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“It’s alright,” Leo said. He looked at me with a small smile. He had blindingly white teeth, which I wanted to punch. There was something about Leo’s handsome face that was just so punchable. It was too perfect. His features were almost perfectly symmetrical, and his teeth were perfect.
Leo had the type of face that people would trust. I wondered if that was why my father decided that he should be a lawyer. I could see him garnering trust with that easy smile and dark eyes.
“Kat and I will warm up to one another.”
“It’s Katarina,” I snapped.
“Your cousin called you Kat.”
My fingers twisted around the handle of the fork. “That’s different. Only my friends can call me Kat. You can call me Katarina.”
“Katarina,” his father barked at her as though she were a child. “Apologize.”
Fuck off, I thought to myself. I did not say it aloud. I was not completely insane. My father might not kill me, but he would find another way to punish me. That would likely mean cutting me off, which would mean that I would not be able to live in my own apartment or finish school.
He would make sure that I was home and under lock and key.
The idea of that happening kept my lips sealed together, but I was shaking with anger and embarrassment.
I dropped my fork. The side of the silver handle clanged against the plate, making a loud noise that brought everyone’s attention back to me.
“I need to use the restroom,” I said.
I pushed away from the table so quickly that my chair nearly tipped over.
My father or grandmother might have called after me, but I did not turn around. Instead, I walked through the house ignoring the guards that were stationed at several of the doors and found the bathroom furthest from the dining room.
I swung the door open and practically threw myself inside. I gripped the vanity and took a deep breath. I tried to center myself, but my father’s voice continued to echo in my head.
I came to the dinner with the plan to keep my cool. I wanted Leo and my entire family to think that I was coming around to the situation. If it had just been Leo, I might have been able to keep it together, but when my father spoke to me as though I were five years old, I felt an uncontained rage.
I was so busy trying to control myself that I did not hear the door open slightly. It wasn’t until I felt warm hands on my shoulders that I jumped and looked up.
Leo’s eyes met mine in the mirror.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
I wiped the rage tears from my eyes. “What the fuck are you doing in here?” I asked. I turned around and fixed him with a gaze full of rage. “Can I not have a moment to myself?”
Leo looked at me with pity in his eyes. “Your father wanted to come after you or have one of the guards drag you back to the table. He’s pretty pissed off.”
I chuckled. “Then, I suppose, job well done.” I squared my shoulders. “Should I give myself a pat on the back?”
Leo’s expression did not change.
“You know I don’t agree with how he spoke to you.”
“Why not?” I asked. I did not really want an answer. After all, it didn’t matter. My father was going to force this marriage through, and if I played my hand correctly, then, I would be done with Leo before the ink on the marriage certificate was even dry. But I could not stop the curiosity that I felt. “You are the reason that this is happening to me.”
“Am I?” He asked. From the tone of his voice, I knew that he did not agree with me.
“Yes,” I spat out. “If it weren’t for you—”
He leaned forward, pressing me into the edge of the sink. “If it weren’t for me, your father might end up dead, and who knows where you would be.”
I stiffened. “What do you mean?” I asked, breathless. This was the second time that I heard that my father’s life might be in danger.
Leo’s hand reached up and caressed my cheek. “Your father has made some dangerous enemies in the Bratva.”
