"No need, Margaux," I said, my voice low. "I'm really tired."
I turned toward the door, ready to leave it all behind.
Just then, the bar's front doors slammed open, and someone stormed in. A hand grabbed my arm and yanked me backward with force.
"Troy, you feeling gutsy now?" Gerard's voice rang out as he shoved me hard toward her. "Talking divorce with Margaux like you actually have a say?"
"Apologize to Margaux right now. If you screw up this alliance, I swear, I won't let you walk away from it."
Gerard's words hit like a hammer, full of that smug authority he always carried like a badge. My older brother, the new head of the family, is cold-blooded and calculated, always thinking about the long game and never about the people caught in it.
I looked him straight in the eye with no fear and just a dull weight in my chest.
"Gerard," I said flatly, "is marriage just another business deal to you? Do you really think you get to decide who I stay with and who I sleep next to at night? How long do you expect me to keep selling myself for the Davidson name?"
As I spoke, my gaze shifted toward Archie, who hadn't said a word, just stood there like the smirking parasite he was.