Page 49 of Marrying the Enemy

“Really? Why?”

“Because he looks and sounds so much like Dad,” Astrid admitted in a pained whisper. “But look at him. My kids think he’s the cat’s pajamas. They hardly ever see him, but they were so excited he was coming.”

Dom was on the diving board, holding Maya’s feet so she could do a handstand before toppling backward into the water. He waited while Jevaun boosted her out of the way before he did a flip, making her scream with laughter as his splash swamped her as she clung to the ledge.

“If you’re not pregnant, why did you marry him?” Astrid asked. “Is it really just to end the feud? Or something more? Love at first sight? I’m a romantic. Don’t hate me.”

“I couldn’t hate you,” Eve said truthfully. Astrid was far too earnest and nice.

But she couldn’t look at her, either. All she could see was Dom, four years ago, walking into a club and looking straight at her.

He glanced over now as he came up against the edge of the pool. She felt the same hot arrow pierce her chest.

Yes, she thought. I think that’s what it was. For her, at least.

“Okay?” Dom skimmed closer, maybe reading the conflicted joy that was closing around her like a fist.

Eve nodded and worked up a brave smile. “I’m just explaining to Astrid that being trapped on that island forced us to talk about how the feud was only causing pain on both sides. I suppose we could have tried matching one of your sisters to one of my brothers...” She was joking to deflect from deeper, trickier explanations around why she had agreed to marry him.

Because I love him.

Astrid seemed to find the idea of her sisters with a Visconti highly amusing. Her laughter pealed out and the conversation moved to other things.

“That was a fun day,” Eve said sincerely as the tender motored them through the dark from Grand Cayman back to the yacht.

“It was,” Dom agreed, sounding introspective.

“I was going to arrange a lunch with your mom and mine, to talk about the reception. Astrid suggested I do something similar with Ingrid, so she feels included in the arrangements. She thought that might help smooth the way with her. I wish Dad would get back to me.”

Her father’s silence, screaming of his sense of betrayal, was eating holes into her gut, especially now that Eve was realizing she’d been in love with Dom for years.

It sounded ridiculous even in her own head. She hadn’t known anything about him when they’d met, not even his name. Maybe chemistry was what some called love at first sight, but her intense emotional feelings toward Dom were the reason he’d been able to hurt her so deeply by walking away that morning in Budapest. She’d felt loss. It had been amplified by the belief they would never have a chance. Ever.

However nascent and illogical that initial infatuation had been, she was learning it had underpinnings of deeper regard. As she came to know him better, she was learning why she loved him: because he was patient with children and stood up for his sisters and had overcome what sounded like a really difficult childhood.

She wanted to ask him about that, but a wave of compassion rose in her, one that wanted to hug the boy he’d been—shunted aside and living with the anger of a man his sister was still afraid of. Eve closed her hot eyes, looping her arm across his chest as she savored the weight of his arm across her shoulders. He tightened his hold, snugging her safe and warm against his side while her heart expanded too big for her chest. It hurt to swallow, her emotions were so sharp inside her.

“I shouldn’t have said what I did this morning,” he said in a low voice. “It’s been bothering me all day. It’s something my father would have done, trying to put someone in their place by saying something ugly. I don’t want that feud between us, Eve. I want it gone.”

“Me, too,” she assured him. “I want us to be like Astrid and Jevaun.”

“In what way?” His arm loosened and he looked down at her, expression shuttering.

In love. That’s what she wanted to say, but she didn’t want to set herself up for a stiff dose of reality so she described the love she’d seen between them.

“They’re affectionate and trust each other to have their back. They’re a team, especially where the kids are concerned. They make each other laugh.”

She heard the rumble of acknowledgment in his chest. A frown of consideration settled on his face.

Was she watching him take a prescription for what she wanted out of their marriage and weigh whether he could deliver it?

She didn’t know how she felt about that. It fell somewhere between pandering and endearing and made her wonder if he even knew what love was?

“Astrid said—” She glanced at the driver of their boat, who seemed far enough away not to hear them over the engine. “She said something about how dysfunctional she thought your family was.” Eve didn’t know if Dom knew that his sister saw a therapist so she skipped mentioning it. “Is that something you believe, too?”

“Yes.” No hesitation.

“Have you ever talked to anyone about it?”

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