Vows of Enmity
"Unusual for a Hollingsworth. Usually, they wait until they inherit the debt before they start barking."
"He is speaking out of turn," Lawrence snapped, his jaw tightening as a vein throbbed violently at his temple. He turned his glacial glare back to Adrian. "You will keep your mouth shut, eat your breakfast, and remember your place at this table. You are here to secure an alliance, not critique the balance sheet."
"An alliance built on compromised foundations tends to collapse under its own weight," Adrian shot back, the words tasting like copper on his tongue.
Lawrence slammed his hand against the mahogany table, rattling the silver cutlery and spilling dark coffee over the edge of Arthur