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She opens her mouth to speak and I hold up my hand. "This isn’t a negotiation. Either we do this my way, or we don’t do this at all. And you can figure out how to find your own way out of this country and back to your premiere in the next twenty-four hours.
She pales. Her entire body stiffens. Then, "Jerkwaffle," I hear as she mutters under her breath.
"What’s that?" I drawl.
"Nothing." She covers her mouth and pretends to cough. "I was just clearing my throat, that’s all."
My lips twitch and I swallow the chuckle that wells up. Can’t remember the last time I was this entertained.
"So, what’s your answer?" I roll my shoulders. "I’m running out of time, Angel. Yes or no?"
Her eyes flash and color smears her cheeks. She draws in a breath, then tips up her chin. "I’ll do it, on one condition." A sly look comes into her eyes. "I want a real proposal."
12
Jeanne
Hello! What’s that all about? What are you saying? You want him to propose?Where did that come from?This is a fake marriage. He doesn’t want to marry you. He has no feelings for you. All of this is a ruse to pacify his brothers, so what’s this business about having him propose to me? Is it some romantic notion that I can’t get rid of? After all, this is the first time I’m getting married.
To be fair, I’ve never given the idea of marriage much thought. I’ve been too focused on my career. I hoped, at some point, I’d meet someone, and that person would fall for me as much as I’d be in love with him, and then we’d get married. And some part of me had been sure that when that happened, it would be for keeps. Instead, I’ve ended up with a Mafia guy who’s proposing some harebrained scheme where we pretend to be joined in matrimony to fool his family. Something I’m not entirely comfortable with, to be honest. But if this is the only way for me to get back to Palermo in time for the premiere of my musical, then so be it. No reason why I can’t milk the occasion, right?
"You want me to propose to you?" He pauses half-way to plopping a chip in his mouth.
"That’s what I said." I snatch the chip from his fingers and crunch down on it.Let’s see you try to wriggle out of this one, buster.
"As in, the kind of thing with a ring and stuff?"
"If we’re going to get married, we need to make it look genuine so that your brothers buy it, so yeah, absolutely, that means having a ring and stuff."
He pales. The tendons of his throat move as he swallows. "You mean, I have to buy you a ring?"
I nod. "And you’ll have to go down on your knee, and we’ll have to make sure there’s a photographer on hand to capture the moment so we can share it with your family as proof."
"No fucking way."
"Yes, f'ing way,baby." I reach for another chip, the last one in the packet, and bring it to my mouth, then pause. "Considering we are going to get married, here, you can have the last chip, as a show of good faith." I hold it out to him and he glances at it with suspicion.
"No thanks." He scowls at it as if he’d like to snatch it from my fingers and throw it on the ground, then jump on it.
"Come on, since we’re now a couple, it’s normal for us to show such acts of love to one another."
All remaining color drains from his face. "Wh-who said anything aboutlove?" He says the last word as if it’s a disease.
"It’s normal. If we’re going to convince your family that our marriage is not a sham, we’ll have to pretend that we’re in love, which means we’ll have to indulge in romantic gestures."
"Romantic gestures?" He screws up his face. "What does that involve?"
"You know, like holding hands, gazing into each other’s eyes, kissing on the cheek—"
"The only thing you’re going to be holding is my cock in your hand; the only thing I’m going to gaze at is your pussy, to ensure you’re suitably wet before penetration; the only thing you are going to kiss is—"
I hold up my hand. "I get the picture. And just so we’re clear, none of what you just outlined is going to happen."
"And none of what you outlined is going to happen, either," he shoots back.
"Fine," I snap.
"Fine." He smirks. "Besides, you already came on my tongue, remember?"
