On the rare occasions we weren’t together, he placed other eyes on me. Bodyguards who watched and reported back. They stood in the shadows even now, but it was only Magnus I felt.

I felt him in the tightening of my pulse and the trembling in my thighs. I didn’t need to peer over my shoulder to mark his location across the ballroom. I sensed him with the entirety of my being.

Making a slow turn, I met his luminous blue eyes. Smoldering eyes. Feverish. All hunger and sin.

Beautiful people floated around him, every flawless face paling in the strikingly gorgeous, goddamn intimidating intensity of his presence.

Chiseled jaw, sultry lips, muscled physique, perfectly styled brown hair—his formidable appearance turned heads and commanded the attention of every woman with a heartbeat.

I shivered. Skin, blood, breath.

He bent a perceptive brow.

The temperature between my legs rose sharply, making me squirm and clench.

Until a hand appeared on his chest, stroking his black lapel. A feminine hand. Another grazed his jaw, attempting to coax his gaze away.

He dismissed the woman’s touch with a flick of his wrist, his hypnotic eyes locked on mine.

She reached for him again.

My fingernails bit into my palms. He wasn’t the only one in this marriage with a jealous temper.

Get rid of her, I mouthed.

The distance between us obscured the tiny nuances of his expression, but I knew his facial muscles were flexing beneath the dark shadow of his jawline.

He didn’t take well to commands, and God help me, the bastard had a mean streak. More importantly, he excelled at playing the game, which was the reason he was still alive and married to me, rather than dead at the hands of my mother’s henchman.

But his marriage to me had come at a cost. His life now belonged to the Constantine dynasty, and to survive my family, he didn’t just have to play the game. He had to play it better than them.

Everyone in this room was my mother’s pawn. I didn’t recognize the stunning redhead at Magnus’s side. I didn’t care if she was a friend or foe of my family. My only concern was that she’d effectively stolen my husband’s attention.

No, he was giving it to her. Gazing at her. Charming her with his seductive smile.

My pulse thundered in my ears as I stormed forward, fists flexing to strangle. I wove around crowded tables, dodged a uniformed server, and slammed into my brother’s chest.

“Turn around.” Keaton caught my elbow. “Walk the other way.”

I stared up into his eyes, the same bright blue as mine. He was the youngest of my three brothers, classically handsome, irritatingly protective, and lucky I adored him. Otherwise, I would’ve driven a knee into his groin.

“Not now, Keaton. I’m feeling stabby.” I pulled free and sidestepped him.