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“Because I don’t believe you. You will have to learn the hard way. Which I believe is theonlyway to get through to you. Soon enough, you will trust me more than them. You will support me over them. And I’ll be your world.” He steps away.
Instantly, I’m cold, a shiver running through me. His eyes are incredibly intense and never waver from mine.
“Remember, I’m doing this because I want us to succeed. I want a wife I can trust over anyone in my world. I want to love my wife with everything I have.”
He picks up his phone, placing it on speakerphone. “Blow up Luca’s wife’s yoga studio. The one she uses as a cover for her escort business.”
I grab his hand. “Please don’t,” I beg.
“Too late for that now.” He turns off the phone before the confirmation comes through the line. I can’t tell him about the christening now. He’ll use that omission as an excuse to hurt my family even more.
My family is never going to accept this marriage with how it’s going so far.
“Can you promise no one will get hurt?” I hate that I’m begging him, and the smile on his face proves I’m doing exactly as he hoped.
“That would be an impossible task. I will never lie to you, Katrina.”
“No, but you’re willing to hurt me instead.”
“This is your doing. I want you to remember that.”
He takes his arm away from me, so I walk past him, needing to see Capree. I pick her up and hold her tight.
I love you so much.
I won’t let her down. I will figure my shit out soon.
Chapter 18: Demetri
Anotherweekhaspassed,and I’ve learned that Katrina is planning a christening for our child without me. I’m not shocked by the information. Disappointed, yes. At first, I thought giving her time to face her family was what she needed. My tracker on her phone showed she continued to go home each day, but she refuses to be honest with me. Nothing has helped with the way she lies to me. Does she honestly think I don’t know?
I sit across the street from the church, watching each of her family members walk in. Katrina is stunning, as usual, as she stands outside the church, holding our daughter. I wait until they have all entered the sanctuary before I step out of my car. Standing tall, I put on my suit jacket before crossing the road. With each step, I prepare myself for the fallout of my presence.
This moment reminds me of when I busted into her sister’s wedding to stop it. My hands push the heavy doors open, and I welcome the silence that follows my entrance. I’ve come alone but heavily armed. It’s time I claim my woman in the open.
I watch as every male pulls their guns out with expert precision, but I keep my stride as I walk down the aisle.
“Hold fire,” Katrina demands of her family while I reach the last pew and pause. My eyes stay glued to the one woman who has found a way to hold my attention. Before I can put my raging thoughts into proper order, she speaks. “Everyone, meet my husband.”Finally. Happiness, pride, and relief flood my insides. I step up onto the chancel they’re all standing on. “And the father of my daughter.” I go to her side and place a kiss on her upturned cheek. I hadn’t realized her not telling her family had bothered me until now. My wolfish grin is impossible to force away. I want to pull Katrina in my arms and kiss the hell out of her. It’s the only way to show her how much her words mean to me. We communicate so much better physically. The urge to show her how much this means to me is overwhelming.
I look around the room with multiple guns still pointed at me, and I stay put at my wife’s side, allowing her the freedom to control the room like she was born to do.
She willingly gives me Capree, and I cradle her in my arms. I stare at her brother, waiting to see his next move. He’s glaring at my wife, and I know right then that he and I are going to have to have a talk about how they treat her. It’s time I take control and inform her family of their wrongs. But now’s not the time.
“Let’s start the process, shall we?” I challenge, the hostility in the air still crackling. One wrong move and I could be lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Slowly, her brother puts his gun away, but no one else follows his action.
The priest stumbles on his words as he restarts the process, his hands shaking. It’s the same man who performed the wedding, and he looks like he’s about to faint. Every gun is still pointed at me. It’s fucking insulting. But other than that small fact, everyone else in the room is acting like this is their norm. No one is paying any mind to all the guns being out but me.
Katrina holds up her hand, and the priest stops mid-word. She turns her full attention to her brother. “I expect everyone to welcome my husband into our family. I will not tolerate hostility. The war we have with the Bratva is now over. If you do not accept him, I will take my daughter, and you will never see us again.”
I refuse to show any shock. Her words cut through my heart. She’s so much stronger than she looks.
Her brother is bristling. He keeps touching his gun through his suit. It must be killing him not to pull it out and hold it to my head.
One of her sisters is kissing her husband. Then she giggles as they start whispering together. Maybe I have one ally in the family.
“While you two are making out, we could all be getting killed,” her brother scolds them, while Katrina’s hand lands on my forearm, and she gives it a light squeeze.
“Thank you for coming,” she mouths.
