Page 39 of Vicious Union

I don’t correct her because she’s right. A part of me wanted to see Caterina hurt for how she’s been acting. How she’s embarrassed me.

“So, where does this leave us?” she asks.

“We’re still married. We had sex. I assume we’ll do it again.”

“Well, yes, I assumed that, too. But I meant other than sex. What are we going to do about our marriage?”

“We can’t change it. So, we have to learn to live together,” I say. “Which means you need to stop being so reckless.”

“And you need to stop being so bossy.”

“Not going to happen.”

She smirks. “Well, I’m not going to stop being reckless, then.”

“We’re at an impasse.”

“It seems we are.”

I sigh, running my hand down my face. “Then what are we going to do?’

“I say we go on a date.”

I drop my hand in surprise and look at her. “A date? How the hell will a date change what’s between us?”

“I said it before—we should get to know each other. Maybe if we learned more about each other, we’d grow to like each other.”

“But a date includes talking, and I don’t like it when you talk.”

She scoffs. “Jeez, thanks.”

“I just meant I don’t like it when you talk and cause trouble.”

“Talking on a date wouldn’t be causing trouble,” she says. “It would just be … talking. Getting to know each other. I say we should do it.”

“I say no.”

“Why not?”

I shrug, looking away from her. “It’s not going to change anything. We’ll still continue to hate each other.”

“How do you know if you don’t get it a chance?”

She … has a point. I have a tendency to be stubborn—it’s something I’ve always known about myself.

Why am I so opposed to getting to know Caterina? Other than she drives me crazy with her antics, there’s really no other reason not to get to know her.

And who knows? Maybe I’ll start to actually like her.

“Fine,” I say. “We can go on a date. I mean, what else are we going to do on our honeymoon?”

“Thank you.” She leans over and kisses me on the cheek. It’s the gentlest she’s ever been. “You’re not going to regret it.”

“Oh, something tells me I am,” I mutter.

She just laughs as she starts up the car again and drives us home.

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