She squeezed his knees.
"Once you have the army," she said, painting the picture for him, "the title will follow. Fame and fortune will follow. You will be the most powerful man in the kingdom. And then... then we can deal with Marissa and Derek properly. We can crush them under the weight of your authority."
Carlos looked at her. He saw the belief in her eyes—or what he thought was belief. It fed his starving ego.
But then his gaze drifted back to the book on the table. The excitement faded, replaced by the heavy, sullen resignation of a lazy man facing a mountain of work.
He reached out and grabbed the book, but he didn't open it. He just held it, weighing it in his hand.
"Taking over the military is not easy, Ashlyn," he said, his voice heavy. "It is not just reading books. It is politics. It is command. It is... work."
He looked at the thick volume with distaste.
