Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
I blinked. “You what?”
“I saw you that day we went to the marina,” he said, casual as ever. “You on his desk fingering yourself while he jerked off. Were you two trying to get caught? It was between classes and you didn’t even lock the door.”
“But— But why didn’t you say anything? Aren’t you upset? You freaked on us when you found out I kissed him.”
“That first split second when I saw you two, I felt it all. Rage, betrayal, rejection. But then I realized what I was looking at. Don wouldn’t risk his job or our relationship for anything. He’d jump off a cliff before he fucked me over. And becoming a literature professor? He worked damn hard to make that happen on his own.
“Yet, here he was risking both of those things on a reckless romp with you, and I finally understood. It was your fault.”
“Wait, what?”
He turned that smackable grin on me. “It’s completely on you, Sinclair. You got in his head and fucked with it until he didn’t know which way was up. It’s what you do,” he breezed. “It’s what you’ve done to me for months, and if anyone should get what Don is going through, it’s me. He’s got the Lunavirus. It strikes hard and fast, and is nearly always fatal.”
My jaw hung open. Did this jerk just call me a virus! “I swear you beg to get your ass kicked. I didn’t mess with anyone’s head. I like him. He likes me. I like you. You like me. Nothing but a simple boy-girl attraction and three adults exploring that connection.” I stroked his cheek. “And I’m glad we can do it out in the open. No more secrets.”
“Hmm. While we’re telling the truth, you can admit you more than like me. You’re love-drunk obsessed with me. You asked me to marry you. Which you’ll have to do again, by the way,” he added. “Next time, more romance, more nudity, and less piss on the carpet.”
I shoved him off the couch.
Howling, Victor snapped up and tugged me squealing down with him. I melted into his kiss.
“You’re really okay with me and Adonis?” I whispered.
“Yes, Luna,” he said, smiling into my eyes. “I want my brother to be happy, and the only way I know to be happy, is to be with you.”
I bit my trembling lip, stopping myself from doing something super embarrassing—like crying. “You can be such a jerk, then you say something like that.”
“My personality was warped pretty early on,” he teased. “I told you we belong together. I saw this darkness in you from the first day.”
“I just found out my sister was bullied into committing suicide. I’m all darkness right now. It’s yours that surprises me. All this time you’ve acted so disapproving of the Rogues.”
Victor looked away. “It’s not that I disapprove. It’s that I have to. There’s a lot you still don’t know, Luna.”
The change in his tone unsettled me. What was going on? What happened to our sweetening mood?
“There’s a reason they’re called the Rogues. They stand apart from everyone. Royals will always need them, but they’ll never marry them to their daughters, invite them to the annual charity ball, or make any deals out in the open. They are three factions in Regalia. I can marry you and nothing will change, but if I marry them too, I’m signaling to all of the Regalia that the Wilsons have gone Rogue. That, Luna, is what would change.”
Understanding dawned. “You mean that’s why you’ve held back on giving me your answer? Agreeing to be in an open marriage between you, me, and the Rogues will have consequences for your family?”
“I might as well strike my family from the Royal line myself. If it was just you and me, I wouldn’t care, but I’ve got pretty decent folks and a good brother when he isn’t hiding that he’s screwing my fiancé. I couldn’t bring them down with me.”
“But why would that bring them down? If I want to share my life with you and the Rogues, why is that anyone’s business?”
“Because everyone picks a side in this town, Luna. Us or them. That’s the way it’s always been. That’s how it’ll always be.”
I was quiet taking that in. As stupid as I thought it all was, I knew he wasn’t exaggerating. They clung so tightly to hierarchy and social status in Regalia. Katie had to tell people repeatedly and often that Dreg Dean was not her boyfriend, even though anyone with eyes could see she was crazy about him.
“Just say it to me then.” I pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Give me your answer.”
“Yes, Luna. I’d share you with the Rogues, with my brother, with the janitor, or that weird forty-year-old man who sneaks on campus and takes pictures of people’s feet.”