Page 7 of The Devil's Pawn

“Yeah, Xan. We’re relying on you and Nicholas to take the heat off us.”

Xan?For some reason, I’m surprised by the nickname. It’s too… casual. Then again, these are his siblings. As an only child, I have no direct frame of reference, but a few of my friends at college had nicknames for their siblings. Emma calls her older brother Einstein on account of how clever he is and how easily he aced college, whereas she had to work her backside off to get the grades she needed to land a good job in journalism.

“I figure a forty percent hit rate should satisfy Dadand his obsession with duty and tradition for a good few years,” Saskia continues, reaching for another olive.

“It won’t.” Alexander gets to his feet and crosses to a drinks cabinet in the corner of the room. He refills his glass and returns to his seat, but as he does, his gaze falls on the doorway where I’m hiding. I whip out of sight, my breath clogging my throat, goosebumps flaring along the back of my neck.

He didn’t see me. He didn’t. He can’t h?—

“Imogen.” He sounds as indifferent as ever, but he’s busted me, and there’s no point in pretending he didn’t catch me listening in on their private conversation.

I peer around the door. Greeted by five pairs of eyes, I give a half grimace, half grin. “Hi. Having a party?”

“Yes,” Alexander says before any of his siblings can get a word in. “A private one.”

“Oh, Xan, don’t be such an arsehole.” Saskia beckons to me, then pats the space on the couch next to her. “Come and join us, Imogen. It’ll be nice to have another girl to dilute some of the testosterone. It’s important we get to know our future sister-in-law.”

Alexander’s cold stare is meant to force me to decline. Too bad. In fact, doing the opposite of what he wants is a good way to piss him off and nudge him in the direction I want him to go. Namely to the divorce courts. Thrusting up my chin, I square my shoulders, tug down the sleeves of my sweater, and stride into the room as if I belong here.

“Thank you, Saskia.” I sit beside her. “I’m sorry to crash the party. I couldn’t sleep, and then I heard voices.”

“Your suite is nowhere near here.” Alexander’s eyes narrow as he returns to his chair.

“I’m aware,” I hit back, narrowing my eyes, too.

The brother sitting opposite—the one smoking the cigar—lets out a low chuckle. “Boy, oh boy, Xan.” He raises his glass to me. “This will be fun to watch.”

“Fuck off, Nicholas.”

Saskia tuts. “For goodness' sake, it isn’t a sport. It’s a wedding. A cause for celebration.” She twists her body, giving Alexander her back. “Ignore my brothers. They’re little more than Neanderthals.”

“Hey!” Tobias pipes up. “Not all of us. Just those three.”

Saskia ignores him as though he hasn’t spoken. “Must be something in the genes of men that makes them behave like children even when they’re old enough to know better.” Wafting her hand in the air, she adds, “Will one of you kindly get Imogen a drink? What will you have?”

“Oh, no, I’m okay. It’s late, and I’m not a big drinker, anyway.”

“You downed that gin and tonic fast enough yesterday,” Alexander mutters.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to blast a heated comeback, but Saskia gets there first.

“Shut the fuck up, Xan. What the hell is wrong with you? Whatever your problem is, shake it off. Your issues are nothing to do with Imogen.”

A scowl etches across his face, and he rises to his feet. “I’m going to bed.”

An urge to apologize for ruining their evening is on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow it down.I’mnot the one who ruined it. Alexander is. It’s clear to me he doesn’t want this marriage any more than I do. We’re both trapped. Him, I guess, by duty. Me by a contract my father signed long ago. In other circumstances that kind of common ground would act as a building block toward the future,but I have no intentions of spending my future with this man.

“I should go, too,” I say after Alexander has stomped off. “I shouldn’t have gatecrashed.”

“Nonsense,” Saskia says. “I invited you to join us.”

Tobias leans forward and pats my knee. “Exactly. Don’t let his bad mood get to you.”

“If it helps,” Christian says, “I hear you more than held your own. Not just now, but yesterday, too. Not many people can say that about an altercation with Xan.”

I shrug one shoulder. “It’s okay. They make us tough in California.”

The chatter swirls around me, filled with in-jokes or business talk I don’t understand, but despite that, it’s sort of comforting, so I stay. I’ll take any kind of social interaction I can get. One by one, the De Vil siblings drift off until there’s only Saskia and me left. I get the feeling she planned it this way, although I didn’t see her give her brothers any kind of sign. But as soon as they’re gone, she shifts her position, raising one knee up onto the couch, her attention fully on me.

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