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“That’s good.” Lorenzo crossed his arms, his expression hardening. “I’m sure they need the help, seeing as you’ve had quite the dip in production this year, no?”
Lukas’s hand flexed again, and I got his message.Lorenzo could be a smug son of a bitch.
“We have some sparse years every now and then,” Lukas responded calmly. “But nothing to worry about. Our line is quite healthy.”
I felt a flash of pride. Lukas was always so doubtful of his ability to deal with politics, but he just seamlessly undermined Lorenzo’s comment and reminded him of who, exactly, powered the production of seafood in a few words.
“Of course,” Lorenzo said, appearing properly chastised. I wasn’t convinced, though. He was a classic example of a wolf in sheep's clothing. Or rather, a businessman in a sport coat in sunny, warm weather.
We needed to talk to Adrian immediately. If this was real, if Claudia and Lorenzo were heading this conspiracy up, we needed to tread very, very carefully.
“Well, as much as I’d love to join,” Lorenzo said, “Lady Juno and I have another engagement.”
Yeah, like trying to overthrow the gods?I thought to myself. Externally, however, I just smiled and said, “Understood. I hope to see you soon. Perhaps we can organize a dinner.”
“I’d love that.” Lorenzo's eyes lit with something devious. “Especially given the friendship you have with my daughter.”
My jaw clenched at the mention of Reyna. Her relationship with her father was complicated.
“It was lovely seeing you both,” Sabina said. I could see the questions burgeoning in her eyes. Lorenzo was normally civil with the gods, respecting our power, but this was leaning on the wrong side of passive aggressive.
With polite nods, Lorenzo and Claudia took off. We were all silent for a moment, watching them leave.
“Glad to see he can still be an ass,” Eleni said, garnering laughs from the entire group. She had a unique ability to diffuse tension in a few words.
“What was that about?” Sabina asked.
I wanted to tell her the truth. So badly. But my instincts still bowed to Adrian’s command not to share the threat of conspiracy with anyone outside the three main Houses.
“My money is on Renato,” Lukas said, his hand snaking from my back to my hip and squeezing once. “He got testy with Daphne at the Harvest Moon festival, and I was less than pleasant to him.”
Eleni laughed brightly. “Jealousy is one of the few things that breaks your control.”
Lukas chuckled, his hand tightening on my hip. “I was lucky he gave me an excuse to threaten him. I’d been considering it since the first time he looked at Daph.”
My breath stilled. It was no secret that Renato had been flirting with me for years.
That wasn’t what caught my attention. At the time, Lukas had defended his actions by saying that Renato had pressed when I’d told him no.
But that’s not what he was saying now. Maybe he was claiming jealousy to keep things light, but it didn’t sound like he was lying.
Had he been jealous? Even when things were so tense between us?
“Maybe he’ll stop once we’re married.” Lukas looked down at me when I said it, capturing my eyes in a hold more desperate than the one on my hip.
“One can only hope.” He spoke right to me, passing the words through the narrow space between our mouths.
“Damn, you guys have really perfected that look,” Sabina said, breaking us out of the hold. “Lorenzo definitely believed you.”
I chuckled lightly, even though my stomach erupted in butterflies. This was how I felt in those weeks leading up to The Incident, as I’d coined it. It was like my desire for Lukas was imprisoned in my body and the cage was growing weaker. Every passing moment, one step closer to the bars snapping and unleashing it.
I gulped, trying to shove it back down. An impossible feat, really, given Lukas had failed to remove his hands from my body even as we started walking toward the hall.
We all chatted casually, save for Lukas whispering, “We have to talk,” in my ear while Eleni and Sabina were distracted. I just reached up and squeezed the hand he had on my shoulder to let him know I agreed.
When we arrived at the ceremony hall, everyone was already seated in the rising lecture seats. My father, the university president I’d selected, and Sabina’s president from the University of Minerva were already waiting near the podium.
I made quick introductions, shaking hands with everyone and thanking them for coming. My father joined, greeting me with a “Hello, Daphne,” that was more appropriate for a colleague than a daughter.
