Page 39 of Arranged Wolf's Nanny
“Come now,” he said. “Surely, he’s let something slip. I can’t imagine he’s happy with Felix's insistence on peace, and a man often feels compelled to share his woes with a woman after bedding her. He’s not said anything at all on the matter?”
She fought to keep her expression neutral, despite the blood pounding in her ears. He was looking at her with that horrible little smile, like he knew something she didn’t. Or he’dworked out one of her secrets. Of course, he could just be bluffing, getting her to reveal something. There was truly no way for her to tell which it was. And yet, she couldn’t help but feel like she was caught in his net, and anything she said would just twist her up tighter.
“He…doesn’t stay long. Afterwards. He likes to keep his own council.”
Her father was silent for a moment, and she tried not to let her anxiety show. It would be only too easy to slip up, to say something wrong, to inadvertently tell him that her marriage was nothing more than a sham. She may be an Iron Walker now, but her father wouldn’t let that get in his way if he thought for even a moment that she was ruining any of his meticulously crafted plans.
“It’s interesting,” her father said after a while, his gaze artfully neutral, “I’d understood that Rick once stood to inherit the Iron Walkers. I don’t imagine a male like that would give up on such a legacy with such… benevolence.”
This was a dangerous game indeed. Rosalia was no fool. Her father would dance endlessly around any scrap of information, any morsel of intrigue, and only when you had implicated yourself sufficiently would he go in for the kill.
But unlike an enemy alpha, if she evaded him too perfectly, or just called him on his plotting outright, he would not hesitate to force the information from her.
Her father did not dig for useless bones. Healwayshad a motive.
“From what I’ve heard,” she said, waving her hand with what she hoped was airy dismissal, “the transition wasn’t easy. They fought more than once. But Rick knew what he was doing when he bent the knee to Felix.”
Her father’s eyes narrowed, “From what you’ve heard?”
She swallowed. “Yes, father, Rumor. Gossip. That sort of thing.”
“So he hasn’t said anything himself?” he replied, “No frustration at Felix’s law? No… speculations on what his own law might look like?”
If she said yes, he would pounce. If she said no, he would think she was lying and strike.
“I’m afraid the rumors only stretch so far, father.”
He looked at her, hard. Icy eyes drilled into her, his mouth a tight line.
Then, he scoffed, turning away from her. “It figures he doesn’t trust you. You’re a female. Not one of the inner circle.”
She tried not to let his words get to her. Tried not to let the sting of his disappointment show through.
He brushed a hand through his hair, his eyes narrow and thoughtful. “You’ll have to make him trust you. And for that to happen, you’ll have to do a hell of a lot better than this mess.”
She looked up at him in shock. “Mess?”
He gestured around the kitchen, to the plates of food, the spare decorations. “This! All this for that brat of his. It’s not nearly good enough.”
Her lips parted, her eyebrows drawing together in shock. “Father, I don’t—”
“I thought I taught you better than this,” he said, his voice rising slightly, his gaze turning sharp and accusatory. “This would have been the perfect opportunity for you to prove yourself, and instead, what have you done?”
Anger began to bubble up, her wolf growling low in her chest. “Eva loves it. Everyone is having a good time. I followed all the traditional practices, hired experts, everything you would have done—”
“This is an immature display of neediness, nothing more,” her father spat. “You know the sort of male Frederick is. The quality of his breeding. Do you really think he’d enjoy this childish nonsense? Where’s the class? The elegance? You’re hosting it in the garden, for God’s sake.”
She couldn’t help herself. There was no need for him to attack her like this; he was just angry that she didn’t have any information to feed him. She was doingeverythingshe could to be a good wife, to not embarrass either her husband or her father. Her wolf snarled and paced, furious at his dismissal of Eva, his dismissal ofher.
“It’s Eva’s birthday, she’s turning six,” Rosalia said, her fists clenching, “thisisthe traditionalandelegant way of celebrating a shifter’ssixthbirthday! Of course it’s not going to be some sort of cocktail party!”
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she wished she could cram them back in. Her father stopped short, his eyes widening slightly, before a black look descended over his face and he took a step towards her. She stumbled backwards, her back hitting the counter, her breathing coming in short and sharp.
“Father, I didn’t mean—”
“Howdareyou,” he hissed, flashing his teeth, “how dare you interrupt me? Raise your voice at me?”
“I only meant—”
