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“That’s hard to do.” I bite my bottom lip, rolling it between my teeth before sighing. “I’ve spent a lifetime with them trying to make me into the person that they think I should be. Do you think it would be better to skip this dinner completely?”
He chuckles, squeezing my hips lightly. “You won’t be happy if you don’t go to that dinner and hold your head high. Show them that you’re more than they think you are. If you don’t stand up to their shit now, you’re going to live the rest of your life wishing you had.”
I shed the towel and pull the dress on, grinning when his hands only fall away from my body long enough to get the dress on. “I don’t think that I would regret skipping the dinner. It would be a lot easier than trying to confront them.”
“Zoe, it’s okay to set boundaries with people. Hell, it’s healthy to set boundaries with people. You’re your own person. You might be their daughter, but you have a life of your own to live. They need to know what being in your life will look like.”
“And what if they hate me for it?”
He shrugs and reaches up to cup my face with one hand. “I’ve spent a lot of time around Ava in the last couple weeks. There is no way that she could ever hate you. As for your parents, if they can’t accept the boundaries that you set, then that’s their problem.”
I nod and take a deep breath. “We should get going. If we’re late, there is going to be hell to pay.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Then there is going to be hell to pay.”
“Christian, it isn’t worth it.”
“I could make being late worth your while,” he says, his voice raspy.
He leans down and grazes my earlobe with his teeth. “Especially if you don’t plan on putting on anything under that dress.”
My cheeks feel like they’re on fire as I shake my head. “Not going to happen. The sooner we get to dinner, the sooner we’re done with them for the night. I love my parents, but there is only so much of being around them that I can take.”
He laughs and takes my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. “Fine. I won’t lick your clit on the way to the restaurant.”
“Not on the way home either.” I grin as he rolls his eyes.
“You’re going to be begging for it by the end of the night.” He smirks as he turns to me. “You’ve been a fiend for my cock all week.”
“You’re full of shit.” My cheeks ache from smiling as he walks with me to the garage.
I would be lying if I didn’t say that part of what worries me about dinner is Christian and Dad spending time together.
Christian is a dangerous man, and while I’m still wrapping my head around that, I can’t completely ignore the fact that he threatened to kill my father.
“Hey,” Christian says as he opens my door. “What’s going on? You just went from happy to completely out of it.”
I shrug and get into the car. “You and my dad aren’t exactly on the best terms. You threatened to kill him if I didn’t do what you wanted. I don’t know what I’m supposed to think or feel right now. It’s hard to see both parts of you and try to fuse them into one person.”
His expression goes blank for a moment before his gaze softens.
Christian leans down, the smell of his cologne wrapping around me as he invades my space. “I can’t fix that for you, Zoe. You’re either going to see me one way or another. I will not change who I’ve had to be or what I have to do for the couple hundred people who rely on me. It’s up to you to either come to terms with that, or not.”
“And what happens if I can’t?” The lump in my throat threatens to choke me.
“Then I guess we have to find another way to make this marriage work.” He brushes away a stray tear that escapes with his thumb. “Let’s just try to make it out of this dinner alive.”
I nod, knowing that I need to focus on something else right now.
Thinking too much about Christian and the cartel side of him is a lot.
I wish that I could tell Ava everything. She would be the one person who might be able to offer me solid advice.
Instead, I need to work through my feelings on my own.
I know that I’m falling for him, despite everything that’s happened since we met. It feels like there’s an attraction between us that I can’t ignore.
Christian is also capable of horrible things. He’s the kind of man who makes me witness the disposal of a body without a second thought.
