Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
With that, she is on me. Grabbing my face, she kisses me with all she has, the water droplets from her hair mixing with the salt of her tears. It all fills my taste buds, and I can’t get her close enough.
I grab her thigh and nudge her, so she will let me in closer. “I love you, Nico. I do. I fell for you the second I knew I hated you.” That would make no sense to anyone else, but to us, it does. Everything about us makes sense to us. Nothing in the world could understand the force that is us.
“You drive me fucking crazy. You know that?” I grip her neck and push her top half back enough so I can look at her. See her. Feel her.
“So do you. Nico, take me. I need you.”
I lay her back on the bed and open her robe, then drop my towel.
“I’m sorry my father killed yours. I’m sorry you lost your mother because of him.” She apologizes for something she owes no penance for.
“Emelia, don’t apologize for other people’s mistakes. But I need you to understand something. Your father is a very dangerous man. He himself may not be able to do much, but he will have others do things for him, and you are at risk.”
“I understand. What are you planning to do?” she asks with a shaky voice.
“I will take care of him. For good.”
“You’re going to kill my father?”
I shake my head. “No, Emelia, I’m going to end the bloodline. Only you will be the last remaining heir.”
She gulps. There is no other way. I thought I would have a couple more years, but with each passing day as Emelia’s husband and seeing the way my business has been messed with, I have to do it sooner rather than later. I have my father’s legacy to carry and my wife’s protection to keep.
“Emelia.” I gain her attention. I can’t believe I am going to fucking do this. “Is this going to push you away?”
She looks at me, her brows furrowed with confusion.“What?”
“If I get revenge on your family, is it going to fucking hurt you, my love.”
Her eyes flutter rapidly, and the tears start to come back again. I come to tower over her, using one hand to cradle her face.
“I don’t know. I don’t have a choice. You are the ruler of this marriage, and my life is now yours to decide what to do with. What will my opinion matter?”
Fuck.
“Emelia, you have a voice in this marriage. I know we were at each other’s throat at the beginning, but I have told you time and again that you have a voice and a stand in this marriage.”
She shakes her head.“No, I don’t. Because if I ask you to spare my family’s life, then what am I asking you to do to your family? Your parents are dead because of my father. So, I’d be asking you to sacrifice the retribution you deserve, that your parents do.”
She has a point, but at the end of the day, things have changed. Our marriage is evolving, and we are not the Emelia and Nico from the day we got married. We are the Valientes, and we are partners. I will honor Emelia in the way my father told me I should honor my wife.
I just never knew how and never thought I would have to. But now… now, I do, and now, I want to.
“You asked me about my parents…,” I trail off, rerouting my question.
“Yes.”
“My parents taught me one thing I never used. Until now. They taught me that when I found a wife, I was to treat her as an equal and give her a place next to me. I am giving you a fucking place, Emelia. I am giving you the choice.” That’s the number one way I can honor my parents. More than vengeance. I can be a husband they would be proud of.
Emelia says nothing, and that leaves me just as silent.
What now?
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
EMELIA
What now?
My father killed my husband’s father. And now he’s lying above me, with the words “I love you” still fresh from his tongue and the knowledge of how twisted our ties are. Nico’s family and my family were meant to merge, but not for alliance, for war. And I am in the center of it all.
Knowing what I do now, I feel more guilt than ever by not telling him about my involvement. I can’t be mad at him, because my father planted me here to do the same thing he is asking of me. But the difference is, he is giving me a choice. He isn’t forcing me to do anything or to let him do this. I have a choice, and this eats at me all while making me feel more conflicted yet appreciated and respected at the same time.