Page 66 of Savage Promises

“Photos of Neve,” I say sharply. “You don’t want tosee them.”

Richard freezes, his hand trembling around Neve’s shoulders. “Someone tell me what is happening?”

I fold my arms. “Care to tell your father, Neve?”

“I... I’m seeing someone else,” Neve says, looking terrified.

I want to feel sympathy for her. She’s eighteen and forced into a marriage with a man she doesn’t know and clearly doesn’t want. But she was adult enough to sleep with her coach.

“Seeing?” Richard snaps. “What do you mean byseeing?”

I wave the photos. “She’s fucking her volleyball coach. This engagement is off.”

I stalk off in the other direction, but Richard grabs me and yanks me around. “Now you wait a minute, Shane.”

A faint click of Connor’s gun stops everything. “Remove your hand from my brother if you want to see tomorrow.”

Richard’s face twists in panic and lets me go. Speaking calmer, he says, “We can fix this. I’ll talk to her.We had a deal!”

I let the silence stretch before speaking, making him squirm. He thinks if I don’t marry Neve, we’ll kill Garrett. The old man is so blind he doesn’t even see I havea choice.

“Oh, our families are still uniting,” I say evenly, my gaze flicking to Lennox, who’s standing on the edge of the balcony watching the scene unfold with her jaw dropped. “But I’m not marrying Neve.”

Richard barks, “What?”

“I’m marrying Lennox.”

The room falls silent. Lennox’s eyes widen, her face paling.

I grab the nearest glass of champagne and raise it high, a small smile tugging the corner of my lips. “To family, loyalty, and new beginnings.” I turn to Lennox. “So, love, will you marry me?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Lennox

The room spins as I look out at this proposal celebration I put together. But the champagne bubbles in the glasses have all fizzled out. My throat feels tight, and I can’t form a single word.

Did Shane just proposeto me?

My gaze darts to my father and Neve in the corner. Her shoulders are hunched as my father scolds her, his finger pointed like a dagger. Her cheeks are wet, her eyes are red, and her lips tremble like I’ve never seen before. I can’t make out what he’s saying, but I’ve been the focus of his anger and can guess the salty language he’s using.

Nevewassleeping with her coach? Did I catch that part correctly? And what were those photos in Shane’s hands he waved around and wouldn’t show my father? Oh, God. Shane caught them and had dirty pictures as proof.

I can’t say I’m shocked. So much makes sense now. I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t imagining things. Iwasn’tparanoid.

Only, this truth didn’t set anyone free.

It lockedmein a cage!

Shane is calm, too calm. That hardened professional mask is back on his face. He leans in, his lips grazing the shell of my ear as he whispers, “You’re up, baby.”

He pulls out a black velvet box from his suit jacket pocket and opens it, revealing a ring. Only, it’s not the one I picked out for Neve. It’s something else entirely. It’s a massive oval cut stone that is so clear it doesn’t look real. A row of equally stunning blue diamonds goes from the band to the top of the stone with the same design to the bottom, creating an open feel. It’s breathtakingly beautiful.

“Lennox,” Shane says, his voice softer than I would expect from a man who must be furious. “I returned the rings for Neve and bought you this one. It costs three times as much, but you’re worth ten times what she is. Twenty. No, a hundred times.”

“I get it,” I stop him from speaking. My heart pounds, my head spinning. “Shane, what’s going on?” I whisper, desperate for answers.

He chuckles softly, low and intimate, as if we’re the only two people in the room. “I’m asking you to marry me. I agreed to marry a Donnelly to keep the empire’s Irish bloodline pure. I’m asking the woman Iwantto marry me.”

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