Page 56 of Bad Little Bride

“I am so far past upset it’s hilarious. I literally might laugh until I cry because I am so damn…” I trail off, mumbling to myself, “Why did I allow things to get this far?”

“I don’t understand your issue.”

My head jerks up, gaze clashing with his in the mirror. “This entire fucking evening is my issue.”

“You mean Katana.” His eyes narrow. “People need to see she’s protected by me.”

I close my eyes, pressing at my temples with my fingertips.

Don’t stab him. Do not stab him.

“You’re acting like a brat,” he accuses. “No one knows she’s?—”

“Iknow!” I scream, whipping around. “I. Know. Enzo. I’m the idiot who ran headfirst the moment I learned how to find you instead of waiting for all the information, proving I’m the fuckup my family sees me as, because what an idiot I am!”

“You do notspeakabout yourself like that.”

“Oh, fuck off!” A hollow laugh escapes me and I swipe at my hair, throwing it over my shoulder with an angry growl as I pace the space between us. “If I had just waited?—”

“If you would have waitedwhat?!” he shouts.

I yank my head his way, stopping in my tracks. “You know what.”

“Say it anyway,” he demands.

Okay, fine.

“If I would have found out about her, if I knew she existed at all, I never,everwould have so much asbreathedin your direction.”

Enzo’s jaw is clenched tight, his nostrils flaring as he stares at me with hard, hazel eyes.

“I thought we could find a way to give each other something we didn’t have before,” I admit, watching as his brows crash in the center. “But now? I would rather remain locked in the bedroom you assigned me than live this life with you,” I seethe.

I charge for the door, but he catches my arm in a firm grip, yanking me around as he dips down in my face.

“That’s not an option for you,” he forces past clenched teeth, his face turning red. “Your life is mine now.”

“Only because you tricked me into marrying you.”

“I gave you what you asked for and I took what you promised. I see no issue.”

“And that right thereis the fucking issue!” I scream. “You made a fool of me!”

“No!” he shouts so loud, so damn dark. I freeze. “I made a wife of you.”

It takes me several tries, but I finally manage a full breath, yanking my arm from his hold so hard he’s forced to let go or leave a mark. He chooses to release me, and I move back several steps.

He’s not understanding, and to be honest, I’m not sure I understand where he’s coming from either, but like my father’s earlier warning, this isn’t the place. We have an appearance to uphold here, even if I’d consider this evening a massive failure of the directive I was sold.

“I want to leave.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Let me leave, Enzo.” There’s a break in my voice and I cringe at the sound, hoping he didn’t hear it, but the shift in his expression tells me he did. “This night is humiliating enough. Please don’t make me beg.”

His features tighten, slowly softening by the second, his grip right along with it.

I breathe a sigh of relief, but I should know better by now that nothing with this man is going to be easy.

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