Page 41 of Tantalizing Kings

“Okay...”This has officially piqued my interest.

“Mia is gay.”

“We all know that.” I laugh.

“Yes, but that means she could never love me. Even if I gave our marriage a real try, it’s something that would never happen.” He plays with the hem of his jacket. “She said that if I found someone I really wanted to be with, that I loved hard, she would...” He looks up at me, then Preston. “She would let me out of our arranged marriage, and we would deal with the fall out together.”

My stomach dips, and I feel like I’m going to puke. “What are you trying to say, Dec?” I growl.

Declan’s head snaps over to me. “I was going to ask, if you guys are alright with it, that after we’re done with our arrangement with Sadie... if you would be okay if I... umm... asked her out?”

I blink at him. “You want to date Sadie...”

“Yes.” He nods his head. “I like her. I’ve never stopped liking her. I worked hard to try to get over her, knowing I could never give her what she needed, what she deserved. But... with what Mia said. What if I can? I mean, I have to at least try, right? If we date and things work out, I’d be willing to go through whatever it took to be with her.”

“I don’t care,” Preston says, looking at his phone. “Once this is over, you're free to do whatever you want with her.”

“Are you sure? We had that deal and—”

“It was a deal we made when we were thirteen. I told you, I don’t have feelings for her anymore. If you think she's worth possibly being disowned by your family, who am I to stop you? But good luck because I have a feeling my brother wants her just as bad as you do, maybe even more. There’s a lot of shit that I don’t know regarding why he left Kingston Academy, but I’m positive it heavily has to do with her. You saw what he did to me for how I talked about her. He's going to be your competition. He doesn’t care about the fact that he’s her teacher, he will find a way around it.”

Declan’s face drops. Part of me wants to feel bad for the guy. The man he’s in love with is so dismissive about him being with someone else. But another part of me wants to kick his ass and tell him to stay the fuck away from Sadie. That she’s mine, and he can’t have her.

But the thing is, as much as I wish I could do what Dec plans on doing and say fuck my family, I can’t, for so many fucking reasons.

I should want Sadie to be with someone like Declan. He would give her the fucking moon if she asked. But I’m also a selfish bastard. If I can’t have her, then neither will he.

I don’t get the chance to tell him that before we are pulling up to Sadie’s cottage. Thinking twice about it has me realizing that I need to get away before I say something that would fuck up the whole night. So, I rush out of the limo to go get my pet.

Nothing else matters right now, only her.

Chapter 13

Sadie

There's a knock atmy door and I startle, almost jumping out of my chair at the kitchen table.

---