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“Yes,” she said quickly, the word coming out in a fast exhale of air.
“Absolutely sure?”
She hesitated. “Absolutely.”
Augustus cleared his throat. “Alright.” His voice was serious, his face set in stone. “We’re getting married.”
At his declaration, a loud ringing noise pierced through the air. “Fuck, what now?” Leo said, his tone terse.
Augustus swayed over to the desk and picked up his phone. “Yes, Adonis,” he answered while staring at us. “I’m actually happy you called; I need help with—”
Augustus’s face fell. “No, I guess… But when? Fine. They don’t need to send the guard to bring me in. Right. I’ll be there.”
When he set the phone down, his eyes scanned the room. “The lords have summoned me for a special meeting in three days. They’re demanding a paternity test.”
Chapter Seventeen
CHRISTINE
“August?” I said while working my way up to the guest bedroom. I’d given him plenty of time to sober up and wanted to see if he was okay. Our engagement felt rushed and anticlimactic. We’d never really taken the time to court one another or explore our romance. Even though I knew that I loved him, the entire engagement felt cheapened because of all the obstacles against us.
I slowly opened the bedroom door and saw August lying on the ruffled bed where I’d just had sex with Atticus the night before. He wore gray sweatpants slung low on his hips, and his hand was placed over his head.
The bed’s frame was made of pockmarked wood, and the feathers inside the mattress were so thin that I knew it wasn’t very comfortable.
“You okay?” I asked softly, worried I’d spook him.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at me. “No. I’m not okay.”
I moved toward him, putting my hand on the bed and touching his leg. “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I fucked up,” he said.
“Fucked up?” I asked. “What did you do?”
He sat up. “It’s what I didn’t do,” he said. “I didn’t get the chance to take you on romantic dates. I didn’t propose like I wanted to—like you deserved. I didn’t do any of the bullshit romantic gestures chicks love.”
I rolled my eyes. “Calling romantic gestures bullshit kind of takes away from the magic of it.”
August smiled. “That’s fair,” he said. “But even with all of these fuckups, you’re still willing to marry me.”
“Because I love you.”
His expression changed and the smile left his face. “Are you sure?”
“That I love you?” I asked.
He nodded. “You’re not doing it just because you think you have to, right?”
I shook my head vigorously. “No.”
“It’s a big deal,” he said. “I want you to be really, really sure. Because if you do this, if you marry me, it’s for the rest of your life. And you can’t undo it. You can’t get an annulment after all of the stuff that’s happened. You can’t divorce me when you decide I don’t deserve you,” he said. “What I mean to say,” he added quickly, “is that…I want you to know that I love you. I want to prove to you that I love you every single day. I want to marry you, Christine. More than anything. But not like this. Not because my mother was blackmailing you. Not because Lord Nathan is breathing down my neck. I want to marry you because…” He paused then smiled. “I want to marry you because when we were kids, you stole a slice of apple cheesecake for me.”
I bursted out laughing. “Your mother was so mad. I had to hide it behind my back.”
He grabbed my hands. “I want to marry you because when we were thirteen, you tackled me in the garden and tickled me after I got grounded for flipping off a priest.”
Another laugh escaped me. “I still remember how he prayed for your soul as you threw your middle finger up.” We locked eyes and I licked my lips. “Do you want to know why I want to marry you, August?”
