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Declan and I shared a look as if to say he was stating the obvious.
Dad’s eyes held mine. “Yesterday marked your official introduction into the society, Ava, as you asked. We made it happen, and now we have to deal with the results of our actions.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” I wondered why he said it so calmly, like we had it under control. “When you say the results of our actions, what exactly does that mean?”
“It means,” he sat forward on the black sofa, legs crossed, and fingers laced together over his knee. “you’ve been recognized as a woman. A ripe woman.”
“A ripe woman?” I repeated slowly. What did that even mean? I looked to Declan for help, but he kept his eye trained on my father.
“Marriage proposals, Mo leanbh. You know you are beautiful, my darling. Your appearance at the party caught many eyes and hearts. I left with eight proposals from very respectable men in our society.”
When my father said “respectable men in our society,” I wasn’t sure which men he referred to. Men like Mr. President of the United States of America or men like Viktor Voronin-Varkov. Instantly, I kicked thoughts of him out of my mind and focused on what my father was saying.
“...and I’m considering them.”
Now, that got my heart to halt. What?
When I said I wanted to be a part of my father’s empire, marriage was the last thing on my mind. The very last thing.
I shook my head. “No.”
Dad’s eyes hardened. “Ava...”
“No, Da. I don’t want to get married.”
“Have you already forgotten?” His tone rose. “I warned you, didn’t I? In this world, there is almost no place for a woman. If you want to thrive, you have to get married. You claim you want to help the brotherhood, and to do that you need a man by your side, Mo leanbh. A woman cannot lead. It has never been heard of before. But with marriage, you will maintain respect and power.”
Anger and blinding rage threatened to drag me under, but I thought twice about displaying it. Dad did not condone insolence. Grating my teeth, I forced my eyes up to his. “Your mind is already made up then. I’m assuming you already know who you’d be selling—sorry, wedding me off to.”
To my surprise, he declined with a nod. “I’m rejecting them all.”
“You are?” It felt like a weight from my chest. Maybe he’d sized them all up and found neither suitable.
“Yes, and that’s because I have a much better plan.” His eyes shifted from mine to Declan’s. “I want you to marry Declan.”
“Cad?”
“What?”
We voiced in unison, and I felt my body lift from the sofa on its own accord. I motioned between the younger man and me, who looked even more shocked by the news than I did. “We... We can’t get married,” I blurted. “We... Declan and I are not compatible.”
Dad laughed, tilting back on the sofa. “You can marry him, sweetheart. You can and you will. No one cares about compatibility. I trust you two anyway, and I sense that there might be some chemistry. After marriage, you both can work it out.”
“Father...” I tried to argue, but he raised a hand, silencing me.
“He liked your dress.” As if that settled anything. There were a million and one reasons why we could not get married but two were most prominent. One: He was hot. Like supermodel hot. But I didn’t want to be with a man because I found him attractive. To me, that was shallow; and that led me to point number two.
Sure, a few times my heart skipped when he was in the room. But that didn’t mean I liked, liked him. Right?
“Listen, kids. I worked all my life,” Dad was saying. “All my life building things from scratch, ever since I was a fucking teenager. The empire was built on my sweat and fucking blood, and I don’t want to give it to some idiot just because he wants to fuck my daughter. If someone must take over, it had to be my blood.”
He pointed to Declan. “Declan here has been more like a son to me than any of my men. I met the lad when he was fifteen. Fourteen years later, and son’s a grown-ass man now. Trusted, loyal, and reliable. If you marry him, sweetheart, he will become family. Your children will continue our legacy. That is why he is the chosen one. I trust no one else.”
Silence settled in the room for a whole minute and Dad looked between the two of us.
“Does anyone question my decision?”
Declan shook his head with rapid speed, and I mirrored it. We couldn’t even dare.
