Page 24 of Solstice

I cleared my throat. “You’ve spent a lot of time with him.”

She sighed and shook her head. “Yes, I’ll probably have to marry him soon.”

I winced, trying to hide the hot, achy rage that went through my gut. Objectively, I knew this day would come. We’d had conversations about the Prince of Monaco before, but I never thought it might be a real possibility.

“You’re serious?”

She nodded. “Yes. My grandmother will need great-grandbabies before she dies.”

“You have two men who would gladly impregnate you.”

Her expression softened, and she dropped her eyes to the space between us. “No, Ivy.Youhave two men that would gladly impregnate you.Ihave no one.”

I opened my mouth, but how could I argue with that? I took a sip of wine and swallowed down my bitterness. Lex would claim any child that came out of my body, even if Carter was the father. But Miri wasn’t married. She wasn’t in any long-term relationship. If she showed up pregnant, her grandmother would either make her get rid of it or make her marry the prince to cover it up. Her child would need a public father, and Lex couldn’t be that for her.

“Marry Carter,” I said, though it physically hurt my heart to mutter the words.

She cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at me. “I wouldn’t do that to you, darling.”

“Why not?” I shrugged, pretending like it meant nothing even though it twisted my chest into knots. “I’m marrying Lex.”

“Against your will.”

I wasn’t so sure about that anymore, but I took another drink again to hide that, too.

“If you could be with Carter, would you? Legally?” She grabbed my hand, giving it a good squeeze, but I didn’t answer her.

Of course, I would. Hell, I probably would have already done it if it weren’t for my family and the politics at play. That didn’t help either of us, so instead, I said, “If I could be with you, I would.”

She sighed and leaned in to kiss me, giving me a sad little laugh. “Now, there’s an even more preposterous idea.”

“Why is that so preposterous?” I mimicked her snotty British tone.

“I can see the headlines now.” Miri laughed and leaned her head back against the sofa. “What would George Washington think? Daughter of American Revolution marries descendant of England’s worst king.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’d be lucky if that was all they printed.”

“We’d be the sluts that corrupted Lex and Carter.”

I laughed at that absurdity, remembering how Lex had tied me down and made me suck Carter’s cock while he played with my clit. “We’d be the lesbian witches that besmirched their good reputations.”

Which was even more hilarious because Lex and Carter had blurred the lines in their friendship before either of them had done it to us. She cackled harder, as if the thought of it was too upsetting to face with any real seriousness even if we knew the truth. If this were to get out, Miri and I would face the brunt of it. The guys would skate by, their respective brands too great to be blemished by an affair. Hell, the public might even praise them for their sexual exploits. Miri and I would be the whores of Babylon, the Jezebels, the Salomes dancing half naked with severed heads on silver platters.

“You don’t get to disappear on me,” I said, remembering a promise she made me years ago after the lust had taken us, after we’d been reunited and sworn never to be torn apart again. “I made an oath to never let you leave me again.”

“I remember.” Miri smiled up at me.

“Even if you end up with some decrepit old geezer, I’ll still come for you.”

“You better, darling.” She grinned and leaned in to kiss me, but this time, when she pulled away, she had a forlorn look behind her eyes that concerned me. It reminded me of the morning she’d shown me her gift, like she had a deep, dark secret she needed to get off her chest before it drowned her.

She opened her mouth and I reached for her, determined to see what she couldn’t voice. Just before I touched her, a zap cracked out through the cabin, echoing off the walls.

Miri sat back on her feet and I pushed upright, glancing over my shoulder because that sound could only mean one thing.

Poppy.

“Come here, my darling,” Miri called.

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