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“You’re never getting away from me again, Gia.”
“I don’t want to,” I admit, my voice breaking as emotion overtakes me. I feel my tears, but I don’t contain them. I’m holding Victor again. I’m in his arms. I couldn’t control my emotions even if I tried.
Victor kisses me again. It’s a deep kiss, not as passionate as what we shared downstairs, but still just as good. It’s just more controlled and over way too soon.
“Are you okay, Kitten?”
“Yeah. I promise. Sam wouldn’t physically hurt me, and it turns out I am much better at taking care of myself these days.”
“I did see your handiwork,” he says with a half-smile, making me feel warm and tingly all over. He’s proud of me and he’s not bothering to hide it.
“What he tried to do, I mean, by kissing me. Is that why you were beating Sam?”
“Hell, yes, but I was going to do it regardless because he tried to separate us. I won’t ever allow anyone to do that, baby.”
“Does this mean we can go home now?” I ask hopefully.
“Unfortunately, probably not today,"he says, pulling back to put more space between us. I don’t like it, but I sense we’re getting ready to have a serious conversation, so I guess it is needed. I can’t think at all when I’m near Victor.
“Why not? Sam’s crazy. You can’t listen to him. He’s overreacting about everything.”
“I don’t disagree to a certain point, but I think he’s right, baby.”
“What do you mean?” I ask. “You can’t expect me to marry him, Victor. I won’t do it. I don’t love him. Right now, I’m not even sure I like him.”
His body goes rigid. “The only man you’ll be marrying is me, Kitten. You need to get that straight right fucking now,” he all but snarls.
I’m trying to wrap my mind around what he’s saying. I didn’t expect this from Victor. I thought he would agree with me. I am glad he at least doesn’t expect me to marry my stepbrother. I shake my head.
“We can’t get married, Victor.”
“Kitten, we can. If we had more time, I’d figure out another way to make this easier on you, but Samuil is right about a lot of things. Once he and his uncles make a move to overthrow Abram, that man will use you to get to him. When they kill him,their enemies will do the same. You’ll never be able to relax and rest easy. These men are power hungry. They won’t stop.”
“But married, Victor? We’re not ready for that.”
“Speak for yourself. I’ve been wanting to marry you since day one.”
“Victor, what if I make you miserable? I can’t marry you, not yet…not like this. If we get married, it should be special.”
He studies me. “There’s no way you could make me miserable. Being without you? That makes me miserable. Also, stop saying if. Youaremarrying me, Gia. The only thing in question is if we do it now or later.”
“You mean I get an option?” I laugh, the sound stilted as I’m starting to feel lost all over again.
“If you want to wait so our wedding is on your terms, then we can make sure this marriage has a fake minister. That way, if the wedding goes through and Abram doesn’t show, we won't really be married.”
I’m a mess. If I needed further proof, the fact that my heart hurts with his response and I want to scream at him,I want you to marry me now and claim me as your wife, proves it to me. I swallow that down, though. Victor and I haven’t even made love. There are still too many unknowns. We need more time. With that in mind, I take a breath. No matter how much it hurts me, I nod my head.
“Fake would probably be the best. We need more time to work things out between us.”
I force myself to lift my gaze up to look at Victor. My stomach clenches when I can clearly see the disappointment written on his face. Shit. I just screwed up. Haven’t I learned anything? I don’t want to push him away. We’ve both been suffering without one another. We love each other. I want to take it all back, but I need him to confirm that’s what he wants.
“What are you thinking?” I ask, my heart pounding in my chest.
“I’m thinking it’s about time my Kitten shows me how much she missed her man and how sorry she is for agreeing to go out with another man when I wasn’t around.”
Yikes.He’s being super-hot and seductive, but there’s an undercurrent of anger in his words, too. It’s anger that he’s entitled to have. I’m mad at myself. I take a shaky breath and bite my lip. “And just how would I do that?” I ask.
“I want your body, Gia. Give it to me and trust me to take care of you.”
