“Her name is Aveen.”
“Aveen.” Hearing her name on his lips made me want to rip out his throat. “You know, I’ve always loved that name. Right, so. Let’s pay Aveen a visit, shall we?”
“I need to speak with her first. I’ll let you know when we need you.”
“You want me to kiss a woman I’ve never met?” Tadhg clicked his tongue. “What sort of man do you think I am?”
* * *
In the end, I couldn’t dissuade Tadhg from accompanying me. The best I could do was to negotiate for ten minutes alone to speak with Aveen before he stepped into the picture.
I spent the afternoon going over my speech. Too many details at this stage could do more harm than good. She needed short, sweet, and to the point. When I couldn’t see her in the parlor and didn’t find her in her bedroom, I ventured into the hallway.
The soft kiss of slippers swept up the stairs, growing louder and louder. I ducked into one of the bay windows, peering out to find my “fiancée” stalking down the hall toward her room.
Having already wasted most of my allotted time searching for her, when I grabbed Aveen and dragged her into the alcove with me, I skipped the formalities.
The woman squealed, but when her gaze met mine, she fell silent.
“Listen carefully, there isn’t much time.” I dragged the ring that I’d picked out just for her from my pocket. Stupid, really, considering all of this was a sham. But if it hadn’t been a sham, would she like the ring or hate it? I should’ve gone with a diamond, but the sapphire spoke to me. Not that it mattered either way. It wasn’t like she would be wearing the thing for any length of time.
“Put this on,” I instructed, feeling strange when she accepted the ring without balking. Until she put it on the wrong feckin’ hand.
“Not that finger.” I flicked my wrist, shifting the ring to the proper finger, the one that meant she belonged to me. “Now pretend to be madly in love with me.”
Her eyes flew back to mine. “W-what?”
Did she have to sound so feckin’ confused? Was it that far-fetched for her to imagine herself caring about me beyond wanting to use me? “Pretend you love me,” I repeated. “Oh, and we’re engaged,” I added, although the ring on her left hand should’ve been a dead giveaway. But she was a human, and they were known to be slow.
“You cannot be serious.”
“Deathly serious,” I said on a laugh, the darkest parts of me buzzing with anticipation over how she’d react when I told her my brilliant plan. The hallway was clear, so I tugged her toward the bedroom, where my brother would arrive any moment. The door had barely closed before I had her pinned against the closet, the softness of her body feeling like heaven against me.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” I said, a thrill tingling down my spine. “Try your best to play along.” Our mouths met, and though I’d only planned for it to be a short kiss, the taste of her consumed me until it became all I craved. Aveen clung to me as if she felt it too, as if she couldn’t get enough.
My brother’s voice doused my desire. “I do hope I’m not interrupting.”
Aveen stiffened, her mouth falling open as she peered over my shoulder at Tadhg as if he were the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Not for the first time, I cursed his feckin’ “curse.”
“You must be Aveen,” Tadhg said before evanescing closer, his smile widening to a grin. She wouldn’t be staring at him if I knocked his teeth out, now, would she?
My brother reached for her hand, kissing her knuckles and lingering like a leech. “It is truly an honor to meet the woman who has bewitched my brother. Although, Rían has been quite stingy with details. Tell me, how did the two of you meet?”
He’d pawed her enough. And the whole finger down the palm trick? He’d stolen that from me.I pulled Aveen from his claws, giving him a glower that promised pain if he tried to touch her again. “We’re not here to discuss that.”
The fecker didn’t so much as blink. “No matter. I’m sure the truth will come out eventually. It always does.”
If he learned the truth—that Aveen cared for me about as much as she cared for Robert Trench—there was no doubt in my mind that he would set his sights on her to spite me. To be honest, it was no less than I deserved since I’d done it to him countless times before. Still, if he tried it with this one, I’d leave him in the dungeon chained in iron for a decade.
“What’s your name?” Aveen whispered, her tongue darting out, leaving her lips glistening. Lips still swollen from mine.
“You can call me Tadhg.”
She was staring at him. Of course she was. And there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it. Her gaze trailed down his body. I expected her to swoon. Instead, she asked why his clothes were in such an awful state.
Some of the tension left my shoulders. Could she truly be immune to his . . . charms?
Tadhg sank onto Aveen’s chair, undoing the buttons on his waistcoat—a gift Eava had insisted I give him for his birthday a few years back. He’d ripped the top button off that very night, adding it to the pot just to give me a twitch. He’d known it cost a fortune and hadn’t given a shite.