Page 29 of The Reluctant Heir

He raises an eyebrow. “You want me to compete with my younger brother to marry you?”

Kaine scoffs. “Madeline doesn’t need you.”

I turn to Kaine, furrowing my brows. “What’s your problem?”

He takes a step closer, putting himself between Damek and me. “Youare my problem. You claim you don’t know anything about Lucien’s disappearance, yet you just happen to be colluding with our clan’s rival heir. The same clan we have suspicions about.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “You’re ridiculous, Kaine. You already know that I didn’t kill my brother.”

“How can I trust that when you’re out here with our enemy? I don’t trust you.”

My cheeks warm and I clench my fist as I look at Kaine. He watches me with such suspicion. I thought he trusted me. I thought he agreed that I didn’t have anything to do with Lucien.

I grind my teeth together and my jaw aches from the move.

“I knew King Scott shouldn’t have brought you into his home. How can we trust a succubus?” Kaine sneers.

I see red as all other thoughts cease. I pull my fist back to punch him right in his stupid face. But as I do, Damek steps between us. It’s too late to stop the momentum as I land a punch on Damek’s jaw. Pain radiates in my fist and down my arm, but I ignore it as I watch Damek hiss in pain. He puts a hand to his jaw. I rush to his side.

“Oh, my gosh, Damek, I am so sorry.”

He keeps a hand to his jaw. “It’s okay,” he mumbles. “I should just… go.”

I start to protest, but Damek turns and walks as quickly as he can away from me and away from Kaine.

I turn toward Kaine, poking my finger into his chest. “That was supposed to be for you.”

But Kaine has relaxed his stance. In fact, he issmiling.

Wait, is helaughing?

I watch as his shoulders shake with laughter that he tries to hold back but can’t. My face flushes and once again I find myself wanting to punch him.

As if sensing my thoughts, Kaine gently grabs ahold of my wrist. I wonder what he’s doing when I see his gaze linger on my knuckle. It’s throbbing with pain and I’m surprised to see that it’s red and already bruising in some spots.

“Ouch.” Seeing my knuckle makes me aware of the pain.

“Come on,” Kaine says softly. “Let’s get you an icepack.”

A stubborn part of me wants to refuse, but I allow him to lead me back inside. The route he takes to the kitchen avoids the majority of our guests. He leads me to the island and pulls out a stool for me. I start to climb onto the stool when Kaine lifts me by my waist and sits me down. I start to protest, but he’s already moving away from me.

This guy…

Kaine opens the freezer, keeping his back to me.

What is he even thinking? Less than five minutes ago, he was accusing me ofmurder. Now, he’s acting like a hero in a romance novel, being sweet and taking care of me.

Meanwhile, Damek probably hates me. And I wouldn’t blame him. I punched the guy.

I groan, mad at myself.

Why did I let my temper get the best of me? I’ve never punched anybody before, why start now?

“Here.” Kaine rushes over, putting the ice pack against my fist.

I hiss at the pain and try to pull my hand away from Kaine but he holds onto my wrist, not letting go.

“It’ll get better soon. Just hold still,” he coos in a calming voice.

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