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Iwas pretty sure this is what it felt like to lose my mind. I didn’t think I could feel any more fear than I had coming down those stairs and facing Angel again…but then I met his father, and I got to see, firsthand, where all that psycho-energy came from.
And now we were walking up toourroom. I knew that marrying Angel would come with certain expectations —I would be an idiot if I believed otherwise —but I didn’t think I would be faced with those expectations so soon.
Angel started walking, and I could do nothing but follow along after him. I watched the strain of his shoulders as we walked through the house. My body kept trembling, but I did my best to ignore it. I could be alone with Angel.I can do this, I told myself as we began to climb a set of side steps that were nowhere near as elegant as the grand staircase in the foyer. “We have the entire third floor of the west wing to ourselves,” Angel said, not bothering to look if I was behind him. “There’s our bedroom, a bathroom, and a large loft with a television.”
“You’re not worried about privacy?” I asked.
Angel paused at the top of the stairs, allowing me to catch up. His eyes were sharp on mine. “Do we need much privacy,mi esposa?”
My heart pounded in my ears. “I just meant —” The words stuck in my throat, and Angel put his hand on the small of my back and pulled me closer to him. My heart shuddered in my chest, and I wasn’t sure if it would be better to rip myself out of his grip…or just let it happen. Indecision froze me in place, and Angel looked all too pleased with that.
“Yes?” he taunted.
Why was talking to him so hard? “How do you keep people from just barging into your space?”
Angel chuckled. “If anyone did that, they would leave with pieces missing,” he said. “There are places in the house that are for anyone to hang out in; the rest is best left alone, so don’t go snooping.”
That was the literal last thing I would do, I thought, but I didn’t say that out loud. Lili had been right: sarcasm would end up getting me killed if I didn’t watch it. “I won’t,” I promised instead.
Angel nodded. “Good.” He released me, and we kept walking.
We reached our wing. It was massive —easily bigger than any place I’d ever lived before. It was alsoverymasculine. Everything was dark: the sofa in the loft was black leather, the curtains were the kind that blocked out the sunlight. The bookshelf and desk had an espresso stain. Immaculately designed and tidy, but I found it oppressive.
Angel pointed out the bathroom, and I nearly gasped when I peeked my head in. It was still dark —seriously, he hadneverheard of color before —but the shower and soaking tub made my mouth water. “Do you swim laps in that tub or something?” I asked.
He let out a derisive noise. “It’s just a tub.”
I gave him an incredulous look. “You do realize that your bathroom is bigger than my last apartment, right? I’m not exaggerating.”
“Aren’t you lucky then?” Angel asked, and there was a hard edge in his voice.
Anger pitted my stomach. I had been trying to hold it and my own fear back for days now, and I just couldn’t anymore. “Yes,” I hissed at him. “I feel soluckythat I saw a dozen people die in front of me, and now I’m married to a man who clearly cannot stand me, for the rest of our lives, because the alternative is that his rivals will do unspeakable things to me.” Tears stung my eyes, and I did my best to blink them away. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”
His jaw could cut glass, but surprisingly, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he took my arm again, gripping just this side of too-tight. “Let me show you our room,mi esposa,” he said through his teeth.
The fear roared back over my anger, but I was able to keep my feet as Angel dragged me down the hallway. He pushed open a door, and like all of the rooms that I’d seen so far, it was massive. The bed dominated the space, but he also had a seating area situated around a television, and there was a door that I imagined led to an equally impressive closet.
“Your clothes have been put away in the closet,” he said. “You can go through them later.”
My clothes? “Someone packed up my apartment?”
Angel shook his head. “Lili went shopping with your measurements; she got you a few things, but you’ll need to fill out a proper wardrobe.”
Oh. Something in my chest felt cracked open. I knew that no one would probably think to get my things from my apartment. Most of it was nothing special, anyway, but…there had been a small box of mementos from my mother. “Thank you,” I said. “For that.”
“Thank Lili,” he said dismissively. “It was her idea.”
I made a mental note to do just that. Then, hesitantly, I asked, “Did…did anyone go back to my apartment? After your men cleared me?”
“Why would anyone do that?”
Because I had a whole life that you interrupted?“Nothing,” I said and tried to ignore the crushing pain in my chest. “Never mind.”
Angelhmm-ed softly. “Get changed,” he said, gesturing to the closed closet door. “I’m going to take a shower.”
He left me standing in the middle of his room, and for the first time in far too many days, I felt like I could breathe for a moment…but I also didn’t know how much time it would take for Angel to shower. I wanted to be wearing something more comfortable by then. With layers.
I walked over to the closet and opened the door, expecting to find a few things hanging for me on a rack. Instead, half of the walk-in closet was filled with women’s clothing that I could only imagine was meant for me. Between the “his” and “her” sides was an island like what should be in a kitchen, but both sides had drawers.
