Page 45 of Devil May Hunt
Instead of arguing, he’d pivoted, enrolling at the Academy.
How pissed would mommy and daddy be when they found out the company had landed in his lap anyway?
This might be a good thing after all. A thing he could use to his advantage, instead of shying away from. It was obvious he wasn’t going to be able to escape the alpha, not when the older man had his mind so set on the two of them being together.
“Here are the terms.” He’d thought about them long and hard. “We remain mates on paper. I’ll be your Royal Consort. I’ll attend the events you need me to attend to help sell it. I’ll showup when you call, and I’ll even spend my weekends in this house you impulsively purchased—though I prefer the opposite side of the city, just to be honest.”
“Honest and spoiled.”
“That too.” He smirked. “You hold onto the company for me until I decide I’m ready to take over, and when that time comes, you help me integrate. You help me rub it in my parents' faces. I stake a public claim on you and help ensure your grandfather gets the message. You get what you want, and so do I.”
The problem was, what the alpha truly wanted was something Brennon wasn’t entirely sure he’d ever be able to give. The only upside was that there was a very good chance Gunho wasn’t yet aware of his own desires, as cliché as they were.
Family.
It’d been written all over his face when he’d talked about his grandfather’s betrayal, and when Brennon had spoken about his issues with his parents. Gunho wasn’t angry over his grandfather’s antics; he was hurt. He didn’t like that he had to guard himself against a blood relative, which could only mean one thing.
He felt distanced from the people who were supposed to be close to him, and that closeness meant something that it never had to Brennon. That’s where they differed.
Was it pathetic that as a grown man he’d still rather spite his parents than prove them wrong? Sure. But at least he was honest with himself about that fact. Gunho wanted his planet to see him in a new light. He wanted them to know he wasn’t the broken alpha they’d wrongly believed him to be.
Brennon had given up on his parents ever seeing the real him a long time ago.
To Bren, family was a task. A to-do list. Show up when summoned. Act the part. Wave at the cameras. Family meant people treating him however they pleased, with the excuse of being relatives as good enough reason not to hold it against them. A chain around his neck, tugging him down beneath the surface. Clinging to him. But for Gunho, it was something to be coveted. Cherished. Yearned for.
Brennon could be his Royal Consort, easy.
But becoming the man’s family in any sense of the word other than on paper?
Not a chance.
He wasn’t capable of that.
Rin had seen through him from the start. That’s what he’d lacked that Kelevra Diar hadn’t. Owning a person was simple, but consuming them? Turning them into oxygen needed to breathe? To exist?
He’d never allow anyone that type of power over him.
Not even a sexy as sin alpha Imperial.
Gunho Idris could take him. But he’d never have him. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
And one Brennon needed to keep close to his chest, because the very moment Gunho realized, was the moment he started to demand more.
“Aside from knowing if I was ever forced to settle down, I’d want to at least get along with the person, I had no hopes,” he admitted. “I guess if you were going to choose someone, at least you settled for someone like me. I’ve never dreamed of marriage or true love or children of my own. I would actually prefer not to have any of that.”
“I’m with you on the children part,” Gunho said, “and weddings aren’t traditionally celebrated on my home world the way they are here. But love? You will love me, Brennon.”
He grunted. “Unfortunately for you, that’s one thing you can’t take.”
“Then I’ll earn it.”
“Good luck.”
“Haven’t you been in love before? Didn’t you love that friend of yours?”
“It was a crush.” Stronger than any other feelings he’d ever held for another, sure, but a crush nonetheless. “If it hadn’t been, if it’d been something stronger, I wouldn’t have gotten over it so easily.”
Gunho snorted at him. “You didn’t. You got wasted the night we met because of that crush.”
