“When are you two getting married?” Ava asked.

I almost choked on my coffee. As it was, I spit half of it down my shirt.

“Wha-What did you say?” I stammered. “Why did you have to bring that up now? We were having a perfectly lovely afternoon.”

“Oh, come on, Scarlett. You two have to get married soon. Isn’t that why Carrick stopped me from leaving the country? For your wedding?”

I took a deep, calming breath. I didn’t want to spend the afternoon thinking about Carrick and being the next queen of Warington. “I honestly don’t know why he stopped you, but I’m not even sure if we are. He didn’t seem so keen on the idea the last time we talked about it. Can we quit mentioning the whole wedding thing right now?”

Ava rolled her eyes. “Seriously, little sister, you need to get used to it. You’re going to be queen soon. Part of that entails actually marrying Carrick. If you can’t even say the words, how in the hell are you supposed to do that?”

I slumped forward and rested my forehead in my hands. “I know I’ll have to, but I don’t need the constant reminder. Not to mention, he doesn’t seem so excited about a marriage himself, but shouldn’t I get a few days to get used to the idea? It’s not exactly fair that this whole thing was sprung on me at a moment’s notice.”

She frowned. “You’re an idiot. Carrick paid the amount of my dowry to marry you, and you keep putting him off. He obviously has feelings for you, or he wouldn’t have bothered.”

Unease crept up my spine. Ava’s dowry was almost twice what mine was because she was the firstborn. I glanced in the windows of one of the little shops we were passing. I hadn’t known, and that made me feel more tentative about the whole situation. What did Carrick see in me?

“I…I’m…He never told me.”

Ave put her hand on my arm to stop me. I turned towards her and saw the serious expression on her face. She always looked happy and full of hope, never serious and stern. Or pissed off and irritated, which was more the case now. That was my job.

“That man is probably in love with you.” I scoffed, but she continued. “I’m serious. You know how unheard of it is to bypass the older sister, right?”

“Are you—”

She cut me off. “I’m not upset, I promise. I just want you to know that Carrick really cares for you, otherwise he would have chosen someone else. This wasn’t something he did on a whim. Yes, you two will be forced to marry sooner than most arranged marriages of our station, but he chose you. Don’t overlook that fact.”

I turned away and bit my lip. “I never even wanted to get married. Can we just see if you can marry him instead?”

She laughed. “Don’t make me smack you. I would kill to have someone look at me like Carrick looks at you. We’ve known the man for years, and you’ve always had a crush on him. So what’s the holdup?”

I shrugged and looked away. How had she even known about my crush? It wasn’t something I was open about.

“He wants to take care of you, maybe even love you, and he’s not holding you hostage like he could be. He didn’t force you to marry him the second he picked you up in that club. Instead, he allowed us to go shopping today, without a peep. This is the second day in a row that you’ve avoided him.” My eyes snapped back to hers. I didn’t realize I was being so obvious. “Carrick wants you to be happy, Scarlett. Maybe you should think about what might make him happy.”

I was being a brat. I thought back to the things he’d done to make me more comfortable in his home. He’d gone out of his way to make me feel better about the entire situation. Even if some of his methods were a little unorthodox, he still meant well.

I looped my arm through hers and we started walking again. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Ava smiled and rested her head on my shoulder for a second. “Me too. Even when you’re being a stubborn idiot,” she teased.

I bit down on my bottom lip. “Can you help me with something? I need to buy something—something for Carrick.”

As I laid out my plan for my sister, a huge smile crossed her face. It didn’t take long for us to leave the little café and start looking for the little shop we needed. I just hoped and prayed Carrick liked my surprise. If he didn’t, then I was going to feel like a foolish little girl. Again.

I woke to Carrick shaking me gently and whispering my name. I stared up at him groggily, wondering why he was waking me up in the middle of the night. The worried look in his eye should have told me what I needed to know, but because I was in that weird spot between sleep and actually waking up, I stared at him blankly.

“It’s time,” he said softly.

“Time for what?” I yawned. “Time to go back to sleep?” I asked hopefully.

“Scarlett, did you hear anything I told you?”

I finally woke up enough to focus on him.

“I’m sorry. No, I didn’t. What’s wrong?”

He stared at me incredulously. “You really didn’t hear anything I said?” I shook my head and shrugged apologetically. “My uncle probably won’t make it through the night. We need to get married now.”

“Right now?”

His impatience was starting to irritate me. For God’s sake, the man did just wake me up from a dead sleep. He can’t expect me to function this quickly.

“I’ve tried to be patient with you, and I didn’t want to rush you, but it’s time. Go wake up your sister, if you want her to be there while we say our vows.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “I’ll go get her.” I bit down on my bottom lip. “Carrick?”

He looked back at me.

“I’m sorry about your uncle.”

He nodded once and watched as I padded along the carpet to the door. I dared to peek over my shoulder at him, but I wish I hadn’t. The man sitting on the side of the bed looked broken. It hurt that I couldn’t go comfort him because I didn’t know how. Would he even want me to try? We were just getting to know each other, and he annoyed the shit out of me most of the time, but no one deserved to feel that alone.

“I’ll hurry back,” I said softly.

“Thank you.”

Ava was sitting up reading when I walked in her room. I looked at her, unable to form words... unsure of what to even say. Thank goodness she was able to read me so well. Because she just knew. She knew I now had to officially do my duty and marry Lord Carrick Trudeau.

She wrapped me up in a hug and led me back to where we had stashed the dress in her closet. Within a few minutes, she had me wrapped up in the beautiful lace gown we’d bought two days before. That seemed so long ago now. Almost a lifetime.

“Even if it’s rushed, you should feel beautiful on your wedding day.” Ava fidgeted with the small birdcage veil. “I’m proud of you, Scarlett.”

I gave her a small smile. My nerves were starting to catch up with me.

“I promised I wouldn’t take long. Let’s go.”

She wrapped a cloak around her shoulders that looked dressy. Even in the middle of the night, she looked perfect. My sister was the one good at being a princess, not me. I hoped that Carrick wouldn’t be disappointed in his choice. We made our way back up the hallway to my bedroom, and Carrick stepped through the doorway as we approached. He wore a gorgeous Gucci tuxedo suit that fit him like a glove, and even though William stood next to him, looking just as handsome, I couldn’t focus on anything other than Carrick. A smile pulled at his lips as he looked at me. He bowed deeply and took my arm from my sister. Ava grinned at us as we walked into the library in front of her. I saw William lean down and whisper something in her ear, making her blush, but Carrick pulled my attention back to him.

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you, Lord Carrick.”

“The priest will be meeting us in a few minutes. Are you ready?”

I grinned. “Yes, let’s do this.”

He shook his head, but he was smiling. “You’re an odd one, my dear.”

Ava laughed. “If you only knew, Carrick. You’re in for a treat with this one.”

“Hush, you,” I said, waving her words away. “We’ll have plenty of time later for you two to gang up on me. But as of this second, it’s my wedding, so be nice.”

The four of us were laughing. Even under these horrible circumstances, we were trying to find the humor in the situation. If Carrick and I were able to do that together tonight, maybe we were a better match than I thought. It was terrifying to hope for the best.

“William, you have everything ready for the video call?” Carrick asked softly.

William nodded and Carrick explained to Ava that he wanted to give his uncle the chance to see the wedding, even though he was too weak to come to the library to watch. Henry had insisted we have it here, instead of his bedroom. In one of our brief conversations about the wedding, Carrick had asked me if I minded getting married where his uncle could see us, even if that meant his bedroom. Obviously, I wasn’t so heartless that I would say no, but Henry had put his foot down. He told Carrick that I deserved a real wedding, and to do everything in his power to make it special for both of us. The video call had actually been my idea. I was surprised, and a little touched, he’d actually listened to my suggestion.

I looked around the high-ceilinged library, amazed at what I saw. There were candles everywhere, casting a soft light even to the darkest corners. Huge bouquets of white long-stemmed roses covered the large mahogany tables, and there was a roaring fire in the marble fireplace.

“Carrick, this is beautiful,” I said breathlessly.

“Like you said, it’s your wedding. I wanted it to be special for you, despite the circumstances.”

I took a few more steps into the room.

“How? I was in here earlier, and it didn’t look anything like this.”

He placed his hand on my lower back and leaned to whisper down in my ear.

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters, is that you’ll agree to marry me. I want you, Scarlett, and I have for a long time. Before we actually do this, I need you to know that this is your choice. You can’t marry me because of some outdated law or because I paid your dowry. If you marry me, I want it to be because you actually want to. Please want to, Scarlett.”

I met his dark obsidian eyes that seemed to glow in the candlelight. It seemed unbelievable that he still wanted to marry me, after everything I’d put him through. He also knew my past and all the stupid, irresponsible things I’d done.

“I still don’t understand why,” I said softly.

Carrick smiled. “Because you’re the one I want,” he said simply.

I smiled back at him. “Then let’s do this.”