Page 67 of Vow to Claim You

Except she’s Ayanna’s sister, which apparently rewrites the math.

“Don’t,” I warn. “Leandro’s marrying her off. Some Gulf heir.”

Eero nods. “Right. I’m not an heir. Just decorative.”

“That’s not what I said.”

He gives me the look.

The truth is, I’d assumed Eero was the one of us the world had let off the hook. The brother who got to stay loose, careless, free. Watching his face now, I understand I was wrong.

“At least you get to choose,” I say. “Most of us didn’t.”

“Apparently not.” A quiet exhale escapes him on its own. “Does Ayanna know?”

“No,” I say. “There’s a lot about her father she doesn’t know.”

There’s a lot I didn’t know either, until recently. The deeper I dig into Leandro’s books, the less I like how easily he handed his daughter to the family who spent a decade trying to put him in the ground. How easily he’d do it again.

“So,” Eero continues, because Eero can’t survive a quiet car. “How’s married life treating you?”

My gaze follows the lights gliding across the glass as I take stock of what we are.

“She was a stranger. Daughter of a man my father wanted dead. Not exactly a fairy-tale setup.”

“That’s the press release. I asked for the real one.”

“You’re unbearable.”

“Occupational hazard of being the fun brother.” He winks. “So? Do you like her?”

“I like that she has a spine,” I tell him without hesitation. He doesn’t need the rest—the way her sarcasm meets me blow for blow, the way she walked into the coldest house on earth and refused to shrink, the smile that broke across her face for her sister this afternoon that I haven’t managed to stop thinking about since. He gets none of that.

“She’s fierce. Sharp-tongued. Sometimes dangerously so.”

“And that bothers you?”

“No. If anything, it keeps things interesting.”

Eero gives me that knowing smirk, the one that he wears when he’s amused, which is most of the time in his case. “And the appearance? Is she your type?”

A faint smile pulls at my mouth. “Yes, she’s undeniably stunning. That part’s not exactly controversial.”

“Then what’s stopping you?”

My expression hardens, another, though this time quiet breath leaves my lungs.

“I don’t know if I can trust her yet.” I turn to him. “And she hates me.”

“Why would she hate you?”

I fix my brother with a look that should’ve been answer enough. “Let’s see. Maybe because I’m the son of her father’s sworn enemy. Or because she was forced into marrying me against her will. Tough puzzle, really.”

Eero laughs. “Nah, that’s bullshit. Had you been a tad more fun, like your adorable little brother here, she would’ve worshiped the ground you walk on.”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

He glances over again. “The Ice King,” Eero breathes, delighted, “just smiled.”