Page 190 of Ruthless Legacy

“I’m playing a part, mother. With her family’s history, I thought it prudent to be charming and approachable so she’s easier to control. Ask anyone on campus and they’ll tell you that fighting her always leads to more issues.”

Her eyes brighten. “Oh, yes. I see. Those girls did make a mess of things, didn’t they? We certainly wouldn’t want another Laurent daughter making a fool out of a legacy family or league member. It would be even worse, considering your status as a Trium.”

“My thoughts, exactly. So you understand why it’s important for Thea to think I care about her and that I’m happy with this match. Even at the risk of seeming eager for it.”

I wait for the person walking by to step out of earshot before continuing. “Besides, I’ve done some digging. Laurent’s worth billons, so even if I can’t stand his granddaughter, someone in The League must think our match is beneficial for now. She’s been so busy avoiding all things legacy related, this was the one way to get her compliant. If she cares about someone here, then wouldn’t she be more eager to stay in town even if she does’t progress any further within The League?”

I give my mother a second to mull that over. “And with an heir in her stomach and her signature on a marriage contract, someone will end up with a one-fourth stake in Laurent’s company.”

“One fourth?”

“Considering what happened with his missing daughter. No one will take on Thea for less than that. Call it a hefty risk fee.”

“Oh. Was that… do you think that was your grandfather’s idea?”

I don’t know what he or anyone else was thinking. I’m just trying to keep my mother out of my business. As long as she’s focused on the money, she’s not thinking about whether or not I have feelings for Thea.

“Perhaps. But it’s in the league documents. An additional sanction for Joshua. He couldn’t tell them no, any more than I could tell them no when they assigned me to be her companion. Her next companion won’t say no either, and that person stands a better chance at marrying her. I’m just here to keep her in line until that happens.”

My mother’s tune changes. She puts on the smile that fools men and women. The one that makes them think she’s sweet and loving. “What am I thinking? Of course, the council knows better about these matches than I do. And you’re a good soldier. You always excel at any challenge given. Making her fall in love with you wouldn’t be any different. You’ve had so much training seducing women, I shouldn’t have worried.”

She brushes her hand across my shoulder, wiping away invisible dirt. “Forgive me, my son. You’re my baby boy. My only child. You’ll have to indulge my helicopter momming.”

She’s never helicopter mommed me a day in my life, and I see right through this half assed attempt. The only thing she’s worried about is how this looks to the other families.

Matching with someone so much lower than me embarrasses her. But Laurent’s bank account, and hearing how close I’m standing to it, suddenly makes things all better. I give it a week before she’s suggesting I invite Thea to the house.

Thea doesn’t have access to Laurent’s money, but that won’t stop my mother from trying to manipulate her so that when she does, it’s used the way my mother and the Women’s Guild wants.

She tinkles a laugh. “My guess is the next person she’s matched with will knock her up fast and send her on an extended vacation once the baby is born. If it’s a girl, they’ll do it again, and again, until they get a male heir.”

I make an unintelligible sound that she takes to mean I agree with her.

She looks down her nose at Eloise. “See, my dear. There’s nothing to worry about.” She pats my arm before the two of them drift off to annoy someone else.

Chapter75

Thea

Paxton,motherfucking, Cox. He fooled me. He really had me believing he’d changed. That I mattered to him.

I’d allowed myself to be blinded by his warmth. His touch. The illusion of who he pretended to be. I believed it, because fuck, Iwantedit to be real. I wanted him and Finn and Holden to have been these massive personalities that fell for me.

I was floundering after the big reveal of Moira and Scott being my parents. Nothing I knew about myself was real, so I needed something stable. In some weird way, I guess I’d found that stability in Pax.

He’d always been honest about his feelings toward me. His anger. His hate. It was easy to believe in the authenticity of his lust, because no matter how much he irritated me, I lusted after him. Slowly, that hate and passion turned into something softer. I thought he felt it, too. But it was all just to manipulate me.

What a fuckingliar.He was good at it, too. I didn’t see the cracks in his story.Telling me he wants forever. A future with me and a relationship where we’re all equals, instead of forcing me into the subservient role of legacy wife that The League subjects women to. He painted a life with him as my ticket to freedom, but being tied to him is the worst possible future I can imagine.

He could have gotten away with his scheme, if it weren’t for his ego. He and that bitch Eloise were having a good laugh with his mother. It’salwaysEloise. How the hell is she matched to Finn when she and Pax are so damn perfect for each other?

Is this another case of him and Eloise plotting alone, or are Finn and Holden in on this plan to get me married, conformed, and subdued? His mother said my next companion should knock me up right away. For access to money that I don’t even want?

I would suddenly develop a gambling habit and be bad at it, losing half in Vegas, and giving the other half to charity before I’d ever let someone use me and my womb to get their hands on it.

Pax says he’s been lying to me this entire time, in hopes of breaking me down, so I’ll be more amenable to my next match. Do they already know who my next companion will be?

And to think tonight I was planning to say yes to The Trium’s plan. It’s scary committing myself to one person, let alone three. I was willing to do it, if it meant Holden and Finn wouldn’t have to stay matched to the women The League picked for them. If it meant I was making a choice for myself. I was wiling to sign the contract if it meant I could keep them for myself.

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