Page 33 of Secret Dynasty

“Exactly what’s going on between you two?” Spencer cut him off, angrily.

I stepped away from Holden, willing my face to remain blank. I wouldn’t give fuel to his accusation. But Spencer glared between us, his face darkening like the shadows growing around us.

“Nothing.” I tried to move past him, but he caught me. I yanked my arm free. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous?” he repeated the word, and I cringed at how it sounded on his lips.

But there was no turning back from this now. It was way too complicated to explain to him, even if I wanted to. I had no idea how much Spencer knew about my father’s arrangement with Lord Byrd. Had his grandfather told him? How would he feel to know my father had purchased a reprieve for me? Would he look at me differently if he knew I might have killed my mother? Would he believe I was guilty? I wasn’t prepared for Spencer to have an opinion.

“I’m not blind. You two are hiding something,” he accused.

“You might not be blind, but you’re paranoid.” I crossed my arms, refusing to give in to his accusations. “And why didn’t you ask me about Sparrow Court?”

“We can talk about that later,” he said harshly. “Right now, I want to know why you and Holden are suddenly so close.”

“This again?”

“I should go,” Holden broke in. “Text me when she’s gone, so I can finish packing.”

“Answer me, dammit!”

Holden’s shoulders squared and he turned to face him. “I promised you I wouldn’t touch her without your permission.”

He did? I stared at him, rawness creeping up my throat. Was that why he kept refusing me?

“But you want to,” Spencer said.

“I don’t have time for this.” Holden moved to push past him. “She’s yours. I know that.”

His words stung, and I fought the urge to cry.

“Wait.” Spencer stepped in front of the door, barring his brother from leaving. “Prove it. Prove she’s mine. Go to bed with us. Now. Tonight.”

I wasn’t sure which one of us he was talking to. Was he asking me to go to bed with them? Or Holden to join us? Was I asking myself stupid questions to avoid the fact that it didn’t really matter?

Spencer’s gaze answered the first question for me. He wasn’t looking at me but past me to where Holden stood, ready to leave.

He was asking him. Not me. He didn’t need to ask me because he assumed I would do whatever he said. Spencer might not know all the details of the arrangement that had bound him to me, but he knew he owned me, all the same.

I stared at him. Then I turned my head slowly to look at Holden. It was like turning between mirrors. Wary determination etched their faces. Neither would back down from this challenge now that it had been issued. But Holden couldn’t say yes. He wouldn’t.

Holden met my eyes. “What do you want?”

I dropped my head, hopelessly searching for a way out of this situation. “I don’t see what this proves.”

“Everything,” Spencer cut in, his words as sharp as a blade’s edge. “If he comes to bed with us, it will put a stop to this little flirtation. My brother has been punishing me for keeping you to myself.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at Holden to see if this was true. “And what about me? What about what I want?”

“Don’t you understand yet?” Spencer stepped closer to me. Pressing a finger to my chin, he tilted my face up to meet his eyes. “You want what I tell you to want.”

It felt as though a trap door had opened under my feet. My stomach plummeted along with every romantic fantasy I’d ever had about us. Spencer Byrd didn’t love me. He never had. He never would. I wasn’t certain he was capable of love. I was nothing more than the jewel in his collection, the pet he kept at his side. I’d known I was exchanging one prison for another. In this light, the gilded bars of Spencer’s cage looked tarnished. How much worse would it be after we married? Would he clip my wings? Would he let me out to fly when he could watch me?

It was a test. Not just for Holden, but for me. No matter how I answered, I would lose. There was no way to pass his examination. Refusing might make him press his thumb harder to my back until he broke me. Saying yes would only make things worse between him and his brother. I couldn’t make the right move. I just had to do what I wanted. I had to think about myself and my own needs and desires. I had to find pleasure in my captivity.

Turning my head away, I slipped past him without a word, without a glance, and walked toward the bedroom. No footsteps followed me, so I wasn’t surprised when I pivoted around to find them both watching me on the other side of the doorframe.

I kicked off my heels, then raised an eyebrow impatiently. “Are you two going to fuck me or what?”