Page 149 of The Rogue and His Flower

“Well, aren’t you going to unlock it?” she asks.

“No.”

“Dalton. Let me out.”

“There are a few things I want to say first,” I counter, determined to make her listen. “And if I have to lock you in this damn car in order to do that, I will.”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Regardless, we’re going to.”

“Dalton, please,” she whispers, and I hate the way she presses her back against the car door as though trying to put as much space between us as possible.

“I know you’re hurting, Daisy–”

“I’m dealing with it,” she insists, lifting her chin in a feeble attempt to prove that she is.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. You’re not dealing with it, you’re pushing me away, and it’s killing me, Daisy.”

“What do you want from me?” she asks with a sigh.

“I want to get back to how we were on our honeymoon. I want to kiss you. I want to hold you. I want to see a genuine smile on your face. At this rate I’d take your snark and your anger just to get any kind of emotion instead of unhappiness from you,” I say, scraping my hand through my hair in frustration.

“I don’t feel much like smiling and, frankly, I don’t have any energy to be mad. So you’re shit out of luck.”

“And Ihatethat. I hate that you’re so unhappy, and I haven’t been able to do a damn thing about it, until now.”

“What do you mean until now?” she whispers.

“Sterling is going to loan us the money to pay off the debt, releasing you from your obligations.”

“My obligations?” She stiffens, going deadly quiet before she turns to face me. In a split second her apathy is replaced with a blazing kind of anger that hits me like a slap around the face. “You mean having a baby together? Is that what you mean by obligations?!”

“No! Fuck, no, Daisy!” I reply, shaking my head and cursing my stupid fucking mouth. “I just meant there would be no pressure anymore. No need to lie about what’s happened, no need to do anything you don’t want to do. You’d be free of my father, Daisy. He can’t threaten to force Drix to become the enforcer once again if the debt is paid.”

“And I suppose that means you’d be free of me too, right? You’d get to divorce me with a clear conscience. You’d get to cast me aside and walk away to marry someone new, someone who could give you a child and ensure you’d keep your inheritance, is that it?” she throws back, her voice cracking as tears tip over her lashes, and fall down her cheeks.

“You really think that little of me?” I ask, shocked by her outburst, gutted by it.

“Just let me out of the damn car. Let me go.”

“No!” I shout, reaching for her, but she slaps my hand away.

“Don’t fucking touch me! This has all worked out for you hasn’t it? You’ve had a taste of me now. You’ve scratched that itch, and now you get to start over whilst I have to deal with a future alone as a worthless woman incapable of having a child.”

And there it is, the truth of it. The lie she’s been telling herself. How can she think that about herself? She’s not worthless. She’s fuckingeverything.

“Thefuckyou are!” I reply, gripping her chin and forcing her to look at me. “You’re not worthless, Daisy. You’re perfect, and you’re mine. Fuck my father. Fuck the contract. Fuck my inheritance. The only thing that matters to me is you.”

“But–”

“I’m your husband. I made a vow to support you through sickness and health, and I’m going to do that.”

“But you don’t have to now,” she says quietly, her anger disappearing beneath her despair as her voice catches. “I’ll help to pay Sterling back. Just don’t feel obligated to stay with me, Dalton. I can’t give you a family. You can walk away, I wouldn’t stop–”

“Don’t you dare say that to me, Daisy!” I seethe, frustration making me angry now too. “I’m not going anywhere. I will not abandon you, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. You. Are. Not. Alone. I’m right here,” I remind her, gripping her hand and pressing it against my chest so she can feel how my heart beats only for her. The woman I love.

“But–”

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