Page 3 of Spearcrest Prince

“You know them?” I ask, surprised that he’s actually paying attention.

Luca is generally uninterested in anything we discuss unless it’s to do with sex or violence. More than any of us, his tastes are… peculiar.

He shrugs. “They’ve worked with Novus before. They’re not just crazy rich—they’re building an empire.”

This doesn’t surprise me. When my father told me about the engagement, he mentioned the Nishiharas were acquiring some of our biggest businesses. The engagement is really my father’s way of keeping some power and control since he doesn’t have the wealth to compete with them.

He called it a “mutually beneficial” engagement, but he should really have called it a “damage control” engagement.

Not that I’d ever admit that to my friends.

I look up to find Zach’s clever eyes fixed on mine. He gives me an arch smile.

“Oh, soyou’remarrying into the Nishihara family, then?” he asks.

“No.” I throw him a dirty look. “The Nishihara girl is marrying into the Montcroix family.”

The Nishiharas might have all the money they could ever need and be rich for generations to come, but climbing the top ranks of France’s entrenched, centuries-old social hierarchy isn’t pay to play.

“The Nishihara name means fuck all in France,” I explain. “It’s the Montcroix name they’re after.Wecould marry into any family for money, but there are only so many six hundred-year-old namestheycan marry into.”

“Wow,” Zachary says, nodding slowly. “The wonders of the French class system. So, an arranged marriage, huh? To be fair, I would have been more shocked if you’d proposed to this girl out of love.”

Well, he’s not wrong about that.

I scoff. “I didn’t even propose.”

“That’s so shit,” Evan says, shaking his head. “Imagine getting married to someone you haven’t even proposed to. I actually can’t get my head around how mediaeval this is. You guys need to start living in the twenty-first century like the rest of us.”

“Ah, yes, of course, advice from an American.” I raise my eyebrows at him. “Because Americans are so renowned for their sophistication of thought and progressive ideals.”

Evan frowns at me. “Hey, come on, now. You’re starting to sound just like Zach.”

“What are you going to do, then?” Iakov interrupts. He doesn’t raise his voice, but when he speaks, everybody always stops to listen. “Marry the stranger?”

I sigh. “What choice do I have? I don’t have any other siblings my parents can offer up, and they would disown me if I broke this engagement. They think we have too much to lose. They even had her shipped over to Spearcrest just so I could get to know her.” I pull out a tiny velvet pouch shoved in my pocket. “Look what they made me bring with me.”

I throw the pouch at Iakov, who catches it one-handed. He tosses what’s left of his cigarette at the floor and stomps on it, then turns the satchel upside down over his open palm. An object falls out with a glint.

Iakov looks up. “A ring?”

“It’s a family heirloom. Opals and diamonds from before Napoleon was even born.”

Iakov nods and tosses the ring at Zachary, who looks at it with an appreciative frown.

“It’s a nice piece,” he says. “What on earth do they want you to do with it?”

“Give it to her—to the Nishihara girl. Like we’re going to meet and fall in love or some shit.”

“Fall in love?” Zachary gives a dry laugh, tossing me the ring back. “I think they know better than to expect you to do that. You don’t love anybody but yourself.”

His tone might be mocking, but Zach is telling the truth.

I loved too easily in the past. I made my mistakes and paid for them. Loving Kayana blew up in my face—proposing to her was the most humiliating mistake of my life. It was a painful lesson—but I learned.

Now, I know that loving myself is the only safe bet. Because ultimately, I’m the only person I can depend on, the only person I can trust. The only person who can never betray me or reject me.

As for everybody else in the world… they are either an ally, an adversary or a pawn.

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