Chapter 4

"Move," I said.

Livia didn't budge.

"You use your money to bully everyone into doing what you want. Cassian only wanted to give me a necklace, and you ran the price this high. You've never treated him like a fiancé. You treat him like something you bought."

Cassian heard the words "something you bought" and his expression darkened instantly.

This was his deepest insecurity. Four years ago he needed my money. Four years later he still needed my ships and my clients. But the moment anyone suggested he owed his rise to me, he treated it as the ultimate humiliation.

Livia knew exactly where to press. She turned to Cassian, her voice all honey. "I've never thought you owed anyone. You're talented; you simply never had the chance before. Lady Helena uses her money to control you. That doesn't make her more important than you."

Emboldened, Livia laid out the entire plan for their life after the wedding.

"Once you're married, Lady Helena can keep managing the fleet and the accounts, while I accompany you to banquets and receive your clients."

She looked at me with a hint of condescension. "You're better at making money than I am. I'm better at taking care of him. We can each do what we do best. Why wouldn't that work?"

I asked, "Where would you live?"

"The east wing of the harbor mansion."

"Who agreed to that?"

Livia unclipped a bronze key from her waist and placed it on the table. The handle was engraved with a silver swallow. It was a key to my harbor mansion.

"Cassian gave it to me himself," she said. "I've already had someone inspect the furniture and curtains in the east wing. After the wedding, I'll live there. This silver dolphin necklace will be one of Cassian's wedding gifts to me."

"When did you set foot in my mansion?" I asked.

Livia missed the ice in my voice. "After you left on your last voyage, Cassian took me. He said you rarely stay there, and the master bedroom and the east wing have been sitting empty. I've already picked out new bed curtains and had the windows measured."

"You went into my bedroom?"

"I just took a look," she said. "It's such a waste to leave a room that size empty. When I'm living in the east wing, I can help look after the main house for you too."

Cassian finally realized she had said too much and cut in. "These are all matters for after the wedding. There's no point discussing them now."

"Of course there's a point." I looked at him. "The two of you entered my mansion without my permission, measured my rooms, and planned to replace my bed curtains."

I had once given Cassian a key so he could come and go while I was at sea. He had turned around and given my key to someone else.

I looked at Cassian. "You gave her the key?"

He denied it at first. "She misunderstood."

"Then why does she have it?"

He paused, then changed his story. "I did give it to her. You're always at the port or on a ship. You can't look after the house. Livia was just setting things up for you in advance."

"It's my mansion."

"We're getting married soon. Why draw lines between yours and mine?"

"Because my name is the only one on the deed."

Cassian's voice dropped. "Helena, you always do this. The moment we talk about feelings, you use deeds and invoices to put me in my place."

"The east wing has been sitting empty. Livia has no home of her own; she only wants somewhere to live. You have that enormous mansion, and you can't spare a single empty wing?"

Cassian said, "If you could be a little more gracious, at least half of this mess never would have happened."

I placed the key back on the table.

"Cassian, I'm asking you one last time."

He looked at me.

"Tell Livia to return the necklace and the key, and leave right now. Or admit that she can continue to speak for you."

Livia gripped his arm tighter. Cassian didn't answer. A long moment passed.

Finally, he looked away from me and said, "She can't leave."