Page 41 of Reluctantly His

I burst into a beautiful octagon room in the far north tower of the mansion.

In the middle of the intricate white, black, and grey marble mosaic floor, under the soft light of a massive crystal chandelier, Charlotte sat with her cello.

The longer she played, the more I was transfixed by the music and could feel my anger and my indignation slipping. I needed to hold on to it like a weapon.

“Is it true?” I demanded as I shattered her solitude by marching into the secluded space.

“Yes,” she said as she placed her bow across the nearest side table, put her cello in the upright stand, and then rose. “It’s true.”

“How long have you known?”

“I was informed this morning.” She didn’t look at me when she spoke, just picked a spot on the floor and stared at the fancy patterns.

I stalked toward her. “Look me in the eyes, Charlotte.”

She shifted backwards with my approach as her large, glistening chocolate brown eyes stared up at me. As if she were a woodland creature staring down the barrel of a damn gun. I hated the fear, vulnerability, and sadness I saw reflected in their depths as much as my anger fed on it.

“This morning? Bullshit. Do you love him? Does he know you like fucking the help?” I clenched my teeth together as I spoke to keep myself from shouting at her.

“That’s not fair,” she fired back as she continued to move around the intimate space, hugging the walls. “I’ve never even met him.”

Enough of the cat and mouse game. I snatched her by the arm and pressed her against the wall, pinning my forearm over her head. “Then why are you going through with it?”

“Because I have to!” she screamed, and she shoved against my chest and rushed past me, her voice on the edge of hysteria.

I followed closely behind her. “Why the fuck for?”

She threw her arms wide. “Because that’s my obligation,” she said before closing her fist and pounding it against the center of her chest. “It’s my responsibility.”

I grabbed her upper arms and yanked her to me. “Fuck that, princess. You can lie to yourself, but don’t you dare lie to me,” I bit out as my gaze focused on her lips, the need to shut her beautiful mouth strong.

“It isn’t bullshit.” She struggled in my embrace. “It’s family.”

“Fuck your family.” I slammed my mouth down on hers, forcing my tongue past her lips, I showed her everything I was too angry to say. The kiss was bittersweet.

She broke free. “No. You see me as some privileged little rich girl, but that privilege comes with a price. And that price is my obedience. My freedom. I have rules that I have to obey. Just like you do.”

I ran my hand through my hair as I paced away before turning on her again. “That’s a fucking excuse, like a lie a little princess tells herself to make herself feel better. The truth is, if you didn’t want to marry him, you wouldn’t.”

Her fingers curled into claws as she raised them to the sides of her head as if she were about to pull out her hair in a rage. “How do you not understand this? There are decisions in my life that are not mine to make. I am given orders and rules and there is no choice for me but to follow them. You were a Marine. You should know what that’s like.”

I threw my arm wide. “It’s not the same. I was answering the call of a higher purpose. A fucking sacred duty to protect my country. You’re throwing your life away to chase some impossible childish dream of pleasing your daddy.”

If she had spent any time at all thinking about people other than herself and pleasing her father, she would know I knew the difference.

Her cheeks flamed with indignation as her hands curled into fists. “How dare you say such a thing to me.”

“What’s the matter, princess? Don’t like hearing you’re only doing this to finally make your father proud, while he turns around and sells you to the highest fucking bidder?”

She launched herself at me, pounding on my chest with her small fists. “Fuck you! I don’t owe you an explanation!”

Letting her take her frustrations out on me, I raged back, “The hell you don’t. I’ve had my tongue in your pussy.”

Tossing her tangled curls out of her face, her chest rose and fell with her heavy, agitated breath. “That doesn’t mean you suddenly own me! You’re just a…”

My eyebrow rose as I sensed blood in the water. “I’m just the what, Charlotte? A lowly bodyguard? The fucking help? Beneath you?”

Her eyes widened as she sensed the rising tension in the room. “I didn’t say that.”

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