“She didn’t pay enough attention to you. Got it.” Brodie caught the guy’s surprise at being cut off so abruptly. “Look, man, whatever result you’re hoping for, you’re going about it the wrong way. If you’ve got a hope in hell of winning her back, you have to give her the space she asked for.” But, just to say, you don’t. Not a single chance in hell.

“I can’t go until I talk to her.”

Is that what your daddy told you to do? “You mean convince her. But I’m telling you, you’re just pushing her away by being here. If you push her too far…”

Marcel’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what she’s told you, but we will marry. Her parents are just giving her time to come to terms with what happened.”

The bartender appeared just then to take his order. “Hey, can I get a club soda and lime?” Brodie said. Then, he looked to Marcel, who raised a hand and shook his head. No, thanks.

Done talking to the douchenozzle, Brodie turned away to wait for his drink. He wanted to pull off nonchalant, but inside he wasn’t doing so well. Maybe it was the fact that Marcel wasn’t acting high and mighty. Wasn’t trying to play him.

He was stating a fact. Rosalina and Marcel would, eventually, marry. Her time in Calamity was an aberration.

He’d thought they’d come up with the perfect solution, but a royal wedding? The pomp and circumstance surrounding it, the barrage of photographs and articles, the joy pumping through society at the anticipation of the big day? As far as optics, founding a university didn’t come close.

So, then, were her parents humoring her?

Jesus, they couldn’t make her marry this guy, could they?

He didn’t know them, but he did know the lengths people would go to get what they wanted. His mother was a great example. She’d used her own children. When it hadn’t worked, she’d discarded them.

The bartender set his drink down and brought a glass of ice water for Marcel.

Distracted, Marcel barely spared him a glance. He leaned closer to Brodie. “I understand what she’s doing. I deserve it. And I actually think it’s good she’s getting this out of her system. I don’t think she realized before what it meant to be with one person for her entire life.”