I strode up to the Karras home with my father’s men at my back. Even though he’d neglected to show his face for the girl who would one day be his daughter-in-law, he hadn’t allowed me to come unaccompanied, either.
Our lawyer glanced around the ornate entryway of the expensive house as we stepped in through the iron doorway. It was early enough that Thalia was still at school, so thankfully she wouldn’t need to be subjected to the knowledge of our arranged marriage.
If I had it my way, she wouldn’t need to know the truth until it came time to arrange our children’s marriages. I could protect her from the knowledge that she’d been sold off to strengthen a weakening alliance, all part of the six Greek families’ plan to connect us all inextricably over the course of three generations.
The woman who’d allowed us into the manor turned, making her way toward the back of the house and the office where I’d signed the contract nearly a year earlier. Following at her heels, I drew myself up and squared my shoulders for the argument I knew was coming. Thalia’s father wasn’t likely to take kindly to me telling him how to parent his own child.
I didn’t give the first shit.
The office door was open and I didn’t hesitate to step through it. Our lawyer Erasmos, an aging man with stark white hair, followed me inside silently while my father’s men lingered just outside the doorway. Origen Karras sat behind his desk, not a single concern on his tight expression as he watched me stroll into the room and take the seat across from him. Erasmos dropped a briefcase on the desk in front of me, opening it before stepping out of the way.
‘And what’s this?’ Origen asked, his focus narrowing on the stack of papers I pulled from the case.
The updated contract was stark white against the deep wood of his desk, and I found myself considering it from Thalia’s point of view. Black and white and shades of grey: her world existed without warmth.
In more ways than one.
I turned to the pages where we’d added the addendum about her care and wellbeing until she’d come of age and become mine. Looking at him directly, I tapped the tabbed section where he’d need to read. ‘After visiting with Thalia yesterday, I’d like to make an update to our arrangement.’
His eyes turned glacial as he glared at me, not even bothering to look down at the papers. ‘I assure you, whatever the girl has done can be remedied by the time she’s eighteen. Her behavior is a work in progress,’ he said.
My nostrils flared as I fought back the rising anger that came with his automatic assumption that Thalia had done something wrong, when it had undoubtedly been him in the wrong.
I quirked a brow, swallowing past the lump in my throat as I leaned back in my seat and turned my attention toward Erasmos as he spoke. ‘The updated section proclaims that Thalia Karras will not be harmed in any manner while under your care. She is to be given a safe and comfortable home in which to grow into the woman she will become, and all decisions regarding her discipline or education will need to be approved by Calix Regas from this moment forward. As you do not seem inclined to childrearing without harming Thalia, Calix will be an active participant in her childhood with weekly visitation.’
‘You would have her weak and pathetic? A sniveling and imperfect mess of a girl is all you’ll achieve by coddling her. There are things you do not know about her that need to be corrected, foolish boy,’ Origen snapped, jabbing his pointer finger into the contract. ‘This means nothing if I do not sign.’
‘I know that she’s colorblind,’ I said, my fingers biting into the arms of the chair as I pulled myself forward. ‘Unlike you, that doesn’t matter to me.’
He paused, his jaw clenching in shock as he glanced toward the door. Even though it was too early for her to be home, his fists clenched as if he had the driving desire to strike Thalia for admitting the truth to me. ‘It is a weakness. A genetic anomaly that should not exist. If I had known she would be deformed in this way, I would have aborted her before she could ever shame us. She will learn to function without revealing it to those around her,’ Origen warned, skimming through the contract.
‘Then she will do that without your abuse,’ I returned with a warning growl. ‘You have way more to lose from this contract falling through than I do. What do you think the rest of the families will think if you allow all their plans to fail because you won’t stop hitting a little girl? I saw the scars and fresh wounds on her hand. What could that possibly accomplish that’s so important to you?’
‘The brat is left-handed, if you must know. She ends up with ink and lead all over her hand when she writes. It’s unacceptable for a girl of her stature,’ he said, shrugging his shoulders as he sat back in his seat. As if the repeated and casual abuse of his own flesh and blood for such an insignificant reason mattered little.
I stilled my body, leaning forward to lift a pen off the desk and set it on top of the contract. ‘You hit your daughter for writing with her left hand?’
‘I hit her for using her left hand for anything. Eventually, she’ll associate using it with pain and stop altogether.’ A cruel grin twisted his lips as he watched my anger rise.
One day, I’d kill him for the cruelty he’d shown a tiny slip of a girl he was meant to care for.
The Families be damned.
‘Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to tell the others you won’t cooperate,’ I said, sliding my chair out from beneath me.
‘You already signed the contract, boy. She’s yours, whether I abuse her or not. The only requirement is that she be kept virginal for you to bleed on your wedding night. You’ve shown your hand and your own weakness. I should send her to your marriage bed scarred and broken for your threats,’ he said, standing as well.
‘Do you think I would’ve come here without knowing the Families will back me up? All of the contracts have been updated to match the one you’re looking at. Everyone else agrees, since they don’t beat their own daughters. You’ll be the only man to undo the plans for combining the Families.’ I shrugged, knowing he was trapped as his face dropped with the reality of what was coming. ‘What do you think they’d do with that? After years of negotiations, I think they’d do anything it takes to stop you.’
‘You will regret the day you decided to toy with grown men,’ Origen snarled, but he dropped his hand to the pen and contract. ‘And what will you have to show for it? A colorblind bitch of a wife who doesn’t know her place. Congratulations.’ He scrawled his signature on the bottom of the contract where I’d already signed, letting Erasmos scoop it into his briefcase once he was done.
‘My visits will be a surprise for a while, until I’m sure you’re following our agreement. I’m sure you understand,’ I said with a hard smile, turning back for the door.
I knew Origen would try to get even, but at least Thalia would be safe. I’d find a way to deal with her father eventually.
