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Will she ever see me as anything other than her abductor?
We pull into the garage and I help her out of the car. She only hesitates a moment before placing her hand in mine, but I can’t tell if she wants my help or if she's just being polite. God this woman drives me crazy.
Getting a better grip on her, I entwine our fingers and lead her into the house. She doesn’t resist as I tow her along to my office. And her passive acceptance makes me fucking giddy. What’s wrong with me? I’m acting like I’ve never held hands with a girl before. Which come to think of it, I haven’t.
Inside, I lead her to the package sitting on my desk, reluctantly releasing her hand. “Open it.”
She gives me a suspicious look, but does as I ask. Opening the package, she finds my gift to her, and I swear my heart stops as I wait for her reaction.
CHAPTER 16
Arianna
Opening his gift, I discover it’s a laptop. Confusion creases my brow and I glance up at him. “Thank you. This is… unexpected.”
He rubs the back of his neck, as if he’s uncertain or embarrassed. “I’ve seen you working all week on your phone, checking emails, and trying to keep all of your work information organized, and I just thought it would be easier on a laptop.”
Shock momentarily renders me speechless. He bought me a gift to make my work easier?
“This is very thoughtful of you.” I smooth my fingers over the slick metal. “But, I thought you hated the fact that I work.”
“No, kisa, I don’t understand why you insist on working, but I don’t hate it. If anything, I admire your drive, and your independence. If you want a career, then I want to see you dominate it.”
Once again, I’m not sure what to say. Who is this man? Where did he stuff that overbearing jerk for the night? More importantly, what do I do with this very kind and thoughtful version of Dimitri that has seemingly appeared out of nowhere?
I settle on honesty. “I do plan to have a career, and I will dominate it. My plans are already set in motion. Thank you for the laptop, this is a game-changer for my workflow.”
He smiles, genuinely for the first time. The expression lights up his striking features, even softening that faint scar across his eyebrow, and he looks terribly handsome.
If we’d met under more agreeable circumstances, how differently would we regard each other?
I mentally shake that thought away. He’s not my type and he never will be. The situation between us can morph and change, but that doesn’t matter. He kidnapped me, forced us into marriage, and tattooed his name on my ring finger. The past can’t be altered and I’ll never forgive him.
Not that he wants my forgiveness, all he desires is my acceptance of this situation.
“Good night,” I say, hugging my new laptop to my chest, and brushing past him. He murmurs the statement in return, letting me go.
On the best of days this man leaves me teetering off balance, then he goes and does something like this and I… I don’t know what to think or how to feel. Between him telling me about his childhood, the fact that he chose this elegant and appropriate dress for tonight instead of something revealing, and now this thoughtful gift, my defenses are starting to weaken.
I can feel my walls cracking and I don’t like it one bit. I have to hate him. Because if I begin to not hate him, then I’m lost.
Imeet my sisters, Sophia and Ginevra, and our cousin Ravenna, at my favorite bakery in Manhattan. It feels so much longer than a week and half since I last saw them. I’ve missed them terribly.
As expected, they launch right into grilling me about Dimitri. It’s quite reminiscent of how we all did this to Sophia less than a year ago. I let them swamp me with questions, while they debate points with each other, too anxious to let me answer.
Finally, I silence them with a raised hand. “Honestly, just let me explain.”
They nod in unison.
“I’m fine. He’s treating me well enough, better than expected honestly. Even so, I hate him and hope that this ridiculous marriage will come to an end sooner rather than later.” Which leads me to what I really want to know about. “Sophia, you said Papa is doing some work for Dimitri. Do you know what it involves?”
“As far as I can tell, it’s a man hunt.”
“Do you know who they’re after?”
Sophia shakes her head. “I don’t. And so far, Roman’s not involved. Papa hasn’t told me any details about it.”
I sag. This is a dead end. “I’m just trying to figure out his motive for taking me, you know? Like for Roman he kidnapped you as revenge against your fiancé at the time. And Ravenna, Cian married you to stop a war. Can it really be as simple as Dimitri needing to uphold our family’s agreement? That seems petty.”
