Arranged_An Array Novel

by Hazel Grace

  “Don’t like repeating myself, Red.”

  “Tell her that.” He fixed his eyes on me, challenging me to be a bullheaded asshole to my fiancée and tell her who she could and couldn’t talk to. He knew I wouldn’t win.

  “Go back home,” I retorted, lamely. With that, I didn’t stop walking, even though I heard him still mumbling something.

  “Garr!”

  Son of a bitch.

  Rubbing my temples with two of my fingers, I turned to see George jogging over.

  “Hey! Glad I caught you!” He stood next to the man I was trying get away from. “Got some news back.”

  “I already heard.”

  George looked over at Reddington. “You had the balls to tell him?”

  Reddington shrugged. “I didn’t cause it.”

  “Sure about that?”

  “Stop it, Garr.” George scratched his head. “We need to figure out something else.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Use your kingly powers and make this go away.”

  I was acting like a child, asking for something he had no power to give me, but I didn’t care. I needed to voice it. I needed him to hear me. Sophia needed to be gone from my life, so I could breathe again.

  George shot daggers at me. “Asshole, I would have done that already if I could.” He shifted to his other leg. “There is something else.”

  Geezus fuck.

  I needed a drink.

  The more I thought about it, the more I realized we needed to get out of here—me, Hara, Mama, and Ava. We needed to disappear.

  “Sophia is already moving forward with the wedding plans.”

  “I haven’t even seen her!”

  “Do you need to?”

  “Fuck no, I don’t need to. I won’t be there.”

  “I can delay some of her plans,” Reddington quipped. “Buy us some more time.”

  “Don’t bother,” I shot back.

  George took a step toward me. “You need to go talk to her.”

  “Can your kingly powers dismiss a murder charge, because I’ll kill her.”

  “You need to play along,” Reddington replied.

  I stilled. Did he not understand what the hell we were trying to do? I wasn’t going along with anything, let alone be left alone in a room with her.

  I fixed him with a scowl. “And why the hell would I do that?”

  “Because you’re going to marry her,” George advised flatly.

  Confusion set in first, then anger. Then, I wanted to shake my brother and ask him if he’d been brainwashed.

  “You want me to do what?” I clenched my teeth.

  I wasn’t going to bow down to this shit. I wasn’t going to play along and give Sophia what she wanted; what she so patiently waited for.

  Then it hit me.

  Maybe she was behind this. She and her father. They killed my father, so they could make this happen. Though, I felt like I was the only one fighting now.

  But to kill a king to marry a bastard?

  Unless they were going to kill…

  “Hear me out,” George began, holding up his hands in surrender. “This is going to take some convincing on Ava’s part, I’m afraid, but I can’t think of anything else to do.”

  “What if the Chitwoods are behind our father’s death?”

  That question got two pair of eyes looking at me like I had gone completely insane. One furrowed, the other wide-eyed.

  “Your ego is that big?” George scolded.

  “No offense,” Reddington added. “But you’re a—”

  “I know what I am.” I looked at my brother. “What if you’re next?”

  George shook his head at me. “Doubt it, but let me continue what I was saying.”

  “I’m serious.”

  He shrugged. “And then what? Make my bastard brother the king? C’mon, Garr, get a grip and let me continue.”

  “I’m considering it.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, if we agree to the marriage, we could possibly, and quickly, get Sophia to divorce you. You could cut off her funds, keep her from her friends and in the castle. Make it a prison; she’d be crying to her father within weeks.”

  “Still waiting to hear the good part.”

  “You wouldn’t stop seeing Ava,” Reddington chorused. “That alone would make her furious.”

  I stared at him. “So, you want me to publicize Ava as my mistress?”

  George shook his head. “No, no. No one else would be aware of the plan.”

  “Unless Sophia opened her big mouth,” I cut in.

  George slapped me in the chest. “You’d need to threaten her, Garr. Use your inner asshole and make her life a living hell. I’m more than confident you can pull it off.”

  “This is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth, George, and I’ve heard many.”

  He threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “It’s all I got. I’m stuck, just like you are. I can’t undo a dead king’s agreement. We’ve already checked out the witnesses; they came out clean. I need you to buy me more time.”

  “We have a meeting with Lord Chitwood in a few moments,” Reddington announced.

  I glanced at my brother. “You already made the meeting?”

  “Like I said, we need to convince them that we submitted to their agreement. Then it’s our chance to turn the tables.”

  ∞∞∞

  Sitting in the King’s study, now my brother’s, I felt tense. Like I was about to be ordered the death sentence over a crime I didn’t commit; that crime being Sophia’s obsessive plan to marry me. I was wound up so tight, I didn’t even argue when Reddington entered the room with us.

  I had a bigger problem sitting in front of me right now.

  “I’m honored that you made the time to see me, Your Majesty,” Lord Chitwood addressed, sipping tea with an extended pinky finger. He rested his forearm along his immense stomach, while Sophia sat, prim and proper, in the chair next to him.

  She flattened her cream dress with her hands, sitting straight and looking like she was an innocent, abiding with her father’s wishes. Not the conjurer who stormed in my room, accusing me of sleeping with Ava, and that she wouldn’t stop until we were married.

  “Not a problem,” George responded. “We have plenty to discuss.”

  “That we do.” Chitwood gave his cup to Sophia. “We would like to have the wedding by the end of the year, if that would be suitable to Lord Cranfield.”

  I opened my mouth to tell Chitwood exactly what I thought about that idea, but George spoke instead.

  “I’ll have to check with the event planner, but I don’t see an issue with that.”

  “Fantastic. My little angel is very excited for this match.” He grinned at Sophia, who sheepishly looked down.

  Oh, fucking please.

  “Angel, huh?” I retorted. “Do angels entered men’s bed chambers alone and uninvited?”

  Chitwood looked at me for the first time since he entered the room. The man wasn’t an idiot; he knew I didn’t want to marry his whore of a daughter.

  No one wanted to marry his whore of a daughter.

  “I’m sorry?”

  Dismissing his fake ignorance, I turned my attention to Sophia. “What will it take to buy you off? Money? A house? A new wardrobe? What do you want?”

  “A husband,” she replied in a small voice that I didn’t recognize coming out of her. This act of hers was something I was going to break the shit out of. Just because her father and the most powerful man in the country were in the room, she wasn’t fooling anyone. This charade was going to stop.

  I placed my glass of brandy down on the table next to me and stood. “Great, let’s go find you one.”

  Reddington came up behind me, pushing down on my shoulder to sit. “Lord Cranfield is a little overwhelmed, with everything happening so quickly. His father’s death, the threat still at hand, and now a soon-to-be wife; it’s a lot to take in.”

  Chitwood relaxed in his ch
air. “Of course.”

  “Lady Chitwood,” my brother said, handing me back my glass. “Being the wife of the brother to the king comes with specific requirements and acts. We’d need you to follow strict protocol, and act with utter modesty.”

  “I understand, Your Majesty.” She gave him a small smile. “I shall do whatever Lord Cranfield requires of his wife.”

  I squeezed the arm of my chair as images of Ava entered my mind. I felt as though I was betraying her in the worst conceivable way by being in this room.

  “Lord Chitwood, as you know, you will be releasing all your rights of your daughter into the hands of Lord Cranfield, and may not interfere in any way within their marriage. If there is infidelity within the marriage, a divorce may be issued. No provisions will be provided to Lady Chitwood if this takes place.”

  Chitwood paused for a moment, thinking, before nodding.

  “We’ll have the agreement made up for you to look over this week,” Reddington added.

  Chitwood peered at me. “I have no problem signing anything you see fit, Your Majesty, as long as Lord Cranfield treats my daughter well.”

  I leaned back deeper in my chair. “And what would that consist of, Judge?”

  “No mistresses.”

  I laughed.

  Hard.

  “I don’t think that is appropriate to ask,” George informed, steel in his voice.

  Chitwood groaned, pushing himself up off his seat to lean closer. “It’s very appropriate to ask when there have been rumors that Cranfield is engaged to another at this moment. To Lady Barlow.”

  Anger hit me, and my body went to react, but George plastered his hand to my forearm. “That is none of your concern,” George bit out, waving his hand dismissively.

  “It is when my daughter will be the laughingstock of society.”

  “Remember who you are talking to,” George growled. “Lady Barlow is a very close friend to the crown.”

  Chitwood’s nose flared. “I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty. It is an honor for my daughter to marry your brother. But she has pride, like any other woman, and I will not have her upset with another woman.”

  “You mean, just Lady Barlow,” I sneered. “Any other woman, Sophia would just chase away. But Ava doesn’t bow down to bullies.” My attention went to Sophia. “Didn’t she smack you, Lady Chitwood?”

  Sophia’s face reddened, and I was sure it wasn’t from embarrassment.

  “She did what?!” Chitwood bellowed. I covered my mouth with a hand, proud of my Avie, and knowing a smile wouldn’t help the situation.

  “Any other requirements?” George piped up, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand.

  Chitwood looked over at his daughter, who remained silent, even though she looked like she was seething through her teeth. Her eyes bore daggers at me.

  “None that I can think of, but if I do, I’ll send notice,” Chitwood replied.

  “I’m not signing shit,” I declared. Both sets of Chitwood eyes landed on me, as I stood up to leave. “See you at dinner, George.”

  Ava

  Chapter 40

  The summer sun was bright and welcoming as I walked through the training grounds. Noticing two of the Elite Eight leaning against a gate, I waved at them. I really needed to learn their names.

  Carrying a basket I got from Mr. Liason in the kitchen, I searched for Garrett. The idea of a surprise lunch was Eve’s idea, since she noticed he had been irked lately. Which, based on our conversation last night, we obviously both knew why.

  “He needs special attention,” Eve told me, as we laid in her bed just talking. “We both know he doesn’t want to marry that scandalous little blonde. She makes us other blondes look bad.”

  I chuckled. “I don’t know what to do about it. George hasn’t told me anything about if he can reverse it.”

  “Do you think they can?”

  I took a deep breath. “No.”

  I wasn’t a naïve girl anymore; happy endings only seemed to exist in the books I read. This world was too harsh and cruel to inflict any longtime joy in my direction. Or maybe it was the company I kept that made it feel that way. Being around the royals my whole life made living a little more difficult.

  “Never say never.” Eve placed her small hand on mine. “We’ll get through this together.”

  “And what if he must marry her, Eve? What do I do?”

  She was silent for a moment as we laid there, looking at the high ceiling.

  “I don’t know. We’ll worry about that if the time comes.”

  Finding Garrett wasn’t hard. He was the only man yelling out orders while several groups of men practiced fighting with their swords. He circled them, watching their form, until his eyes settled on me.

  He ordered something to his captain, then strode toward me. The sight of him still made my heart quicken. That this man was interested in marrying me, wanted to bed me, made my whole body warm at the thought.

  He gave me a wolfish smile. “Hi,” he greeted in a low tone.

  I didn’t know how that the word coming from him could make me feel so delicious, but it did. He held my eyes hostage with his beautiful blue ones.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt.” I felt like a stupid girl who shouldn’t have been out here while more important things were happening.

  He stepped closer to me, our bodies almost touching, as he peered down at me. “I missed you.”

  I took in his scent; all male and fresh air. He was dressed in brown slacks and a white shirt that was unbuttoned at the top. He looked too attractive to even be real, and the stubble on his face made him look dangerously rugged.

  “I missed you too.”

  He linked his arm in mine, escorting me the short distance to the small cabin he operated out of. “Did you?”

  “Do I have a reason not to?” My lips quirked up. He opened the door for me, the smell of pine filling my nose.

  The only furniture in the cabin was a small desk, two chairs, a small bookcase, and no windows. Papers were scattered all along his desk, displaying that his mind had been on things other than organization.

  He closed the door. “I don’t know. You may have replaced me already; you aren’t over here showering me with kisses yet.” I turned around with a smile, and he raised a brow. “Well?”

  “Well, there is a lot of competition out there,” I teased, sitting on the side of his desk. He rolled his eyes and sat in the chair next to me.

  “I’m aware of that.”

  “And so much to learn,” I noted, trying to hide my smile when he scowled at me.

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” he growled and reached for my arm, pulling me to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I straddled him, feeling his hard cock through his pants. It was all the motivation I needed to keep going.

  “You’re lucky I like my teacher.” That got me a smile.

  “Always here to please, Lady Ava.” He cupped my ass with his hands and squeezed firmly. Leaning down, I kissed his lips softly, innocently, wanting to silently have the power. Because once he took over, I would lose it and be his to do whatever he willed. He could bend me in ways to make my entire body submissive.

  I laced my tongue with his, rocking my body against him. He moaned, thrusting his hips up to tease me. Lust ripped through my body, and my breasts rubbed against his chest, while I dug my fingers into his back, silently telling him I wanted more.

  “Are you seducing me, my Lady?” he teased, and I smiled against his mouth.

  “Is it working?”

  “Fuck yes, it’s working.”

  “I’m not done yet.” I lifted my skirts, purposely not wearing any undergarments, just in case I was able to have some alone time with him. Obviously being shameful wasn’t within my person.

  I stood, working at his buttons on his pants. “Could you be a darling and lower those for me?”

  Keeping his heated gaze on me, he fumbled at his pants, leaning up to mesh his lips with mine again. Once
they were to his knees, I lowered myself again, finding his hard cock. Positioning myself, I slid onto him.

  “Shit,” Garrett bit out. “I’ve been a bad influence on you.”

  I pressed myself lower on his cock. “I’d say you were the best thing that has ever happened to me.” I took all of him and moaned. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “My darling, I’d agree to anything you say, right now and forever, if you promise to do this again.”

  I started to ride him. “Hmm…I promise this…and more.”

  He grabbed my hips and greedily took me at his leisure. We both needed this. The tension and frenzied week brought us to an unbearable want of each other. It was a silent agreement, if only for a few moments, and we stole them for ourselves.

  It didn’t take long for my body to ache for release, I kept him deep within me, riding him, as I searched for what I was looking for.

  “Avie…yes sweetheart.” Garrett moaned deeply, as he held my sides. I started to lose control with the way his hands dug deeper into my skin, making me scorch for him. He bit my neck softly, and I suddenly came, soaring over him. My release triggered his, and I held him tightly, trying to catch my breath.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, touching his cheek with my face.

  He let out a small laugh. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

  I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t going through hell, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment. He was reminded of it at every turn, from George or Reddington. I wanted to be his peace, someone he could come to and be mute to the outside world because that’s who he was to me. He was the only air that wasn’t contaminated by reality, and I found myself consumed with it.

  ∞∞∞

  With his fingers laced with mine, Garrett and I strolled along, outside the castle walls—with four of his men. I just wanted to walk, get us out of every prying eye in the castle, and have alone time. Feeling him next to me warmed my body against the cooling waft of wind.

  “Avie, I want to talk to you about everything that has been happening,” Garrett confided. “I’m not sure how much my brother has been keeping you abreast of.” I saw him look up at the sky. Pinks and purples swirled in beautiful streams in the sky. “George arranged a meeting with Lord Chitwood, agreeing to the marriage.”