“That doesn’t sound ideal.”
“It’s perfect.” He squeezes my wrists—then releases them and steps back.
I feel his absence like a punch to the gut. I glare at him, rubbing my hands together to help with the circulation.
“So what do you want then?”
“We need to have a frank discussion about marriage.”
I let out a surprised laugh. “Seriously?”
“Yes, princess.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “You want me to marry you, right? That’s this whole thing?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then I want you to know what I expect from a wife. Are you ready to listen?”
I clench my teeth together. “Fine, go ahead. Dick.”
He nods once and a ghost of a smile returns. “If we do this, I want to do it for real. You’ll be mine, my wife. You’ll come to live with me—”
“Wait, hold on. We won’t live at Villa Bruno?”
“Absolutely not.”
“But that’s the whole point.”
“We’ll stay in Phoenix close enough to your family that you can visit anytime you want.”
“Not in that dingy, sad little apartment. And within ten minutes of my family.”
He grimaces. “Agreed.”
“Okay. Continue.”
“I want children.”
I roll my eyes. “Are you changing diapers?”
“We’ll get nannies.”
“Fine. Children. What else, you demanding asshole?”
“I want you to stop hating yourself so damn much and live your life. I want you to be a damn person.”
I blink a few times and let that sink in. His words strike me like a sucker punch and I’m briefly staggered as they sink into my brain.
Do I hate myself? No more than a normal person does—which makes me wonder what normal people actually think and act like, since clearly I have no clue. His offer is seductive though, and it feels too good to be true, like he’s dangling a prize in front of me and as soon as I accept it, he’ll yank it away and replace it with something else, the good old bait and switch.
But it doesn’t matter. Nico is who he is, and no matter what I think, nothing will ever change. If he wants me to try to be a normal person then I’ll try to do it, if only to make him happy—though a voice in the far back corner of my skull thinks maybe this is my chance at actual joy.
I nod my head like a good girl and give him what he wants even if I know it’s all bullshit and I don’t know how to be a person, let alone a normal person, and probably never will.
I am what I am.
“Good. Then we can do this.” He reaches into his pocket and takes out a small black box.
“Nico.” My heart starts to race in a wild slamming pattern and everything we were just talking about disappears. In the distance, a bowling ball smashes into pins and someone louds loudly.
He drops down to one knee.
“Nico!” I smell oil and fried food and slowly decaying vinyl.
He smiles at me and opens the ring box.
I see diamonds, a big one and a cluster of them, and some gold, real gold, but my head’s spinning and my heart’s going haywire and I feel like I might pass out as he takes my left hand in his.
“Marry me, Karah.”
Not a question, of course it’s not a question, Nico wouldn’t give me a choice at a time like this and why would he?
I’m his, all his.
“Yes,” I whisper as he slides the ring on my finger.
He stands, wraps his arms around me, and kisses me deep.
Marry him. Be his wife.
For real.
I don’t know if it’s my erratic heart rate or the general feeling of euphoria that spills over me but everything’s tinged white and black with gray spots on the edge of my vision and I’m afraid I’m going to pass out, but I don’t, and it doesn’t matter, because Nico holds me tight and kisses me.
Chapter 25
Karah
Papa sits behind his big desk with his fingers steepled in front of him as he leans back in his chair and watches me with that concerned father stare he gets sometimes. Nico stands beside me with a drink in his hand and says nothing, like he’s totally at ease.
Even though I’m sure he’s as nervous as I feel.
“You’re really doing this,” Papa says. “Let me see it again.”
I hold out my hand to show him the ring. He nods once and glances at Nico. “Where’d you get it?”
“Lorenzo.”
“Good deal?”
“He gave me the family discount.”
A ghost of a smile on Papa’s lips. “Good man. You’re serious about this?”
“Don Bruno, if you’ll have me, I’d like to join your family.”
“You know the tradition is to ask me before you ask my daughter.”
Nico bows his head slightly. “I understand I did things out of order, but I wanted you to see that I’m serious. I know you’re aware that Karah and I have not always gotten along, but we’ve decided this would be for the best, for both of us.”