Page 183 of Ruthless Legacy

“Exactly. With Thea, we can do it. We can be happy and keep our oath to not let anything break our Trium. I want us to do an oath, right now. We each being completely honest that we each want to marry her. We’re all in.”

I note the hesitation on his face. “I thought things were better between you and Thea.”

“They are.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“You can’t just make a decision like this. We need to talk about it.”

“We-“ I point to Holden and myself. “Have talked about it. You didn’t even like Thea, but now you do, so we’re looping you in.”

“What Finn means is we’ve talked about if this would be a viable option, if our feelings were to remain consistent about her. We weren’t excluding you from the discussion, she’s been just as uninterested in you as you’ve been with her. There was no reason to bring it up if she wasn’t willing to give us another chance. We’re not even sure we can do it.”

“We can.” I insist. “My dad says it’s possible.”

Pax leans forward. “You’ve told your dad? Without us deciding?”

“No, I asked my dad what it would take to get out of my match with Eloise and asked what happens if we agreed on one person. He said it’s basically a four way contract with equal rights and protections for everyone.”

He asks, “Why are we talking about this now? What’s the urgency?”

I stand, pacing the floor. “The semester will be ending soon. The League might reshuffle the matches. If we don’t discuss this now we might lose our chance.” I stop in front of Pax. “I’m not saying we go out and elope, I just want us all on the same page so we can talk to Thea about it. And you’re her companion, so you’d have to be the one to initiate it, otherwise it’ll look like Holden and I are challenging you.”

He studies my face. “Are you sure this isn’t an overreaction to whatever went down at the party?”

“Are you suggesting I’m fixating because I’m stressed about going to jail for cutting up some assholes who tried to blackmail my girl?”

“Yes, I guess I am.”

I think about his question for all of five seconds. “I’m not worried about that. I’m fixated on Thea because I’m in love with her and I don’t want anyone else to have her. I want to know if you feel the same way.”

I look over at Holden and ask, “And I wanna know if you’ve changed your mind, because you’re not backing me up here. Has Paisley suddenly turned into the woman of your dreams or something?”

I’ll have to eliminate her if she has. I could probably get Thea to help. On second thought, I’d do it alone. My Pet has enough blood on her hands right now.

“Stop.” Holden says, rolling his eyes.

“Stop what?”

“I know what you’re doing.”

“Problem solving?”

“Plotting Paisley’s disappearance in your head.”

I plop back down on the couch. “Like I said, problem solving.”

I fall silent, taking deep breaths to calm myself. I know this is the right move but I won’t force them into it. If they say no, then I’ll just have to convince my dad to break my contract with Eloise on my own.

* * *

Pax

My palms are sweating, my heart’s thudding as I listen to Finn talk about sharing a girl. A wife. Thea.

My father’s ingrained in me that the only person I can trust, or rely on is myself. He’s always told me that power is currency and that nothing matters but being the best. He’s also drilled into my head that women are always playing an angle, and can’t be trusted. It’s why my name wasn’t submitted for a companion sooner. My match was supposed to be someone who’s family we could use to our advantage.

“I know this is a big ask for you, Pax, but I think it can work. We’ll do the paperwork the way we need to, but in private, you don’t have to have a relationship with her.”

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