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My brother cracks his neck and flexes his arms before he forcibly asks, “May I come in?”
Rowan grins. “I don’t know. Ask my wife.”
14
ROWAN
Lou turns to me with a shocked expression. Though I’m not sure why. This house is hers, and if she doesn’t want her asshole of a brother to be in it, he won’t.
“Go in,” she tells him.
Giving me a smirk, he says to her, “You better hope he always has your back.”
“I wishyoudid, Art. Or did you forget that’s what a big brother is supposed to do?”
“My job is to keep you in line.”
She rolls her eyes. “Just go inside, or I’ll change my mind.”
He glares at her for a moment before entering, followed closely by Axle, who scurries around him to show him the way.
Declan stops in front of me, his heavy brows knitted. “Who would have ever imagined all of the Durans in this house. Your uncles must be rolling in their graves.”
“We’re about to accomplish something they never could.” Even though I reply tohim, I’m watching Lou over his bald head. She’s paying close attention to every word said.
“You’re not going to control their territory,” Declan notes. “A contract with them doesn’t mean more power.”
“That’s exactly what it will mean,” I say, my eyes still on Lou. “We each have something the other wants.”
Declan turns to her and the corner of his mouth quirks. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“For the first time in my life, I do.”
He blows out a breath and smooths down the front of his black coat. “Then let’s do this.”
When he’s inside and out of earshot, Lou steps closer. There’s something in her gaze I can’t read. That wasn’t always the case. In the past, I could discern every emotion that flitted across her face. Now, that damned wall she’s put up hides more than it reveals. It’s disconcerting at times.
I believe she’s hurt by her father’s obvious anger. But putting all of this on her was necessary. He’d have killed me on sight, while she gets nothing more than a scathing glance.
It was Diana’s idea anyway. I really like her.
But there’s more going on in Lou’s head than Fernando’s behavior. Fortunately, she doesn’t leave me guessing long.
She lets out a little laugh, but it’s laced with venom. “Power. That’s all you men want.”
“What?”
“You defend me to my brother, but it’s just for show. I’m nothing more than a pawn in a power play. So why not set up whatever the hell it is you want and let me go home with them?” She points through the door to her family.
Grabbing her arm and hauling her close, I lower my tone and stare straight into her eyes, making sure she’s paying attention. “There is no power play, Lou. Our marriage offers this opportunity, like it will many other things. Children. Trips. A home. But even without those things, and even if I’m fucking powerless to do anything else, this marriage stays in every sense of the word. It will never dissolve. I won’t allow it.”
She’s breathing hard, her jaw clenched. Then she moves to turn from me, but before she does, I see the redness that colors her eyes. “Like Declan said, let’s do this.”
Loathe as I am to, I release my hold on her. There’s no point in getting her all worked up before an important meeting like the one we’re about to have. And it seems I have a knack for working her up quickly.
I follow her into the house and to the study, pausing only briefly when I see Fernando sitting in my chair behind my desk, his wife and three sons standing behind him.
He narrows his gaze expectantly, as if he’s daring me to say something.
