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"You know what I mean," I said, before I leaned in and kissed her again.
There was no point in talking about it endlessly, but I wanted to be sure she understood. Aiden and Dominic might be slow, but they would come around eventually.
If she chose us, this house would be her home.
CHAPTER27
Selena
Aiden leanedin the doorway of my room. I knew he was there while my back was still to the door as I stared out at the swaying trees. A storm was rolling in, making the sky even darker than it already was as the sun set. I could feel Aiden’s presence; there was something about him that changed the air in the room, charged it with electricity.
“Ready to pretend not to despise me for a few hours?” he asked.
“I think we’ve moved pastdespiseat this point,” I said. “Hopefully you don’t send me back there again.”
I flashed him a smile that I knew didn’t reach my eyes.
Tonight was our engagement party.
I had to face the man who had led the murder on my parents and pretend I was wildly in love with his son.
I wasn’t entirely sure I was pretending, but…
“Selena,” he said. “You don’t have to face him. I can say we broke up, we can find another way.”
“And you’ll still need your transfer of power.”
He inclined his head. At least he didn’t pretend. Protecting me would mean more damage to the innocent people his father would hurt and use.
“I'm going to kill your father,” I told him.
His lips tightened, and pain flashed across his face before he covered it with his usual blank expression. He dipped his head in a nod. “Of course. I would do the same.”
But I wasn't sure it was really that easy. Aiden and Gavin obviously loved each other, despite the tension between them. I didn't think that when Aiden first made that deal with me, he’d had any intention of ever letting me blow his father's head off.
“Why did you choose me? Really?”
“I wanted a girl who could keep up with me.” He crossed the room toward me, his movements graceful and predatorial, like always. “I knew when I saw you that I had met my match.”
“How did you know who I was?”
“Once I knew you weren't on the guest list, I put two and two together. I didn't know which Belladonna you were at first. But my father has richly earned a visit from the Belladonnas.”
“How did you know that before you kissed me?”
“I didn't.”
“Then why did you rescue me from that hideous situation with that creep?”
His gaze found mine. “Because there was something about you from the first time I saw you. I can't explain what it is. There's something special about you, Selena.”
“Then you were the first to feel that way,” I said, feeling the same well of loneliness that I had all my life because my family had been ripped away.
If I thought he was going to say something sympathetic, I had forgotten I was dealing with Aiden Crude.
He slid his fingers under my chin and raised my gaze to his. “You don't need anyone else to see you're special. I'm enough.”
My lips parted to tell him that he was an arrogant jerk-- as if he didn't know-- and his lips met mine. His kiss was slow and tender, and I lost myself in it, leaning into his body and letting myself forget my pain for a few moments.
