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“Oh God,” I choked, trying to catch my breath but unable to fill my lungs. The room was stifling. “Oh my God.”
“Secret…” He smiled at me, and I braced myself against Dominick. “Will you marry me?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
There was only the clouded, static-filled silence of shock. My ears felt packed with cotton, like I was coming down after a long flight. I knew people were talking amongst themselves, and Dominick’s mouth was moving, but I all I could hear was the pounding of my heart.
I’m dreaming. I’m dreaming. It’s the only explanation. Any minute now someone is going to burst into flame, or something totally surreal will happen to prove me right.
But it didn’t get much more surreal than having a billionaire propose to you in front of two hundred witnesses.
I opened my mouth, but my tongue felt dry and swollen. Lucas was smiling hopefully, and the rest of the room was wide-eyed and eager. Like sharks circling in blood-filled water. Scanning their excited faces, I saw two who didn’t match the general exuberance of the rest of the room.
Morgan looked horrified. And at the bar—the Asian girl long forgotten—Holden was staring at Lucas with his mouth slack and his eyes brimming with murderous intent. I’d known it was a bad idea to bring him. I hadn’t known how bad until that instant.
A photographer stepped in front of me, and I was blinded by a flash.
As the dots of light swam in my vision, my brain started to function again, shifting from full stop into high gear. Lucas had proposed. This wasn’t a dream, and there were real people here waiting to hear my answer. Two of those people were dead set on proving Lucas’s pack wasn’t strong enough to withstand an invasion. And his relationship with me was essential in proving them wrong.
If I said no, Lucas’s authority as king would be decimated. He would be publicly humiliated.
He cleared his throat and stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking downright sheepish. I didn’t need a mate bond with him to know he was nervous.
“Yes,” I whispered.
People in the crowd began to mutter, asking each other, “What did she say?”
I swallowed hard, clearing away the lump in my throat, and forced a smile for everyone, but especially for Amelia and Ben. “Yes,” I repeated, louder this time. “Yes, I will marry you.”
The crowd erupted in a deafening cheer. Lucas jumped off the stage and cleared the room in a heartbeat. He swept me up in a lung-crushing hug and kissed me as the photographer started clicking again, flashes blotting out the rest of the room.
“Thank you,” he said into my ear.
“We need to talk about this,” I whispered into his.
I pulled Lucas into a pristine, never-used student lounge and locked the door behind us. He opened his mouth, about to say something that would no doubt make me feel he had no choice but to put me on the spot. Or how he’d believed the gesture was genuinely romantic. I could hear the excuses and explanations rattling around in his brain as clearly as if they were my own.
Apparently anger did wonders to make the mate bond stronger. Marriages everywhere would thrive if they had this kind of connection.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
Of the reactions I could have had, this wasn’t the one Lucas had been expecting. He took two steps back and blinked at me as if I’d slapped him. “I thought—”
“Did you think?” I threw myself down on one of the new leather couches and rested my head against the plush back.
“I needed to show them you and I were a team. That our relationship wasn’t a passing fancy, or we were faking the soul-bond. They could see our mate bond. This was the easiest way to show them you belonged to me.” There they were, the rationales and excuses I’d foreseen.
“I know why you think you did it, Lucas, but none of those are the real reason. You could have proposed months ago if you’d wanted to.”
“You wouldn’t have accepted months ago. You’re only now realizing what’s at stake here.”
“Are you sure this isn’t about Desmond?”
Lucas crouched in front of me, taking my hands in his and waiting until I looked at him before letting them go. “I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t jealous of the emotional connection you two share. But this isn’t about a competition. This is about our survival.”
“Drama queen.” I smiled weakly.
“No. That would be you now, officially.”
