Isabel's smile finally cracked.
"Excuse me?" she said, and for the first time all evening, her voice lost its careful, honeyed pitch.
"You heard me." Caden rose from behind his desk, unhurried, the way he moved when he wanted a room to understand exactly how little he needed to raise his voice to be obeyed. "This conversation is over. It was over before it started."
"Caden, be reasonable. I'm offering you an alliance that would strengthen both our territories. I'm offering..."
"You're offering yourself," Caden cut in, "as though I asked. I didn't." His eyes flicked, briefly, to Rhea, something steadying in them despite the anger underneath. "And even if I hadn't already made my feelings clear on that subject, I would not build an alliance on the back of insulting the woman standing in
