The man I was forbidden to love

chapter 2

Irene

I had always believed that peace was a choice. My father disagreed.

"Peace," he once told me, "is what people call the silence between two wars."

I thought he was being dramatic. Then I met Anansi Aurelis. And suddenly his words made sense. The Aurelis estate was colder than I expected. Not physically. The people. They looked at us as if we were intruders.

As if our presence beside their dead was an insult. My mother had warned me before we came.

"Do not provoke them."

"I won't."

"Do not argue."

"I won't."

"Do not let your emotions control you."

I had smiled.

"Mother, I know how to behave."

She had looked at me for a long time.

"You don't know how Aurelis men behave."

That had been the strangest warning. Now I understood it. Anansi had stood beside his father's grave like he belonged to the storm. Tall. Still. Composed. He was beautiful in a way that was almost unfair.

But it wasn't his face that caught me. It was his eyes. They were not cold. That would have been easier. They were warm. Too warm. Like he was looking at the world and understanding more than he was willing to say.

When he looked at me, I felt seen. Not examined. Seen. There was a difference. I had heard stories about him. Everyone had. Anansi Aurelis was supposed to be arrogant.

Manipulative. Dangerously intelligent. A womanizer. A genius who could persuade people to do things without realizing they had been persuaded. Some said he could walk into a room and own it without raising his voice. I believed most of those stories. I just didn't understand why the man I had seen beside the grave looked lonely.

I found him again later that evening. The funeral had ended. The guests were being moved toward the main house. I had stepped outside because I needed air. The gardens were beautiful. Ancient. The Aurelis had wealth, but their real luxury was space.

Every tree seemed older than the houses around it. I walked toward the edge of the garden.

"Running away?"

I stopped. Anansi was leaning against a stone pillar. I hadn't heard him approach.

"From you?"

"Hopefully."

I smiled.

"You're very confident."

"I'm usually right."

"That's unfortunate."

"For you?"

"For everyone around you."

He laughed. It was the first time I had heard it. It was softer than I expected. "What do they call you?" he asked.

"Irene."

"I know."

"Then why ask?"

"Because I wanted to hear you say it."

I stared at him. He smiled. That smile was dangerous. Not because it was seductive. Because it was sincere. "What do you want?" I asked. He pushed away from the pillar.

"I haven't decided."

"That's honest."

"I'm trying something new."

"What?"

"Not pretending I know everything."

For the first time, I looked at him carefully. There was something behind his confidence.

Pain.

I recognized it. Perhaps because I had spent my life surrounded by people who hid their pain behind intelligence. "You loved your father," I said. His smile disappeared.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

Silence settled between us. It wasn't uncomfortable. That surprised me. "What was he like?" I asked. Anansi looked toward the gardens.

"Complicated."

"That's not a description."

"It is when you're Aurelis."

I smiled. He looked at me.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why are you here?"

"My family came to pay respects."

"No."

His voice had changed.

"Why are you here?"

I hesitated.

"Because my father asked me to come."

"And what did he tell you?"

"That there are things about our clans I need to understand."

Anansi's eyes sharpened.

"Such as?"

"I don't know."

"That's convenient."

"You don't trust me."

"I don't trust anyone."

"That sounds lonely."

"It is."

The answer came too quickly. I didn't expect it. Neither did he. Something shifted. I looked away.

"You should go back inside."

"Why?"

"Because your uncle has been watching us for the last three minutes."

Anansi's face changed. I looked over his shoulder. Leon stood in the doorway. His expression was unreadable.

"How did you know?"

Anansi smiled faintly.

"Because he's not very subtle."

Leon walked toward us.

"Irene."

"Leon."

His eyes moved between us.

"You should join your family."

"I was just leaving."

Anansi said nothing. I walked past him. Then stopped. I turned back.

"Goodnight, Anansi."

His eyes softened.

"Goodnight, Irene."

I walked away. I should have forgotten him. Instead, I spent the entire journey home thinking about the way he had said my name. And that frightened me more than any clan war ever could.