“She’s not family, vordi,” my father said.

I looked at him. “Not yet.”

He raised a brow. “What does that mean?”

“Kayla is going to be my wife,” I said.

I heard her intake of breath, though I hoped it was low enough that my father didn’t.

“Your wife?” he said, looking skeptical.

“Yes. My wife,” I said.

Kayla didn’t make a sound, but I felt the way her body tensed.

Told myself not to take it personally, though it was difficult.

“You haven’t shared this news before,” my father said.

“I wanted to ensure that we had taken care of some issues,” I said vaguely.

“And they are taken care of?” my father asked.

“They are,” I responded.

I put an arm around Kayla and felt her stiffen again but was comforted by the fact she didn’t try to pull away.

That was just a cold calculation, Kayla figuring out that by my side was the safest place she could be right now.

But it gave me some measure of comfort that she didn’t contradict me.

That she instead leaned on me.

It might not mean anything, but I would take what I could get.

“What game are you playing at, Elias?” my father said.

“No games, Papa,” I said.

I took my arm from around Kayla’s shoulders and stood in front of her, blocking her from my father’s view.

He met my eyes, and I held his gaze, needing him to understand that I meant every word I was about to say.

“Kayla will be my wife soon enough. You need to understand that if you were any other man who had done what you did today, you would be begging me for death before I was done with you,” I said.

“You’d threaten your father over a woman?” he said, though his voice held no inflection.

“Not a woman. My wife. Don’t test me on this, Father,” I said.

He held my gaze for a long moment and then waved a hand, as though he could dismiss all that he had done.

“Your own secretiveness is to blame,” he said, a smile on his face. “If you had told me…”

“Do you understand, Father?” I said.

His face went hard, but after a moment, he again smiled.

He approached me, his hands out, and then kissed me on both cheeks.

“A proud day, to see my eldest married, hopefully soon to give me the grandsons my youngest has denied me,” he said.

He hadn’t said the words, but I knew this was my father’s concession.

For a moment, I worried he might address Kayla, but thankfully, he didn’t.

I entwined my fingers with hers and for a second worried about how she would react.

When she didn’t try to pull away, I started to walk.

She took a step, another, and then stumbled.

I scooped her up, ignoring her surprised inhale.