Page 26 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

I could still remember walking to Carmilla’s office every morning and handing over my drafts. We’d discuss them over tea and make slight adjustments to make sure we weren’t giving House Laurent, Marvina in particular, something that could be used against us later.

Demetri had almost certainly done the same. I snorted at that thought because he probably never wrote them to begin with. That was likely either done by Marvina herself or one of her underlings. Never once in our three years of marriage had I ever seen Demetri do any work other than visiting the Houses to “strengthen relations with House Laurent.”

I supposed sleeping with various courtiers was one way to strengthen relations.

“Our marriage wasn’t something built on love, but I did think it would be one built on respect and loyalty. And monogamy.” Understanding dawned on Kieran’s face then. “I know,” I groaned and slapped my hands across my face. “I was an idiot.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” He winced. “You found out that monogamy wasn’t part of the deal, I’m guessing?”

The sounds of moaning and a squeaking mattress replayed painfully in my mind.

“Yeah,” I said dryly. “Walked in on Demetri showing a hell of a lot more enthusiasm for his mistress of the week than he ever had in our bed.”

“Well, fuck him,” Kieran scoffed.

“Nah, I don’t think I want to do that anymore,” I deadpanned.

He chuckled, and I couldn’t help but laugh too. The more I laughed, the more emotions poured out of me from the whole situation. Hurt and rejection from Demetri’s betrayal. Humiliation from the meeting in Marvina’s study. Rage at both of them for, well, everything.

And guilt because despite all that had happened, I was so fucking happy to be home. My laughter gained a maniacal edge until I was laughing so hard, tears streamed down my cheeks.

Kieran waited until I’d wiped the tears from my eyes and rested my hands on my thighs to say anything.

He murmured, “I’m sorry, Sam.”

He leaned forward in the chair and placed his hands on top of mine, giving them a gentle squeeze. Heat burned in my eyes as more tears threatened to fall at the simple gesture, but I blinked them back. I hated crying, and I’d been doing a lot of that lately.

Kieran added, “I know that you did everything you could to make it work. No one has ever doubted your dedication to House Harker.”

“Tell that to Alaric,” I muttered.

“You should cut him some slack,” Kieran said carefully. “He’s been under a lot of pressure lately.”

“He’s always under pressure.” I shot him an annoyed look. “You don’t need to defend him constantly, you know?”

He let his head drop back once more so that he was staring up at the ceiling. “Am I once again going to have to play peacekeeper between you two? Because that shit was getting old before you left.”

“Please,” I snorted. “You loved any opportunity to be thecenter of attention. It’s why you love being a courtesan so much.”

The House Kieran was born into was one of the lower-ranking ones. Both of his parents were high-ranking courtiers and had arranged for Kieran to travel to other Houses to better represent their interests. House Harker had been the first House he’d been assigned to, and we didn’t want him to leave because everyone here adored him.

Kieran felt the same, and luckily his parents had been thrilled because it would be hard to get a more prestigious House unless he landed in the Sovereign Court.

“You and Alaric have your talents, and I have mine,” he said smugly.

“I wasn’t aware that being able to schmooze for hours amongst boring nobility counted as a talent.”

“We both know that’s not true.” He gave me a cocky look. “How many times have I had to rescue you before you mouthed off to some nobility creep or fell asleep face-first while listening to the ramblings of an elder?”

The corner of his lips tilted up into that stupid, mischievous grin of his that always sent my thoughts scattering when we were growing up. My eyes trailed down his body, snagging on where his shirt had ridden up, giving me a glimpse of his muscular abs.

Despite spending most of his time behind the safety of our walls, Kieran had always taken training seriously.

I could still remember Rynn and Cali dragging me off to spy on his training when we were younger. He’d been well aware of our antics and always made a show of pulling off his shirt early in his workout to give us a better view. Sometimes he’d even do some ridiculous poses and wink at us before concentrating on training.

It was during those workouts that I couldn’t resist flirtingback with him, much to Alaric’s disapproval, but we’d never gone beyond flirting.

Kieran followed my gaze and instead of pulling his shirt down, he shifted, causing it to ride a little higher.

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