“Can I come?” Teddy plopped down on my bed.

I smoothed my button-down shirt, though it had already been ironed to crisp perfection. “No.”

“Why not?” He tossed a baseball in the air and caught it. Tossed it again, missed it, and it hit himself in the nose.

I laughed as he cursed and rolled back and forth on my bed. “Good one, Ted.”

If there was one bright spot in my dark existence, it was my youngest brother. Somehow, my fucked up family hadn’t managed to erase whatever spark he kept inside. Did I ever have a spark?

“Shut up.” He pinched his nose and winced, his voice coming out as a nasal whine. “Why can’t I go?”

“Because you weren’t invited. Besides, it’s at Cal’s house.”

He grimaced. “Never mind. I’m glad I wasn’t invited.”

“Was I invited?” Lucius strode in and took the ball from Teddy.

“That’s mine.”

“Not anymore.” Lucius threw it up and caught it right above Teddy’s crotch.

“Not cool, man.” Teddy scowled.

“No, what wouldn’t have been cool is if I hadn’t caught it.”

“You two are dicks. I’m going to my room.” Teddy stood and gingerly touched his nose.

“You’re still pretty. Get over it.” Lucius took Teddy’s spot on my bed.

“I’ll see you when I get back, Ted. Okay?” I smiled at him in the mirror. I couldn’t tell if I was faking it or not.

He returned it, so perhaps it had been genuine after all. “Yeah. See you later.”

“Don’t worry, little bro.” Lucius grinned. “I’ll be here to take care of you, wipe your ass, rub on the baby lotion, hold your dick when you piss—all that.” Teddy flipped him off and walked down the hall.

“You shouldn’t taunt him so much.” I threaded my tie around my neck and began to knot it.

“He needs to toughen up if he wants to hang with us.”

“I hope that he won’t have to hang with us. Medical school will get him out of here. Away from all this, from us.”

“What’s so bad about us?” He tossed the ball up and caught it again.

“He isn’t…” My fingers hesitated on my tie. “He doesn’t deserve this life.”

Lucius shrugged. “I think you’re underestimating him.”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing.” I finished my tie and checked it. The knot was perfect, the deep blue of the tie setting off the lighter hue of my shirt. “I want him to stay the way he is. I don’t want him to turn into…”

“You?” Lucius finished for me.

I cocked my head at him in the mirror. “There are worse things he could be. You, for instance.”

“He should be so lucky.”

I’d showered and shaved. My dark hair was smoothed down. Nothing was out of place. Perfection was my favorite form of control.

“You think he’ll ever man up and get inked?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter either way. He’s a Vinemont with or without the crest on his skin.”

“I think he will. All the girls in Baton Rouge will be on his dick if he shows up with the vines on his arms.”

I plucked my cuff links from the small box on top of my dresser. “Maybe.”

“Fuck, no ‘maybe’ about it. Chicks love tats. I wouldn’t mind trolling sorority row myself. Get some fresh pussy.”

“They might be interested in him, but I’ve noticed him giving the new cook more than a few looks.”

“You going to let him hit that?”

“No.” I raised an eyebrow at him in the mirror as he continued tossing the baseball. “You know that sort of fraternization isn’t allowed. She’s a peasant. He’s a Vinemont.”

“But, come on, you’ve fucked chicks who aren’t top stock.”

Once my sleeves were perfected, I slid my arms into the jacket. “Not ones who are servants in my house. No.”

“I don’t think it would be so terrible if he got his dick wet with her. That’s all I’m saying.”

“You’d be wrong, as usual.” I chose a pair of black oxfords and laced them while pondering what was in store for me at Cal’s house.

An invitation to the Oakman Estate wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Cal Oakman, as Sovereign, controlled too much, had too many allies, and had grown more dangerous each year of his reign. I didn’t know what the party was for, but I was certain it couldn’t be a good thing. Over the past ten years, he’d left the Vinemonts alone most of the time, only sending word when he decided to increase his cut of our family’s sugar business.

We were living quietly under his thumb until a week ago when his invitation arrived, the wax seal imprinted with the all-too-familiar oak. Dread had spread across my mind as I’d opened the letter. A dinner at Cal Oakman’s house on the eve of the Acquisition trials—nothing good could come of it. I straightened and turned to leave my room.

“You sure I can’t come?”

“I’m sure.”

Lucius followed me into the hall and down the front stairs. “You have any idea what he wants?”

“The same thing he always wants. Too much.”

“Do you think…” Lucius hesitated on the bottom step as Farns, our butler, opened the front door for me.

I stopped and let Lucius ask. The same question had been haunting me from the moment the invitation arrived.

“Do you think it’ll be us this year?” The anticipation in his voice told me he was thinking about it like a business arrangement. Being chosen could lead to wealth and, obviously, position. But there was another side—a much darker side—to it all. One he didn’t know about.

“I’m about to find out.” I squared my shoulders and walked out into the night.