Page 101 of Vengeful Princess

Landon climbed the steep, narrow staircase. Up it wound, on and on, lit by small sconces set into the stone walls. When we finally reached the top, another small door opened into a large attic, comfortably furnished with sofas and a bed.

“Is this your room?” I asked in surprise.

“I have an official room, but growing up, Isla and I spent more time up here. Away from my father.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister?” Not that I’d done a lot of research on Landon. All I knew was his family were mega rich and owned a billion acres of forestry land, as well as a much-lauded whiskey distillery.

“Yeah. She’s married now.” From the way his jaw tightened, he didn’t seem too happy about it.

“Do you miss her?” I wondered why her being married bothered him.

“It’s more that her husband is a raging cunt. He’s Catholic and refuses to use birth control, so she’s basically a baby-making machine.”

A horrible sense of foreboding slithered down my spine. If my father had his way, that would be my future. A rich man’s toy, nothing more than a walking womb.

“Landon, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.” Before I could overthink it, I reached out and squeezed his arm.

He shook his head and threw me a bright smile. “It’s OK. I think she’s happy in her own way. She loves kids.”

I didn’t believe him, but it wasn’t my place to comment on someone I hadn’t met and probably never would.

“Anyway, the reason I brought you up here was to see the amazing views.” He took my hand and tugged me over to a window. I rested my hands on the leaded glass panes and peered out over the valley.

The loch twinkled in the sunlight far below, the water inky black. Snow-covered mountains gleamed so brightly they hurt my eyes, and high above, a few small clouds scurried across a cerulean sky.

“It’s lovely. I almost wish I was artistic,” I commented. Sadly, stick figures were the sum total of my creative talent.

“Isla loves to paint. She used to spend hours up here painting the landscape.”

“Does she still paint?” Landon stood so close I could feel the heat of him burning into my back.

“No, she doesn’t have time these days. Not with four children under the age of five.”

“Maybe when the kids are older, she’ll get back to it.”

“Maybe. But I don’t want to talk about my sister.” He pressed into me, pushing me against the cold glass so I had nowhere to go.

“Landon…what are you doing?” Having him so close made it hard to think. He stole the oxygen from my lungs.

“Do you have any idea how jealous I am, Thea?”

“Jealous? Of who?”

“Kyril,” he ground out. “It should have been me.”

“You?” I repeated, not sure what point he was trying to make.

“I wanted to be your first.”

“Oh.”

“He may have stolen that first from me, but I promise you this, Thea, I will be your last.”

“What about…” Milo popped into my mind, then my brain caught up, and I slammed my jaw shut.

“Milo?” Landon smirked as he looked down at me. “I know all about Milo,” he said, demonstrating remarkable mind-reading skills. He pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “Milo gets a free pass. He’s one of us. Cassian, too.”

“Cassian?” I scoffed. “He doesn’t know I exist.”

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