“In the ashes,” she quickly responds, blinking rapidly. “Where I was rising like a phoenix.” And she’s not even lying.
A corner of my father’s lips slowly goes up. “I see.” His eyes slowly move up and down, and by the end of his assessment, his face is filled with an evil smile. “I see,” he repeats with glee.
Maeve’s father’s words about no one taking me seriously because of my wife’s looks resurface to life. The momentary doubts I feel are embarrassing, but they are there. What if he’s right? What if my father’s right? They’ve been in this world longer than I have.
But then my gaze drops to the pink head of my new wife, and another feeling floods my chest. It’s time to bring new rules to this world—it could use some abnormality. Maeve might be just the person this society needs.
“I thought I was blinded for a second when my new sister entered the room.” Noah’s smooth voice comes from behind my back. “You look gorgeous, my dear,” he says when he appears to our right.
“Thank you, Noah.” Maeve pulls away to give Noah a quick hug. I wait for a ping of jealousy in my chest, and it’s there, just as I expected. But not as strong. I’ve seen how my brother talks to women. And that’s not it. With her, it’sdifferent. It’s… with love as one would talk to a family member.
A stab to my chest would have hurt less. Everyone is so charmed by her, including me. She’s fooling everyone.
“Hey, Boss. Missus,” Martin’s cheerful voice lands to our left. The whole army is here. “Damn, woman. You look fabulous.” Martin runs his hand over Maeve’s lacy sleeve, and I want to growl at him. A quick reminder that it’s just Martin, and I shouldn’t behave like a Neanderthal is enough to keep my mouth shut.
“I don’t remember that dress,” he says, stepping backward and running his eyes over her clothing.
Maeve giggles. “I’ve changed it a little bit.”
“Oh, I see.” Martin’s eyes light up. “Isee.”
I have no damn idea what that tone implied, but Maeve clearly did, because she does a quick twirl, showing Martin her dress. He puts his hands together in front of his chest while looking at her like she’s his child he’s incredibly proud of. I do not know what’s happening, neither does Noah who’s looking between them with clear confusion.
She charmed the pants off my assistant as well. The person who’s always been on my side, and I’ve never doubted his judgment.Et tu, Brute?
The next two hours are a nonstop line of people wanting to come and be introduced to the new Mrs. King. And even though all of them are polite, not all of them take her seriously.
I could ask her to take that ring out of her brow. Or dye her hair a different color. But I haven’t seen any other person whom those details would have suited better. They are just a part of her. They’ve been her since the first moment I met her with a scowl and that brow quirked high into the sky with a silent challenge.
The more I look at her, the more I admire her. She’sholding herself well against the sharpest people of this financial world. All of them ruthless. Their wives and husbands are even worse—they have an inner circle within the society, and it’s obvious they won’t accept Maeve as part of it.
Tough luck, I’ll help her create one of her own. Even though she’s lying to me, I always keep my promise. And I gave it to her. We don’t have to be lovers or even friends. We can coexist.
But if she’s allowed to have someone on the side, I can do the same.
No matter how much the idea of sleeping with someone other than her hurts.
49
Maeve
We’re four hours in, and I’m very ready to leave this stuffy place. This is a visual reminder of exactly why I decided to change my way of life. No number of expensive and comfortable things can be worth smiling in the faces of all the snakes who hate you.
Every single woman has regarded me with a sneer. Every man has run their beady, slippery eyes over my body.
My backbone is about to be shredded from the sheer willpower of holding myself high and responding to people with politeness.
Having Martin and Noah by my side definitely helps. While Noah keeps his stoic face and helps with just his presence, Martin is not so subtle. Every time a woman regards me with disgust, he sends one of his own in return. I’ve never had anyone stand up for me, so having thesepowerful and imposing people on my side makes me feel constant butterflies in my chest.
If feeling their support fills me with tiny, fluttering insects, having Ezra around feels like having a coiled tiger by my side. He’s always here, always around. Even when he’s not touching me, I feel his presence. Every time someone particularly nasty comes closer, so does Ezra. He just stands behind my back like a stone-cold bodyguard ready to take on anyone.
But he’s distant. I feel it too. He’s supportive. His body language proves it. So do his sharp eyes on anyone who comes with a nasty aura around them. His mind is here, hard and calculating.
But his heart is not here.I don’t feel it. It sounds stupid when I think it, but it’s true. He has a wall around it. Just like the man I landed on the island with. The New York man from before. Before we’d come to know each other, and I’d come to care about him.
I thought the past month had changed our perspective of this arranged marriage and our situation. I thought we’d learned to live together and even be happy. Looks like between yesterday and today, Ezra changed his mind and forgot to tell me. I want to discuss it and figure out where we both stand. I won’t be able to survive with this constant change from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde—it’s giving me whiplash.
I’ll initiate the talk later; for now, I just need to live through this evening.
