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“You did,principessa. I distinctly remember you saying something about my good looks.”
She huffs out a breath of irritation and looks away. I chuckle.
“You know for our first official conversation, I’d say we’re doing alright,” I tell her.
“You’d say,” she mutters.
I place a hand on her shoulder, trying to coax her into looking at me. “Come on, we can have a fresh start.” I stretch my hand toward her for a shake. “I’ll go first. Nice to meet you, I’m Enzo Russo.”
She stares down at my hand for several seconds, then her gaze goes up to my face. Her lips thin in distaste. “A part of me wants to shake your hand and start this relationship amicably. But then I remember you were involved in Cassie’s kidnapping.”
I inwardly groan. “Like I’ve said a million fucking times at this point, I saved that little girl. You literally owe her life to me.”
“Just because you did one good thing doesn’t mean you’re not a monster,” Rosa says, voice hard. “I-I wanted better for myself.”
My jaw tightens. I take it back—this is going terribly.
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, Rosa.”
Her blue eyes narrow, like she’s more than ready for a fight.
“I choose the hard way.”
“Okay then,” I say. I take a step forward, shifting closer to her. She standing one step above me, but my height allows us tobe eye level. “I was going to ease you into this information, but since you’re going to be difficult, pack your bags. You’re moving into my house before the end of the week.”
I hate that the look of horror on her face fills me with some sense of vindication.
CHAPTER 6
Rosa
Iofficially hate my future husband. Which is unfortunate, because the husband part is something I have no control over.
He trails behind me as I storm toward the back of the house. The festivities are underway, with the majority of the guests seated at the long table. Elena’s seated at the head of the table with Cassie in her arms. My niece seems to be loving all the attention, and I’m glad for it. She deserves to have the best birthday, even if she won’t remember it in the years to come.
My eyes roam the area until I find my brother. He’s standing away from the party, having a discussion with Tony. His eyebrow flicks up when he notices me approaching. His gaze hardens, and I know he must notice Enzo behind me.
“You told him I could move into his house before the end of the week?” I hiss.
He frowns. “Calm down,sorella.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down! I’m not an object, Roman. You can’t just dangle me around like a puppet. I would do anything for our family, but at least think about my feelings.”
I love my brother, I really do, but sometimes I really hate what he’s become. What our world forced him to become. He’sa great big brother, caring, a little overprotective, but I can understand that. Although we didn’t grow up particularly close, that has more to do with our upbringing. And in the past few years, ever since our dad died, I thought we were bridging the gap. But I can feel our bond fraying with this decision. I want to understand it, but I can’t. Especially not right now.
“Rosa, you’re going to get married to him. When he made the request, I thought it was ridiculous but it makes sense. You need to get to know each other. You need to meet his family and acclimate to his life.”
“I’ll do that at my own pace. Not because you or him command it,” I say harshly.
Roman opens his mouth to speak but clamps it shut when our mother approaches. There’s a frown on her face, caution directed at us in her eyes. We’re still in public, after all. My gaze moves to the table filled with the party guests, who keep glancing over here. I force myself to remain calm.
My mother stops in front of Enzo, and I turn to watch as she regards him with a cool gaze. Enzo straightens his tie and clears his throat.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” he tells her.
“It would have been nice to meet you before I consented to your marriage to my daughter.”
My jaw clenches. It would have been nice if she had employed that tone when Roman first told her about the match. Instead, she decided to trust that he knew what he was doing.
