She narrows her gaze at me—her dark brown eyes turning vicious. If looks could kill, she’d be tearing out my throat so I could no longer speak of such things like us getting married being inevitable. She still has hope that something will change.
It won’t. Itcan’t.
But she still has hope, so I need to squash it.
“Five days, actually,” she mutters under her breath, correcting me.
“What?” I ask, not sure I heard her.
“We get married in five days, not a week. And what am I getting out of this? So far, I have to be a perfectly behaved Stepford wife. I have to accept my fate as your bride without argument. I have to shut my mouth and pretend I don’t have my own thoughts and dreams. What do I get, huh?”
She stands up now, knocking her glass of wine onto my cream rug. She doesn’t move to pick it up. She doesn’t care.
I get up slowly, setting my glass down carefully, unsure of how to handle her. I walk toward where she’s standing at the window, but she whips around to face me before I have a chance to say anything.
“You get power. You get money. You get to control me. You get everything you could ever fucking want! What do I get?” She pushes a finger into my chest, like this arrangement is completely my fault.
Okay, so it mostly is, but only because I didn’t have another choice.And if she doesn’t marry me, she’ll have to marry someone else she hates. She would never get to choose. It makes no difference in her life.
I laugh—I shouldn’t. It’s not going to help things, but I can’t help it.
She goes rigid at my laugh—her eyes bulging and cheeks reddening with rage. “You think this is funny?”
“No, I think you’re crazy if you think I’m getting more out of this relationship than you are. I’m marrying you to protect my friends. Beckett would have had to marry you or be killed if I didn’t come up with a solution to appease your father. I never wanted to be a leader. I’m a terrible leader. I’m already tired of the responsibility, and I don’t even have it yet. Money? I already have enough. And controlling you?” I laugh. “There is no controlling you, sweetheart.”
She frowns. “Then why marry me? Why go through with it? Beckett is safe. He already married Ri. Why?”
It comes out as a plea—a plea to save her from having to marry me. But I can’t save her.No one can.
I shake my head with vacant eyes, not answering her.
“I don’t want to control you, Rialta. I want you to be as happy in this marriage as you can be.”
“I just want my freedom. That’s all I want.”
I nod, understanding. “You can have as much freedom as you do now.”
She turns and looks out the window pensively, clasping her hands in front of her body. “Except, I don’t have any freedom now. I can’t marry you, Lennox. There is nothing you can say that will make me go through with it.”
I hesitate for just a second, trying to come up with a different way, but it’s the only way to disarm her. The only way to ease her hate of me and pry the slightest opening of her heart to me.
“Even if I tell you that you can keep him?”
Her eyes widen with a hint of hope, and I know I have her. I can practically see her heart beating through her chest.It’s too easy.
“Keep him?” she says so softy.
“Marry me, and I’ll let you keep your boyfriend,” I say, knowing the gamble I’m playing and hoping it’s not going to blow up in my face later. With any luck, he’ll fuck up, and she’ll realize he’s no good for her. I just have to bide my time, and she’ll fall into my arms, begging me to erase him from her memory.
Chapter5
Rialta
My mouth falls open,and my body sways as I stare at Lennox. I can’t believe he just said that.
Lennox nonchalantly stands with his hands in the pockets of his suit, as if he asked me if I wanted another glass of wine or something. But he just dropped a bomb on me.
I don’t believe him. All the mob men I’ve ever seen control their wives with an iron fist. Surely, Lennox will be no different.