Page 226 of Forced Vows

Not to ask about the random stuff I grabbed from the trunk now adding to the mess on our bathroom floor. Not even to curse the kidnappers out.

When I finally stop talking, the look of approval on Miceli's handsome face is a balm to my wounded soul. "Did I mention how fucking brave you are? And smart. You are so damn smart."

"I must be, I agreed to marry you." These words pop out without me thinking about it, but I have no desire to take them back.

Agreeing to be the sacrificial lamb in my uncle's alliance plans is the best decision I have ever made. It doesn't matter how we came together, Miceli is it for me, created to be the other half of my soul before I was ever born.

And I'm the other half of his. Whether he ever admits that out loud, or not.

Right now, his body goes completely still. For several seconds, he doesn’t even breathe. He just stares at me like he cannot believe what I just said.

"It's true," I tell him.

And the feelings I have for him are real. My love for him is woven into the depths of my being at this point. There is no Róise without the love I hold for Miceli.

I am safe with him, both physically and emotionally.

It started all those months ago in Portland, but it didn't stop there. That very first time we had sex in his studio, the way he came back to give me stuff to put in my bath? To make sure I was okay.

It was so unlike the guy he portrays to the rest of the world, but it is the guy he shows me time and again. Even when we had to move the wedding date forward. He made sure he was the one to tell me.

To explain it.

And when I insisted on finishing school? He kept the promise he made in our contract. When I got kicked out of college, he could have capitalized on that to try to convince me to quit. Instead, he coerced the dean into accepting me back and apologizing.

Pretty much pretending I hadn't been kicked out, even though we both knew better.

Miceli didn't stop there, though. He found me an agent for after I graduate, so I don't have to give up my dreams.

He acknowledges my compromises and looks for ways to mitigate them, so I'm living a life I want, not one thrust upon me.

Yes, I stand up for myself. I am me, after all, but Miceli could make that really hard to do. Instead, he supports me. Even when that makes things harder on him.

Not only did he fire Giovanna for trying to hurt my feelings, but he made sure the interview with a massively popular and busy celebrity news reporter got rescheduled.

And the sex? It's not just off the charts; our souls connect when we are together like that. Maybe that's mystical, but it doesn't make it any less true.

He's not perfect. Not at all. He gets a little too much joy out of the dark side of his job as Genovese underboss. He's violent and unapologetically criminal.

And still, he's perfect for me and I'm done pretending that's not true.

"I love you, Miceli," I breathe.

My heart knows what it knows. I will never feel this way about anyone else.

He pulls my hand to press against his heart. "Do you feel that?"

"Yes."

"It beats for you."

"What are you saying?" Is he admitting he loves me?

"I swore to myself I would never fall for a woman like my brother or my cousin." He barks out a self-deprecating, dark chuckle. "I thought their obsession with the women they love, made them vulnerable, and weak."

"I don't know Salvatore very well." I met him briefly at his wedding, but that's all really. "But your brother is not weak."

"Neither am I. My love for you gives me strength. It gives me focus."

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