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Cassie
We enter the room as one unit. The new queen in waiting, surrounded by her closest friends. All dressed to impress and anticipating an evening none of us ever expected to attend because tonight is my first formal occasion as the future Queen.
My friends are nervous, just their silence tells me that and as we make our way into the room, I’m worried my legs will give out on me because the men in this room take my breath away. So much power reaches out and grabs me by the throat because it appears tension has also been invited, and the atmosphere is dark and oppressive.
My eyes find my future husband and I nearly falter because he causes a reaction in me I’m still struggling to understand. Dressed in a black tuxedo, looking devilishly handsome, his dark eyes swirling with lustful power, makes me weak at the knees as he watches me approach. He smiles as I reach his side and as the waiter holds out my chair, the look he gives me settles my nerves a little. He looks concerned and reassures me with a smile and then, leaning in, whispers, “You look beautiful, Cassie, just relax and enjoy the meal.”
I try to smile, but just the sight of the man on his other side makes me forget my own name. Devilishly handsome and hiding Satan’s secrets in his eyes is the monster your mama always warned you about. Hard, emotionless and impossible to read. Formed from granite and breathtakingly beautiful in a rough and edgy kind of way.
Maxim says courteously, “Cassie, please allow me to introduce my honored guest, Ryder King.”
I smile, and Ryder’s eyes stun me as they twinkle when he smiles. “I’m pleased to meet you ma’am.”
Beside me on the other side is another equally impressive man who is introduced as Hunter Blake. Beside him sits Eloise, and opposite her is Lauren. Next to her is another stranger who throws me a friendly smile and makes me relax a little. He is introduced as Dexter Prince, the man who runs the media empire and opposite him is Lucas Emiliano who I’m told runs the gambling operation in the country.
Beside him sits Natalia and opposite her and on the other side are two of Maxim’s friends. Beside the queen at the head of the table sits another friend of Maxim’s and the final guest is staring at me with a hunger that makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. Victor.
I’m guessing it was no chance seating arrangement keeping him as far away from me as possible and I’m grateful for that but I can’t help but steal glances in his direction because from the look on his face, he’s not happy—at all.
As our first course is served, I feel on edge and look at the seafood cocktail with anxiety because I’m not sure I can eat a thing right now.
Maxim raises his fork, signifying the rest of the table to start and as I do the same, he leans in and whispers, “Relax, just enjoy the evening.”
“Easy for you to say.” I whisper back, and he laughs softly. “Would it help if I told you I was more on edge than you are?”
“Not really, because I know you’re lying; nobody could be more on edge that me.”
I smile and am surprised when his hand reaches down and squeezes my thigh and he whispers, “I’ve got you, baby, always know I’ve got your best interests at heart.”
For some reason, my eyes find Eloise who is trying to look normal, but I can tell is struggling. Wondering if the man beside me is responsible for that, I lower my voice. “We need to talk.”
He looks surprised and a little worried, and I glance in her direction and am reassured when he looks confused. “Your friend?”
“Yes.” He looks thoughtful and then turns to speak to the man next to him, effectively cutting the conversation dead, and I wonder if that was intentional.
As we continue to eat, I find myself making small talk with a man who would ordinarily scare me to death. I don’t know the first thing about business and the way the world operates, yet I needn’t have worried because Hunter Blake puts me at ease almost immediately.
“You must be excited, ma’am. Your wedding day is surely the happiest day of any woman’s life.”
“I hope not.”
I smile at the surprise in his eyes. “Surely it’s just one of many. It would be a shame to think that every day after would never measure up to that one. Surely it’s up to us to make every day count and be amazing.”
His low rumble of laughter makes me smile. “You make a good point; it gives me something to think about.”
“Are you married, Mr. Blake?”
“Call me Hunter and no, not yet.”
“A girlfriend perhaps; someone you may even propose to one day, someone you love.”
I’m curious because part of me hopes to God he loves someone and doesn’t view marriage as a business deal like my own fiancé.
“Yes, I do…”
“Please, call me Cassie. To be honest, I hate to be called anything else.”
We share a smile and he nods. “Yes, Cassie, I am in love with an amazing woman and she has already agreed to be my wife, or should I say, life.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because she is–my life. I have discovered if she isn’t in it, then I have no life worth living. She is the reason I try to be better; to make a difference, to impress her. I never thought I’d find someone like her and now I have, I’m more surprised than anyone. You make a good point about your wedding day because I will be doing my best to make each day better than the last when I finally put my ring on her finger.”
My heart lifts when I see the love in his heart he has for this woman, and I wish I could meet her. See them together and judge what love looks like for myself. Thinking of Maxim, I wonder if he feels like that, an impossible dream perhaps because we are still strangers, which tells me this whole wedding is just what I feared. A business deal. To provide Andromeda with a suitable queen and their king with an acceptable wife. He says he loves me, but was that just a word? How can he love me when we’re strangers about to enter an arranged marriage—arranged by him?
Throughout the whole meal, I feel Victor’s eyes on me as a silent threat. He is not giving up. It’s obvious and that should give me hope. A lifeline to escape this madness, but what if that’s not the answer? What if this is my destiny?
Wishing my own family were present instead of these strangers, I’m starting to realize that I have no say in my life already. Surely, it would have been kinder to allow me to spend my last night of freedom with them.
Maxim leans down and reaches for my hand under the table and squeezes it hard, while continuing to speak to the man beside him. An unspoken communication and act of reassurance that I badly need right now, and I squeeze his hand back, grateful for the physical contact. I’m drowning in something I have no control over and yet as I catch sight of my friend’s miserable face, I wonder if her misery was caused by him. Part of me doubts that, but my head is telling me I’m a fool because he is a master manipulator and I would do well to remember it.
