quiet, and I ran through fifty things I might say to turn the conversation to something less problematic. But everything I came up with could easily lead to another argument.

Lip’s hand suddenly shot into the air, and my dad’s scowl cracked.

“Go ahead, Lip. You don’t need to put up your hand.”

“Well…I was just thinking. What is the point of marrying someone you don’t like? I mean, that sounds like a bad plan and one that will never work out. I don’t like Jenny at school. She is overly loud, thinks she knows everything, picks her nose, and is just really annoying. She makes me want to throw pudding at her. I wouldn’t want to marry someone like that.”