Chapter 9
Tavon wanted to kill his brother.
Unfortunately, Jaffri was nowhere to be found. His older brother had left the palace and no one would reveal his whereabouts to him.
Probably a good thing, he thought as he poured himself a cup of coffee. In Tavon’s current state of mind, he might truly hurt his brother.
No, Tavon knew that he wouldn’t kill Jaffri. But he might just make it so that his older brother couldn’t consummate his upcoming wedding!
“Oh!”
Turning around at the sound of the familiar feminine voice, Tavon caught sight of Mila as she stood in the doorway, obviously unsure if she should enter or leave.
“You didn’t have dinner last night,” he growled furiously. “Don’t you dare skip breakfast.”
Under other circumstances, he might have laughed at Mila’s glare. But he was too angry himself to find any amusement right now.
“I’ll wait until….”
“Eat now.” And to emphasize his command, he walked over and took her arm, leading her into the room. But his manners kicked in and he dropped her arm when he held out the chair for her. When she continued to glare at him, he rolled his eyes. “Please!” he snapped.
It wasn’t said nicely, but it must have been enough, because she huffed a bit, then sat down in the tapestry covered dining room chair. “Thank you,” she muttered when he pushed the chair in for her.
“What do you want to eat?” he asked, but he was already spooning eggs and fruit onto a plate for her. He knew that she didn’t eat a lot, but she hadn’t eaten the previous night so he piled it on. No need for her to go hungry simply because…hell, because she was marrying another man!
“Was it all a sham?” Tavon demanded. He saw the surprise in her eyes and even he had to admit that he was shocked he’d spoken the words.
“Us?”
He muttered a curse and turned away. “There was no us, Mila.”
He could feel her outrage even though he wasn’t touching her.
“I didn’t know about the engagement!”
Swinging around, he confronted her with his fury. “And yet, here we are. You are engaged to…” he stopped, not even wanting to say the words. “How?”
“I don’t know!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “My father wants me married and so he engaged me to a man I’ve never met! He decided on his own.”
His hand sliced through the air. “You can’t expect me to believe that your father would do something like that! This had to have been in the works for weeks, possibly even months!”
“Don’t you dare call me a liar, Tavon! Not after the past few weeks!”
“Tell me how I can see this as anything other than a betrayal!” he demanded furiously.
She bowed her head and he could see the tension in her slender shoulders. He wanted to pull her into his arms and reassure her that they’d figure this out together. But he didn’t have that right! Twenty-four hours ago, he might have had the right. But she wasn’t his any longer. She was engaged to his brother! Damn it, he hated this!
When she looked up at him again, her beautiful brown eyes were wet with unshed tears and it tore at his gut, knowing that he couldn’t comfort her. As much as he wanted it, Mila wasn’t his to comfort. Not anymore.
“My father wants me married. He thinks women are happier being married and with children. It’s ridiculous, but there it is.”
That didn’t make any sense! “So he just…what? He put his blessing on an engagement between his only daughter and…?”
Her hands lifted, imploring him to believe her. “A stranger, Tavon!” she snapped right back, then looked around, worried a palace servant might overhear their argument. When she noticed that they were alone, she relaxed ever so slightly. Turning back to face him, she pleaded with him to understand. “Believe me, Tavon. I had no idea what my father was doing. And if the look in your brother’s eyes yesterday was any indication, he didn’t know either.’
Tavon would have asked his brother that…if he could find him! “So, you’re telling me that your father engaged you to my brother without any discussion at all?”
“Yes!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you! He didn’t consult with your brother or me. My father…he always thinks he’s right. He has to have that kind of confidence in order to rule his country. Sidoon is antiquated. My father wants to be seen as strong and powerful but he’s no, so he refuses to show weakness. Even if he made a mistake yesterday, he’d never admit it. And besides, he considers me to be one of his weaknesses. Marrying me off, even to a stranger, makes him feel stronger. More powerful.”
None of this made any sense! “How the hell is a beautiful daughter a weakness? Just because you’re not married?”
Bowing her head, she turned away, ashamed of her father’s position. “Yes. He considers the fact that I’m not married yet to be a huge weakness. I think it’s a virility thing, although I’ve never really discussed it with him. Every time we discuss my single status, he tells me how I need to stop working and find a husband. It’s…”
“Ridiculous!”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she nodded. “Yes, well, we both agree on that. But we’re not the ones that matter.”
“How can you say that we don’t matter? You and I…” he stopped, pressing his lips together, staring at her for a long moment. “Mila, are you telling me that you’re going through with the wedding?”
She shuddered, and he suspected that she hated the idea just as much as he did. But she still nodded. “Yesterday, I would have said no. I worked with your sister and your mother and thought I had a way to get out of it. They were going to do a series of interviews highlighting various projects, working with groups and the press and…” she waved her hand in the air even as she shook her head in defeat. “But as of last night…I have to,” she told him in a whisper.
Tavon stared, not sure he’d heard her correctly. Unfortunately, the trembling chin and her inability to look him in the eye told him that he hadn’t misheard. “You’re going to…you’re going to marry my brother?”
She confirmed with only a slight jerk of her head. “My father threatened me with something that…well, issues that are important to me.”
He stood there for a long moment, shaking with fury. A moment later, he walked out, unable to look at her any longer.
As he stormed down the hallway, the rage building inside of him was unlike anything he’d ever felt. It was like an acid burning in his throat and his gut. He needed to punch someone or something. So instead of heading to his office, he turned and walked to the gym. He knew that his guards were trying to keep up, but he didn’t give a damn. In fact, in his present mood, he knew that he’d love for someone to try and attack him. He’d love the challenge and would appreciate the outlet for his fury.
Mila sank down into the chair, burying her face in her hands as the shame and humiliation overwhelmed her. She was betraying Tavon as well as everything she stood for, everything she believed in.
But she couldn’t turn her back on the women in her country. The women’s eyes so long ago, the pain and the shame…shame that shouldn’t be hers! Too many women had been beaten, too many women had been abandoned. Her father wasn’t right! He was so so wrong! And yet, she didn’t doubt that he would follow through on his threat.
The threat her father made wasn’t just idle words. He’d hated her innovations. He agreed with the no-wife beating thing. And he’d appreciated the reduction in cost at having to provide for many of the abandoned women. Everyone being able to obtain a job had been a huge bonus to the treasury and he loved the additional taxes that the newly employed women provided.
But the other issues…he didn’t think spending money on women’s education or their health care was productive. If he had his way, he would transfer all of that money from women’s schooling to programs that would more directly benefit the men of Sidoon. She couldn’t do that. With all of her privilege came responsibility. This was her cross to bear.