Page 26 of Promised Vows

“If you say so.”

The petulant little pout of her mouth was almost more tempting than I could resist. With one last glare, she got in the car, and I followed her, the door shutting as I took a seat next to her.

With her arms crossed over her chest, she stubbornly kept her gaze pinned on the window.

“Anna, look at me.”

I waited for her.

“Anna. I won’t tell you again.”

Fine. In one swift move, I had her in my arms, her chin between my fingers, forcing her to look at me. “Do you know why I want you to beg me?”

She gave a tiny shake of her head.

“I want you to beg me twice, so I’ll know for sure I never forced you to do it. Asking once could be a whim. Twice, means you’ve thought about it, made the decision. It’s not in the heat of the moment. I will not have my first kiss with my future bride be thought of as a mistake. It will be the physical rock of our relationship. I don’t want you to beg for it, I want you to demand it. A verbal admission that you want me.”

Unshed tears glistened in her eyes. “How am I supposed to try to talk you out of this if you keep making me want you?” Her eyes widened with the soft admission.

“Let me lay that indecision to rest. You can’t talk me out of this.” I dug into the pocket inside my coat and pulled out a velvet box.

Her mouth slowly dropped open. “A ring?”

“We’re getting married. Of course, I’d get you a ring.” I opened the box, and the gasp was worth every penny of the purchase price. “A single solitaire diamond. If you need it sized, maybe we can go together and pick our bands at the same time.”

Holding out her hand, she watched as I pulled it from the box and slipped it on. “It’s…stunning.”

“I’m sorry it took so long. I had it made for you.”

Her head jerked up, eyes catching mine. “Made for me?”

I nodded. “Nothing about you is generic. I’m not putting a ring on your finger that’s anything less than custom.”

“Sweet talker.”

This was the part where things got tricky. “I need to ask a favor.”

Tilting her head, she narrowed her eyes. “A favor?”

“I need you to stay at my condo the next couple of?—”

She shook her head and tried to push away. “No.”

“Please.” I clenched my jaw as I fixed my eyes on her, silently pleading for her to understand.

Internally, I was a storm of conflicting emotions. Fear gnawed at me – fear for her safety, fear of her rejection, fear of the unknown consequences if she refused. A sense of helplessness threatened to overwhelm me, something I wasn't accustomed to feeling. I was used to being in control, to having solutions, but now I found myself at her mercy.

“No. This time please isn’t going to work. You can’t take my freedom.”

Admittedly, I got a little more forceful with her than I had been the next time I spoke. “Anna, I need to know you’re safe. Lorenzo Moretti has been following you, and I have business to take care of the next few days.”

Beneath it all was a current of frustration – at the circumstances that forced me into this position, at my inability to protect her without her cooperation, and perhaps even at her initial refusal. Yet, overriding everything was a fierce, almost painful need to ensure her safety, no matter the cost to my pride or her opinion of me.

“I have to work. I can’t keep calling in favors. I have rent to make.”

Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about her work, but with Lorenzo and her father hanging around, I couldn’t leave her alone at her apartment.

“You’ll have to call in. I won’t be able to keep my focus if I’m worried about you. I’m not asking you. I’m telling you.”

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