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She flushed, her cheeks burning with heat. “It’s only our first night here. I don’t know anyone. I barely know my way around.”
“You have our son. You know Maria. That should be enough.” He paused, considered her. “It has to be enough. Because that’s all you really have.”
She felt as if he’d slapped her. Her eyes watered. Her blush deepened, her skin burning from her chest to her brow. “You don’t need to be cruel.”
“I see. You can say whatever you want, but I have to play nice?”
“I’m sorry about earlier—”
“No you’re not. You’re never sorry. You’re spoiled and selfish and incredibly self-centered. And since you’re so big on the truth, let me tell you the truth. You are the absolute last woman in the world I would have picked to be my wife.”
“You didn’t used to think that—”
“Because I didn’t know you. But I do now.”
She buried her hands behind her back as tears filled her eyes, and then pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling.
“Truth hurts,” he said bitterly, “doesn’t it?”
“I never meant to hurt you,” she said, “but you’re enjoying being cruel.”
“I don’t enjoy being cruel. But I will give it to you straight. This isn’t the kind of marriage I envisioned, just as you aren’t the kind of wife I wanted. But it doesn’t matter now. I deal in reality, not in fantasy or fairy tales. We slept together. You became pregnant. I accept my responsibility.”
How could he be so cold when her heart felt as though it were on fire? “How good of you,” she murmured. “How very mature.”
He shrugged. “There’s no love here between us. There never will be, at least, not now. So we will focus on our son. We’ll sleep together on occasion. Have sex when the mood strikes. Put on a good face in front of my family. But that’s it. Understand? That’s all you’ll get from me, and that’s all I want from you.”
She blinked, looked away, battled to keep control because it felt like he was taking a knife to her, again and again. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Torturing me.”
“Torturing you is the last thing on my mind. I’m merely clarifying our relationship, defining the parameters before we have to function in front of my family and the rest of the world.”
“And those parameters?”
“You belong to me in the bedroom. The rest of your life is your own.”
“I am not an object.”
“Agreed. You are my wife. You will fulfill your conjugal duties. But you are free to shop, and travel, and make female friends of your choosing.”
“Female?” she flashed, glancing up at him, tears still matting her lashes.
“Only female. I will tear apart any man that comes within ten feet of you. You are my wife. You are a d’Severano. You’d best remember that.”
“You must enjoy having so much power when I have none.”
“You don’t need power. You have me.”
“To think for me, speak for me and force me to lie in your bed!”
“I shall never need force to get you into my bed. I proved that point yesterday. But if you’d care for a refresher—”
“Not necessary, but thank you.”
He smiled mockingly and reached for his tie, loosening it slightly. “Maybe I do have time for a quickie.”
