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"Well?" she says impatiently. "Out with it, girl; I don’t have all day."
"I want to stay with you," I burst out.
"What?"
"I want to stay here with you, so I can ... keep my chastity."
"Keep your chastity?" She stares at me. "You mean to say, you are—"
"Yes," I say hastily, " I am, and we haven’t yet ... you know…" Color sears my cheeks, and I glance away, then back at her.
"You mean Christian wants to marry you without even having—"
I nod. "Yes, exactly." I wring my fingers together. "And I want to keep it that way. I mean, we aren’t yet married, and I’m a firm believer in consummating my marriage only on the wedding night."
"Does he know that you are going to ask me for this?" She raises her hand. "Don’t answer that. Of course, he doesn’t. If he did, he wouldn’t have brought you here, would he?"
I shake my head. "So, you’ll help me?"
"Even if I did agree to your staying here with me, and that’s a big if, it’s no guarantee that he will stay away from you."
"It will be an effective deterrent."
"Hmph…." She purses her lips together. "You do realize this will make my grandson hate me even more than he does now."
"He doesn’t hate you."
"Maybe hate is too strong a word," she agrees, "but none of them have forgiven me for not intervening earlier to take them away from their father. If I had, they may have turned out to be different, not as hurt or broken, not so in touch with the darkness inside of them. They may have turned out to be more normal."
"You’re being too harsh on yourself. He was their biological father. You thought it made more sense to keep them with their father."
"Well, I was wrong. I knew I should have put my foot down for how he treated his wife and children, but I was too caught up in convention. I preferred to turn a blind eye to what was happening, and by the time I decided to get involved, it was too late."
"It’s never too late—"
"The only person who loved me unconditionally was Xander, and I never did try to understand him fully either. I was too blinded by the fact that he was unconventional in who he tried to love. I didn’t try to comprehend why he was so unorthodox in his relationships. And still, Xander forgave me and loved me… Only, I didn’t reciprocate his affection. Not really. I took him for granted and now … now he’s gone."
A tear runs down her cheek. She pulls out a handkerchief, pats her cheek, and glances into the distance. The silence stretches as she composes herself. Then she glances back at me. "I’ll do it," she declares, "for Xander, I’ll do this. I’ll help you."
"You will?"
She nods, "I can’t guarantee that Christian will follow the rules I set, but hopefully, you’ll figure out a solution to whatever is going on between the two of you by then?"
"Hopefully." I purse my lips. Somehow, I don’t think whatever is between me and Christian will have been resolved by then, but yeah, I’ll take the time it’s going to buy me.
11
Christian
"No." I glare between Nonna and my fake fiancée. "No fucking way, am I going to agree to this."
I arrived an hour after dropping Aurora off at Nonna’s place and was ushered into her living room, where I caught my fake fiancée laughing at something the old woman had said. Nonna had a smile on her normally stern countenance as if she was enjoying Aurora’s company. Huh? My grandmother doesn’t bestow her smiles freely. But it's clear that she finds Aurora entertaining enough to actually meet her separately for a coffee.
Nonna reaches for a biscotti before admonishing me. "Language," she says in a casual voice before nibbling on the biscotti.
"The swearing is the least you have to worry about," I growl. "She’s my fiancée—"
"I don’t see a ring on her finger."
