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“You need to stop listening to Dante. I thought I had gotten that under control. Apparently, I was wrong.”
“Dante has changed. He’s not bothering me. He’s dating my cousin Angelina.”
“Please, Dante is doing that to stay close to you. If you don’t see that, you’re fooling yourself.”
“I don’t think that matters.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I had a lawyer go through the marriage contract that you drew up with my father.”
“You did?” he asks, and the surprise etched on his face is almost priceless.
I bring my hands under the table and wring them together. I’m nervous and I’m fighting panic. Still, I know I need to have this out. My entire future is hinging on the fact that I have got to get out of this wedding quietly and without conflict. Niko is right about one thing and always has been. When you are in the “family” there are different rules. Arranged marriages might be the norm, but this marriage is not what I want. I don’t think I can survive it.
“I did. It plainly states that if I protest the marriage that I am allowed to call a halt to it.”
“I think it says it will be up to me to convince you to agree to the marriage if you have misgivings.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Semantics really.”
“Whatever. The point is, I don’t want to marry you.”
“Because I haven’t kissed you?”
“Becauseneither of us want this. We need to stop pretending. Seriously, how am I supposed to want this marriage when my fiancé barely talks to me—let alone kisses me—and is dating another woman?”
“I ended things with Katherine, Emilia.”
“Now who is using semantics?” I huff.
“I’m serious. We called an end to our arrangement before your birthday.”
“What does it matter? There will just be someone to take her place. Maybe that is okay for some women, but it’s not for me. I want my husband—whoever it will be—to be faithful to me. I want him to want me and only me.”
“That’s me.”
“Niko, stop.”
“Ask me why I broke things off with her, Emilia.”
“I don’t care to know.”
“Ask me,” he demands.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I ended my arrangement with Katherine because you were finally old enough that I didn’t feel like a fucking pervert for touching you, Emilia.”
His answer makes my heart stutter in my chest. I allow the small thrill his words bring to slide through me. My heart wants to believe him, but then, common sense intrudes. I shake my head, denying his answer, reminding myself that no matter what he says, I’ve been here—a hostage in this arrangement—while his life hasn’t changed. That night Zoe and I saw him at Salsa, he was kissing Katherine. He showed up at my birthday party alone, but I didn’t get a real kiss that night, either. Niko is very adept in placating people. I have no doubt in that. It goes hand in hand with his position in the family. It doesn’t make anything he says true, and I need to remember that.
“My father says you are going with him to Antonio’s home in Athens in a few weeks,” I murmur, not wanting to discuss this anymore because it’s clear he doesn’t want to discuss it truthfully. I’d rather shift gears to a neutral topic.
“I am, but I’m not letting you change the subject.”
“It’s a beautiful home,” I answer instead.
