“So why did you even do something so stupid when you know it can blow up in your face and make everything worse?
“Elisse, I am aware that what I have done wasn’t entirely strategic.”
My heart beat harder. “Explain yourself.”
“The truth is that I haven’t forgotten you since the masquerade. Since the morning you got up, smiled at me, anddecided to walk out on me, I haven’t forgotten you. I could have followed orders, and I could have used you and broken you just the way Kliment wanted, but I didn’t do any of that. I couldn’t do any of that.”
“So you married me instead.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not better.”
“It is.”
“Because you somehow decided that you wanted me?” I demanded.
“Yes. I didn’t somehow decide it, Elisse. I do want you.”
The bluntness of his admission stole my breath.
“You don’t get to want me,” I snapped.
“I already do.”
Rage flooded me so fast it felt like heat under my skin.
“You are nothing but arrogant, selfish, and self-centered, and you cannot think about anyone but yourself.” I shoved him, but he didn’t budge. “You think just because you couldn’t forget me that justifies this?”
“No. But for me, it wasn’t just about war. It was also about you.”
“That doesn’t make it romantic.”
“It wasn’t meant to.”
I shoved him again, harder this time, but he caught my wrists easily.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” I demanded. “Tell you the truth?”
“Don’t reduce this to impulse.”
“That’s exactly what it is.”
“It’s not.”
“You met me once, you slept with me once, and somehow you decided that it was enough to bind me to you legally? Bind me to you without my consent? Bind me to you without telling me the truth about your identity and the truth behind your intentions? How is any of it fair?”
“It’s not.”
The fury inside me snapped, and I wrenched one hand free and struck him across the chest, but he caught me again, this time pulling me closer instead of pushing me back.
“You don’t own me,” I hissed.
“I know.”
“Then stop acting like you do.”
