Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Leaning back in his chair, Anthony smiled without much humor. “I’ve already made that promise—to myself. And I already broke it, again and again.”
Jules didn’t even know what to say to that. “You’re better than that.”
Anthony laughed, a harsh, jarring sound that sent a chill down Jules’s spine.
“I thought I was,” the alpha said, his gaze on the fire.
Jules looked at him for a moment. “Liam deserves better,” he said softly. “You can’t offer him anything but shame and scandal. If you care for him at all, stop.”
Anthony’s throat bobbed up and down.
He said nothing.
Jules turned and left, feeling more unsettled than he had been before the conversation.
Fuck. This situation was beyond hopeless. Even in the best-case scenario, Liam would marry someone like Terlaine, someone he didn’t love, and he would likely be miserable for the rest of his life. In the worst-case scenario… Liam would marry Terlaine but he and Anthony would still be unable to resist the sickening, twisted attraction between them and would carry on fucking behind Terlaine’s back until they inevitably got caught. Holy shit, the scandal would be unimaginable. It would make the scandal of Devlin choosing Jules over Liam look like nothing in comparison.
Come to think of it, maybe it would be better if Liam didn’t marry at all—it would be less risky.
And then what? a snide voice said at the back of his mind. They’ll keep living together in the Blake mansion and carry on with their illicit affair until Liam inevitably gets with child?
Jules made a face, his stomach churning. Fuck, what a mess. He had no idea how to fix this situation—if there was even a magical fix. He suddenly longed to tell Devlin about it and ask for his advice, but it seemed like such a massive breach of privacy—it would absolutely humiliate Liam. No, he couldn’t do it.
But what could he do, then?
Jules racked his mind, gradually getting desperate. Maybe he was looking at it wrong. Maybe it wasn’t Liam who needed to marry someone else. It was Anthony who needed to get his attention transferred elsewhere—to another omega—so he could forget about his twisted obsession with his own younger brother. If Anthony started liking another omega, he would hopefully forget about Liam and stop pursuing him, which should solve the problem.
After all, it wasn’t like Liam would throw himself at Anthony. Liam was too timid and proper for that.
Chapter 15
Liam wanted to plant his fist in Jules’s face when Jules suggested his brilliant plan to find Anthony a mate.
He didn’t, of course. He knew Jules had his best interests at heart. He knew Jules was just trying to find a solution.
So Liam forced himself to cooperate. It was bad enough that Jules was already watching like a hawk for any signs of jealousy. Liam was determined to look like a better—saner—person. Like a normal omega going through a list of prospective mates for his eldest brother. Like he didn’t want to take that stupid list off Jules’s hands and throw it into the fireplace.
Brother, his rational side said.
Mine, his instincts screamed viciously. Mine, mine, mine.
“How about Payton Denvers?” Jules said. “He’s beautiful. He’s the only son of that tycoon, so he’ll be inheriting a fortune, since his family’s wealth isn’t entailed and can be inherited by an omega—”
“Our family hardly needs money,” Liam said in a perfectly even voice. “And no Viscount Blake has ever married someone without a drop of noble blood in them.”
Jules raised his brows. “I don’t think Anthony cares about such things,” he said, his voice full of skepticism.
“He should,” Liam said. “The title of Viscount Blake may not be the most high-ranking, but our family is very old—we’re descendants of the former royal family.”
Jules rolled his eyes. “Oh come on! Not you too. Mother never let us forget that. It happened almost two thousand years ago, Li.”
“Precisely.”
“Fine,” Jules said with a sigh, looking down at his list. “What about Patrick Coldahen? A son of a duke—you’d struggle to find bluer blood.”
“He’s not good-looking enough. He’d be miserable, because he’d disappear into the background next to Anthony.”
Jules gave him a pinched look. “I’m hardly miserable with Devlin, even though he’s the most handsome alpha on the planet and I’m… me.”
Liam suppressed an exasperated sigh. “You’re very lovely,” he said, for what felt like the hundredth time, but he knew it was useless. Jules never seemed to believe him when he told him how lovely he was. Jules had the sort of looks that grew on you: the better you knew him, the lovelier he appeared. “More importantly, your fiancé thinks you’re very lovely. Have you seen how he looks at you?”
Jules smiled dreamily.
It was nauseatingly adorable, really.
“I know Devlin loves me, but you’re just proving my point: Anthony doesn’t need his mate to possess flawless beauty in order to fall in love with them.”