Chapter 10

My father shook his head. “That’s enough, young lady.” He said, swiping the letter away.

“You can’t make this decision for me,” I said, leaping up to try to take it back.

“We’re your parents—“ my father started.

“That doesn’t give you the right to bind me to a man who wants to kill you!” I cried, becoming desperate.

“Sweetheart, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you feeling alright?” My mother asked nervously, feeling my forehead for evidence of a fever.

“I’m fine,” I exclaimed, “but I won’t be if you force me to marry Lucas! Can’t you see what he’s doing? You already know he’s using me for my connections, can’t you understand why? He will only abuse power, he wants to hurt us all!”

My father groaned, looking at me with a mixture of concern and fear. “That’s enough. We’re not going to keep having this conversation. You’re clearly overwhelmed, maybe we should have let the engagement last a little longer so you wouldn’t panic.”

“You’re not listening!” I cried.

“You’re not seeing sense,” he responded, rubbing his temples. Without warning, he tossed the letter into the fire behind him. It curled up and blackened in the flames, the wax seal pooling beneath the embers.

“I don’t want to do this, but if you won’t listen to reason, I have no choice.”

Ten minutes later, I was sitting on the guest bed in an upstairs room, the door locked and my mother on the other side, whispering apologies to me. “We don’t want to keep you in here,” she said, tapping gently on the door, “but sweetheart, you have to understand. I don’t know what that playboy has said to you, but we can’t let you ruin your own life for him.”

With that, she left, leaving me sitting in silence. I fell back on the plush blankets.

As frustrating as it was to be locked away like a misbehaving child, I couldn’t be angry with them. They loved me, and had always been kind and gentle with me while I grew up in Prenia. I could remember games in the summer, and springtimes spent helping my mother in the garden.

But now I had to care for them, even if they didn’t understand. Caleb’s letter had asked to meet me, and even though he didn’t specify a time or place, I knew he would come. I just had to get out of this room.

I gathered up sheets and towels to braid into a rope, and tied it to the balcony outside the main window of the guest room. I hopped down the side of the wall, careful to avoid the window of the sitting room where the fireplace glow revealed my parents still nervously discussing what to do with me.

Sure enough, there he was, lounging in the driver’s seat. The top was down, and the summer breeze swept his hair in all different directions.

“I sent that invitation hours ago.”

I rolled my eyes, “I was delayed.”

”Clearly,” he responded, looking me up and down. “Get in, we have some work to do.”

I opened the car door and slid onto the cool, leather seats. The dashboard was covered in brightly twinkling lights and a series of high-tech screens. How much did this cost?

Before I could open my mouth to speak, Caleb started the engine with a loud roar, and we started racing down the pavement.

“Where are we going?” I asked as he pulled onto the highway, which was completely empty now that we were approaching two in the morning.

“To work,” he said simply, not looking at me while he drove.

“Alright.” I said, adjusting myself to face him. “We need to make a show of force against Lucas, and forcefully show the public that you’re a real contender against him.”

“You’re right,” he responded, “and I can’t think of a better public appearance than a wedding.”

I scrunched my brow. “Now? There’s too much going on, we can’t worry about a party while everyone still thinks we’re the villains.”

He pulled into our destination, and my jaw dropped. Gorgeous dresses with glittering diamonds sewn into their hems shone through the windows.

“Are you sure you don’t want to try any of those on?” He asked, smirking. “My future wife deserves the perfect wedding, and as your future husband, that’s exactly what I intend to give you.”

Caleb parked, and we walked up to the entrance. Caleb tapped the glass and waved, and a figure inside smiled jubilantly, opening the door and gesturing for us to come in.

“Caleb! So good to see you, how are you?”

“Good, good. You’ve watched the news, I’m sure, so you know this is Ruby. Ruby, this is Joseph, my beta. You’ll be getting to know him well, besides running this shop he and his wife Alison are also in charge of my intelligence work. You won’t find a more clever agent than this guy,” he said jovially, slapping Joseph on the back.

Caleb seemed comfortable, and casual. It was bizarre to see him like this, completely at odds with everything I knew about him.

The shorter man looked at me through a pair of deep, black spectacles. He was about Caleb’s age, but much less muscular, with a lithe and thin build. His hair was pitch black and fell just below his ears in thick tufts. He was handsome, but not quite masculine like Caleb.

“Very nice to meet you,” I said, extending a hand, which he shook warmly.

“And lovely to meet you,” he responded. “I have to say, I never really believed a man like Caleb could be tied down, but I’m so happy to see a woman manage to do it, even if she was his brother’s fiance first.” He laughed, in a warm, infectious way, that made me and Caleb both chuckle in response.

I could feel the kindness in this shop radiating like the heat from a fire, and Joseph’s smile put me completely at ease. My mother used to say there were distinct groups of good, and unkind people. Could Caleb really be a truly good man like his beta?

We spent the next hour perusing through the wedding dresses, with Joseph showing me the different types of lace and beading, and the different shapes of skirts and corsets.

My head was spinning, but I hadn’t had this much fun in years.

Even when my mother and I had picked out my wedding dress for my marriage to Lucas, he still had the final say. The one I had really wanted wasn’t “Luna enough” and Lucas forbid me from wearing it.

I thought about that dress, the sloping neckline which fell just below the curve of my breasts. The flaring skirt and the delicate gems nestled into the tulle at the waist. I felt like a princess, and I was determined to find something here that gave me that feeling.

I went through the next rack of dresses, and one suddenly caught my eye. The outline was familiar, with the same glimmering sparkle I had tried on those months ago with my mother. I ran the lace through my fingers, it was nearly identical.

I smiled, pulling it down and racing to the changing room. I had some difficulty tying the corset, but after a few minutes I managed to fit it on. The image of myself in the mirror was like staring at an entirely new woman, with a blushing glow in her cheeks.

It almost didn’t look like me. But I realized it just didn’t look like the timid, powerless woman who let Lucas rule her life.

When I moved the curtains back and emerged from the changing room, Caleb and Joseph watched me step out into the warm light of the shop.

I swallowed nervously, twirling slightly. “Is it okay?”

“Okay? You’re gorgeous!” Joseph exclaimed excitedly, “Let me get my camera, I’ll be right back!”

And with that we were left alone. Caleb’s lips were slightly parted, watching me as I took a few steps closer to him. I rested my hands against his stomach, looking up into his eyes.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

“Not bad, you look more grown up than I’ve ever seen you,” he said, shock and admiration both in his gaze.

I grinned, “I’m not the hopeless girl you thought I was.”

”No,” he agreed, “you’re a woman I never saw coming.”

My heart fluttered, and I was overcome with the desire to kiss him. His mouth was so close, I could just imagine the taste of his tongue in between my lips.

But this was my arch-nemesis, the man I had hated for as long as I had known him. What the hell was I feeling?

“You look like a queen, Ruby,” he murmured, brushing a loose lock of hair out of my face, “my queen.”

I opened my mouth, but closed it and turned away. Caleb cleared his throat, and his hands dropped back down to his sides.

Joseph returned abruptly, twisting around us like a hurricane. “Caleb! Put on a suit, man, we need to capture this. Alright, stand closer, you two, yes, just like that, hand here, hips there, tilt towards each other, raise your eyes, you’re in love, show us!”

Caleb looked into my eyes, decked out in his wedding suit, with a bow tie neatly resting at his neck. His hands were firmly planted at my waist, and his musky scent overpowered my senses.

“It’s not exactly traditional for the wife to ask first, and I’ll try not to hold it against you,” he whispered as the camera flashes surrounded us. He got down on one knee, looking up into me with a firm, sure expression. “But I think it’s my turn for a proposal. Ruby, will you marry me?”