My Husband's Mate Is My Sister

~FREYA BLACKNER~ “Today, you will marry Lucas Lance Vinci, whether you like it or not." My father informs me. His mighty voice rocks the room; even the guards flinch at his anger. “I will not waste any more time. Things might have been different for our families if I'd done this marriage earlier." I close my eyes and focus on the sweet melodies of the birds chirping just outside my window. The sound is so soothing that it feels as though the birds are speaking to me, whispering words of comfort and hope. I needed comfort to overcome what my father was trying to force me to do. Marriage was not a game. It was not an easy thing to go through, especially not in my case. My case was special since the man in question already had a woman he was interested in. However, I know that I cannot say no to my father; I also know that I cannot tell him of the looks I've seen my future husband give to none other than my dear, sweet sister. My father may not be able to see it, but they are connected—Lucas and Avery. I can see that they are meant for each other. I knew that telling my father this would put both the lives of my sister and Lucas in trouble. And it was the last thing I would ever put my sister through. I barely knew Lucas, but he was nothing like my father or brothers. He was gentle and kind. He never showed me any roughness, and he was every bit of a gentleman. He would have been a lovely husband had he not been interested in my sister. Avery was beautiful; men usually wanted her over me. I always knew that she wouldn't have any trouble finding a husband. I never knew that my future husband would also be fascinated with her, however, but it was understandable. "Why must it be him?" I finally asked my father. "Why do you not let Avery marry him instead?" After all, she is the woman that he truly wants. He narrows his eyes, and I can tell how displeased he is by my suggestion, "Avery is not the right woman for Lucas. Many suitors are already waiting in line for her, and I will only choose the strongest out of all, the one that will benefit our people the most. Lucas, on the other hand, is important; he is the only link between those bloody men who betrayed me, including your deceiving brother. It would help if you married him. There is no question here. Tonight. You will marry him. All the preparations are already made; unlike last time, I did not inform Lucas about it. I wouldn't give him a chance to run off and spoil my plans. This wedding will be a surprise. He doesn't have a chance to back off, and neither do you." I clench my jaw and bite my tongue to keep from saying something that will upset my father. He wasn't the best to deal with on his happy days; I don't even want to begin to think of him on his angry days, primarily if that anger is directed towards me. My body goes still when the door opens, and my future husband walks in. "It's good that you finally came," my father says coldly. Lucas glares at him, and there is no question as to whether or not he hates my dad. It was expected my father had many enemies; I'm still surprised that he chose to keep one of those enemies close to him. Then again, my father always did things in puzzles. He loved to play with your emotions, and you could never honestly tell what he was planning or thinking of doing. Even now, I'm tempted to believe that he isn't so clueless about Avery and Lucas. I quickly dismissed that thought; if he knew, he would have killed Lucas on the spot. "Why did you call for me?" Lucas finally asks. He doesn't look at me once, allowing me to gaze at him. Something I've caught myself doing multiple times since my father introduced us. He has dark brown hair that can easily be mistaken for black if you don't look closely, his jawline was sharp, and he was neatly clean-shaven, something I've always preferred in men. His grey eyes flash in annoyance as he waits for my father to answer. One of the reasons that made me love when he didn't look at me was that I got the chance to look at him. Lucas was undoubtedly a handsome man, and I'm sure that his good looks have made him popular with the ladies. However, his kindness makes me believe that he's never led anyone on before; I'm sure that he let each of those women down in a gentle manner and went on with his life. That's the kind of man that I believed he was. “You will marry my daughter today and become a member of our family.” My father announces.