I feel like I’m standing on the edge of something huge, and I’m terrified of falling.
“What do you mean by that?” I whisper, my voice barely audible.
My heart is beating so hard it feels like it might burst out of my chest.
Nico looks at me for a long moment, like he’s choosing his words carefully. Then he says it.
“I want to marry you.”
I blink. My brain short-circuits.
“What?” The word comes out sharper than I intended. “Say that again.”
“I want to marry you, Eleonora,” he repeats, calm and serious, eyes locked on mine.
I’m stunned. Completely frozen. I didn’t see this coming. Not even a little. I feel like I’m not hearing him right.
“What do you mean?” I ask, voice shaky. “Are you being serious right now? Is this a joke?”
His expression doesn’t change. “Do I look like I’m laughing? Of course, it’s not a joke. I’m serious.”
I shake my head, trying to process. “How can you just… propose marriage out of the blue? That wasn’t the plan. None of this was the plan.”
My mind is racing. Thoughts crash into each other, fear, hope, disbelief, longing. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t this.
Nico watches me carefully, waiting. Then he lets out a slow sigh and runs a hand through his hair, looking almost… unsure for a moment.
I’m still trying to find my voice when he speaks again, softer this time.
“What do you think about marrying me?”
I don’t know what to say.
Part of me wants to say yes, to throw myself into this feeling, into him. But the other part is terrified. This is Nico. The man who kidnapped me. The man I was supposed to hate.
“Why do you want to marry me all of a sudden?” I ask instead.
Nico pulls his fingers through his hair, letting out a slow, heavy sigh.
“Words on the street is that Gallo wants to marry you,” he says, voice low. “He’s trying to make a deal with your father. He doesn’t want Sienna anymore. He wants you instead.”
My heart stutters in my chest. I already knew this. Gallo had said it to my face at the masquerade, but hearing it confirmed like this makes it feel real.
“He’s pushing hard,” Nico continues. “If I let you go back… your future is ending up with him.”
I feel the color drain from my face. My stomach turns violently. Even though I had once been willing to take Sienna’s place to marry Gallo, the thought of it now, after everything with Nico, makes my skin crawl.
The memory of Gallo’s hand on my wrist, his arrogant smirk, the way he looked at me… it makes me nauseous.
Nico watches me carefully, reading every flicker of emotion on my face.
“So this is why you want to marry me?” I ask, my voice quieter than I want it to be. I hate how deflated I sound.
I know I shouldn’t expect romance from a man like him, but hearing that the proposal might just be another strategic move, stings more than I expected. I want to be chosen because he wantsme. Not out of pity. Not to block another man.
Nico’s expression shifts. He reaches out and cups my face with both hands, tilting my chin up so I have to look at him. His thumbs brush gently over my cheeks.
“I want to marry you because I don’t want to let you go,” he says, voice low and rough. “Because I’m obsessed with you, Eleonora. The thought of spending a single day without you makes me feel like I’m going fucking insane. I want to wake up with you in mybed every morning. I want to go to sleep with you in my arms every night. I wantyou. Not as leverage. Not as a bargaining chip. Just you.”
