Page 127 of Bad Little Bride

I repeat the action on the left side of her hair, her eyes on me the entire time, waiting to see if I’ll answer and asking a second question when I don’t.

“She was murdered, wasn’t she?”

My eyes snap up at that, narrowing, but all I see is a sleek sadness on her face. My brow furrows, and she drops her gaze, staring off to the side.

“Enzo said my mom was, too,” she says, not necessarily sad, but thoughtful.

A knot forms in my throat, but I swallow past it, pushing to my feet and grabbing some mousse, gently sliding my fingers through her short length and giving it a little shake, before stepping in front of her.

I grab some brown liner and turn back, and she closes her eyes when she realizes what I’m trying to do, allowing me to add a steep swoop to the corner of her eyes. After that I give her a little blush, mascara, and a color of lipstick that only makes her neutral shade pop.

She really is effortlessly pretty.

When I step away, she looks in the mirror with a smile, her eyes meeting mine a moment later through the glass.

“Thanks.” She glances at herself again, her eyes moving over her own features, and a small scowl builds. “I’ll get out of your face now.”

She turns and starts to walk out, and I should let her. Hell, I should be pushing her ass out the door or giving her my back as I hurry out of it.

I’m not sure why, instead of either of those options, I open my big-ass mouth. “I was eight.”

Katana freezes in the doorway, looking at me over her shoulder.

I don’t have to give more; she knows what I’m talking about.

I was eight when I found my mother dead in her bed.

She smiles softly and I glare, this time my feet do move when I wish for them to, but apparently my mouth doesn’t understand we’re looking for an exit.

“Enzo finally agreed on a driver for me, so long as we take his choice of guards.” I meet her eyes over my shoulder, raising a brow. “Lunch?”

Her eyes widen at the invitation, but she goes back to the girl I met when I first got here, a shadow of confidence slipping over her as a full-blown smirk covers her lips. “On one condition…”

I scoff at her audacity, but for some reason, I smile back, rolling my eyes as I lead us out. “As if I could endure your company any other way.”

The girl squeals. Literally, and strangely, a small flash of excitement washes over me too.

I’m sure she’ll find a way to ruin it by?—

“Maybe we should ask Enzo to join us? Have a nice little threesome - ah!” she screams, ducking as my knife flies toward her, dropping to a full squat in a split second.

The blade jabs through the wall, burying all the way to the hilt.

Katana snaps her head from it to me, jumping to her feet with a grin. “Holy shit, did you see that?!” She grins wildly. “I dodged it!”

My lips press together. “That’s too bad.”

“Bitch, please!” Her smile is impossibly wide, and I turn to stone when she throws herself at me, arms locking around my body. “Deny you’re proud, I dare you!”

Katana laughs in my ear, and as hard as I try to swallow my own, a small chuckle slips free.

Maybe she’ll stand half a chance after all.

For her, for me, and especially for Enzo. He didn’t have to save her the way he did, but knowing he didn’t hesitate, that he risked himself and the loss of his men to save a young girl he didn’t even know, gives me insight to the man I married that I didn’t have before.

I don’t know a single man who would do what he did, and I’m not just talking about saving and marrying her or killing her father to offer her further safety. But for ending the marriageand protecting her identity. He could have kept her as his bride and rightly claimed the head seat of the east.

It would be he who sat across from the other Greyson girls’ families and he who the rest of the underground world would have to go to for any and all things that required permission. He could be the one vote against the others, changing the entire dynamic until it all rolled in his favor.

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