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Jet lets out a dark chuckle. “You get that from me.”
“What?” I’m frowning now. He didn’t take my snide comment as badly as I thought he would. I hate it when he refuses to let me pick a fight with him.
“Your stubbornness.”
I look away as I sip at the glass I brought with me, shaking my head.
“This is our cross to bear, son,” my father says. “You don’t get to choose who you marry any more than I did. That’s the way it’s always been. The way it alwayswillbe.”
“It’s bullshit,” I tell him, turning narrowed eyes on him. “What does it matter who I marry?IfI marry? I’m sick of you treating me like a fucking chess piece.I’m Owen fuckingDalton. I don’t follow rules. Imakethem.”
Jet watches me for a long moment, taking a sip of his drink, then a drag from his cigarette. “Are you done?” he asks quietly.
I clench my jaw.
“Because if you’re done, then I’d like to remind you that you’re bound to the traditions of this family as much as I am. If you keep thinking you can walk on water, you’ll drown. Don’t you think if I could have changed the rules, I’d have married the woman Ilovedinstead of the woman my grandfatherchosefor me?”
Anger burns deep in my father’s eyes, but it’s not directed toward me. Not really.
My grandfather was a fucking asshole. I know that. My father knows that. Part of me is still a little pissed that my father even let me near the sadistic old geezer, but I’m starting to think Jet didn’t have a choice in that matter either.
Perhaps my father has even less say in his life than I do?
My father grabs my shoulder, squeezing me hard. “Be glad that I’m giving you options. I might as well have been married at gunpoint. Although, honestly, you could do a lot better.”
Yeah, I could. And the name that keeps popping up is Evie’s.
I drain the rest of my whiskey, grimacing slightly at the familiar burn. I already want another. I’ll be sleeping here tonight, so I can drink as much as I want.
Might as well make it a bottle.
My father lights us both a cigar. Warm, fragrant smoke fills my mouth before I push it out between my lips and I watch the thick, pale coils forming in the air like magic.
“What’s her name?”
“Huh?” I take a drag on my cigar as my father sends me a weary look.
“It’s obviously not Willow Hope. Who’s the girl who’s actually gotten you so hot under the collar?”
I drop my gaze to my empty glass. “She’s not from around here.”
“Interesting,” Jet murmurs. “I’m not sure if I should be relieved or concerned.”
I smile over at him. “Neither. I don’t know if it was just…” I bite the inside of my lip.
“A one-night stand?” Jet laughs at my expression. “You forget I was your age once.”
“Yeah, but by my age, you already had a wifeanda mistress.”
Jet chuckles quietly to himself. “And yet you still think I’m a prude.”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t help but smile a little at that. “Is this the part where you ask me when I’m planning on having kids?”
Jet leans forward. “This is the part where I remind you that every member of this family has made sacrificesforthis family.”
