Page 178 of Ashen Torment
The Viscount.
I open my mouth to speak, but he cuts me off instantly.
“I know perfectly well it cannot be what those fools write...”
He lets his dark gaze wander over me. “My grandson is no sodomite.”
Sodomite.
The contempt with which he spat the word pervades me.
I should make him swallow that book in his hand.
“However,” he continues, “I know it amuses you to manipulate the lives of others. Not the Viscount, Dorian. He belongs to an important family.”
“I am not manipulating anyone’s life, Grandfather.”
“Stop. You disappoint me when you limit yourself to mere provocation.”
“A pity. It is my best trait.”
“Do you not think it is time to take up the reins, Dorian?” His hands interlace before him.
“And you think I am like you? That a title, a contract, and a handshake are enough to set my life in order?”
“That is how things are done.”
I feel a cold sweat slide down my back, beneath my collar. My rage must remain sealed, invisible, but his words penetrate like a slow venom seeping into my veins.
“I am no puppet to be moved at your whim, nor a racehorse to be led to the finish line,” I hiss through my teeth, my body motionless while something inside me seethes, ready to explode.
His gaze remains locked on mine, impassive.
“Puppet?”
He rises from the armchair.
“I know you better than you think. You are just like your father. Only he feared facing what he was destined to do.”
He takes a few steps toward me.
“A stable union. It is time you began to think of it seriously.”
A stable union.
Marriage.
“I thought we were discussing my position. Not my body.”
“Your position is your body, Dorian.”
His voice remains steady, without a shadow of anger, only a decision already made.
“People do not respect the name alone. They respect what you represent. And as long as you remain a man alone, unresolved... you will remain incomplete.”
I run a hand through my hair.
“Incomplete,” I repeat, the blood rushing to my head.
