Page 36 of Black Widow's Kiss

“You will be disappointed,” I admitted.

“Let me be the judge. Will you do that?”

I didn’t respond. He took it as agreement.

“Good. And so you know, so far, I like what I see,” he said with a smile.

He smiled. My husband smiled at me. Why? What did it mean? All I knew was that I liked it. I shouldn’t have, considering he was clearly a bad judge of character. But he was… sweet.

“Now,” Dante said relaxing, “will you join me for this excellent meal you prepared.”

I was thinking about telling him that I had bought it, but why ruin the moment. Dishing a little of it onto my plate, I dug in realizing I hadn’t thought things all the way through. I hated spaghetti. Always had. So sitting there eating it, I considered if being forced to eat something I didn’t like was my fault too.

Our meal continued in silence and ended as quietly. Clearing the table like a domestic goddess, I returned to my seat knowing our first true conversation wasn’t done.

“Your stuff is still in the living room,” he eventually said staring at my trunks.

“I didn’t know where to put it,” I admitted feeling the pinch of shame.

“I see,” he replied thinking for a moment. “You can move yourself into the spare room. You can get comfortable and consider it yours.”

“No,” I said without a second of thought.

“No?”

“No,” I repeated as a matter of fact.

“Why not?”

“Because I am your husband. As your husband, I will share your bed.”

“No!” he replied sharply. It was harsh enough for me think it would lead to another fight. But instead, his eyes dipped. “Look, you have to understand that this is all new to me. I didn’t plan to be married to you.”

“You thought it would be Yuki,” I said stating the obvious.

His head bobbled without answering.

“It doesn’t matter what I thought. I just didn’t expect this. I’m not saying it isn’t good or that I won’t get used to it. I just need a moment.”

“I understand. You can have your moment.” I paused. “Moment over.”

Dante looked at me and laughed.

“You have your rules. I have mine. If I am going to be married, which like you, I had no choice in, I will share my husband’s bed.”

“You didn’t want to do this?” Dante said melting a little.

“Did I want to marry a complete stranger and bare his children?”

“There might be something Sato didn’t tell you about the birds and the bees,” he joked.

“The answer is no, I didn’t want this. I was tricked into it just like you.”

Dante looked at me with disappointment. It surprised me.

“So, what do we do about it?” he asked. I allowed the question to hang in the air.

“We compromise,” I suggested.

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