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“This isn’t your place,” Luke says quietly.
Ryan’s eyes snap towards him, and I squeeze his hand, urging him to be calm. “She’s mine, and that makes her shit my shit. You think I’m going to disappear into the background and just let you two handle it, you’re wrong. I just had to fight my way through four fucking men to protect your sister. Charlotte will send more. She won’t stop until she has Aurelia in her mucky little paws. I won’t gamble on her life like this.”
Zeke grits his teeth. “Then what do you propose?”
Ryan doesn’t stutter or fall over his words as he says, “I’ll marry her.”
Both my brothers start shouting angrily. It takes a moment for the words to sink in. He wants to marry me? I stare at him, trying to see if there is any lie in his words. There’s not. His eyes come to mine and soften instantly.
“You want to marry me?”
“I want you safe,” he says.
A thread of disappointment weaves through me at his words. Does he see this as a chore? I want him to marry me because he wants to marry me, not out of some obligation to keep me safe. “Oh.”
He takes my head in his hands. “Take that look off your face. That isn’t what I meant. I want you, Lia. And if this protects you, all the better. I’ll do anything to keep you out of Charlotte fucking Fraser’s hands.”
“Are you concussed?” I ask, genuinely wondering if he has a head injury.
“No. I’m completely serious about this, Lia.”
“You are not marrying our sister!” Luke growls.
Irritated, I snap my head around to look at my brothers. “I think I missed the part where it was your choice?”
“Marriage isn’t something to enter lightly,” Zeke adds.
I glare at my brother. “Because any of you entered into your marriages with a lot of thought behind them. Zeke, you were married within weeks of knowing Bailey. Luke, you stood in that church not knowing who was going to be in front of you. Kane married a total stranger. Our parents want me to do the same.”
“I’d rather have your blessing,” Ryan says, “but I’ll do it without.”
Luke and Zeke exchange glances. Luke shifts his shoulders after a moment.
“There’s no risk of having her being forced to wed if she’s already married. Charlotte can do a lot of things, but she can’t undo the law. As far as I’m aware, you can’t be married to two people at the same time.”
“Seriously considering this, are you?”
“They are both right when they say Charlotte isn’t going to stop. She’s going to keep coming until she gets what she wants. Do you really want to risk our sister being forced into a marriage with some old bastard? We know the kind of people Charlotte associates with. Men who will destroy Aurelia. It’s obvious they care a great deal for each other.”
“This is insanity,” Zeke mutters, rubbing at his forehead.
“Is it any more insane than what Charlotte is trying to pull?” Luke asks. “At least she gives a shit about Malone. And if they hate each other, they can always get divorced.”
“If we are married, it might just stop Charlotte from coming after her.” Ryan smiles at me as he says the words. “Isn’t that the objective here? To keep her safe no matter what?” He turns to my brothers. “I love your sister. Yes, this is a strategic decision, but it is also one made with my heart. I can’t imagine my life without her in it. And I’ll fight whoever I need to, to keep her at my side.”
“Kane isn’t going to like this,” Zeke says. “I don’t fucking like it.”
“Charlotte’s men nearly took me tonight.” My voice is soft as I speak, my words cracking like granite. “Once she has me in her grasp she will keep me locked up, out of reach of every single one of you. I’ll never see you again. She’ll break me piece by piece to make me compliant. I don’t want that. All I want is my own life and my own choices. Do I wish Ryan had asked me to marry him under better circumstances? Of course. But this is the path we are on.” I glance between both my brothers. “Our lives have never been exactly what you would call normal.”
“Is this rash?” Ryan says. “Absolutely. But what is the alternative? Do nothing and hope the situation will not be taken out of our control? We have no idea what lengths Charlotte will go to to ensure her plan. I don’t want to find out. Whether you allow it or not, I will marry Aurelia, and I will do it to keep her protected.”
The sound of the lift doors opening has us all turning towards them. Kane and Elena step into the room. Kane’s eyes dart around us all before coming to rest on Zeke.
“What did I miss?”
