Page 52 of The Forbidden Husband

I brushed my hand over my pocket again. “Promise me you won’t laugh at it.”

He steeled his expression. “I would never.”

I could see the amusement there. I had no doubt that he would certainly laugh at it.

I pulled a small dog figurine from my pocket and held it between us in my flattened palm. He stepped close to me, his brow creasing. An uncontrollable laugh bubbled up his chestwhen he got a better look at it. He tipped his head back, and his voice filled the entire house.

I didn’t think I had ever seen him laugh so freely. So wildly.

It warmed my heart in a way I hadn’t expected.

“You remembered,” he said, grabbing the small figure from my hands. It was a hand-carved Corgi, and the shop owner had written “Muffin” on the plaque. It had been one of the first genuine things he had told me about himself. How could I possibly forget that?

“I know it’s not much—”

He held it between us. “This is the most genuine gift I have ever received.”

I brushed him off. “It was a cheap knick-knack.” I laughed. “I know this is an arranged marriage, and it doesn’t mean much, but you deserved to be given something for your birthday.”

My words seemed to sink into him slowly. He stepped toward me, and I took a small, involuntary step back, placing my palm on the counter behind me. “It means everything.”

“I just… I know you feel forced to be here with me. I know there aren’t any real feelings, and I try to make this tolerable for you, but—”

His lips cut me off. They smothered all my words, and I sank into his touch without thought. It was like an addiction. Like a drug. His touch seemed to be the only thing that could calm my ever-present nerves and the tension in every part of my body. I knew it shouldn’t be like that. I knew I had no right to take that comfort from him after everything I had done, but it was inevitable.

A man who I thought was a monster had instead become my safe place.

He pulled away. “You really think you mean nothing to me?”

I bit my lip. “I mean, I know you enjoyed yourself when we spent the night together—”

“I didn’t just enjoy myself, Aria. I found myself in you. Fuck, I had never felt anything else like that.”

I forced a smile and nodded. It was just sex, and he had made that clear. “Good,” I whispered.

“You don’t understand what I’m saying,” he replied more forcefully. “I will never want another woman in the way I want you. Not just because I like fucking you. It’s your compassion. Your selflessness. How you look away when you’re uncomfortable with a topic like you’re doing right now.” He grabbed my chin and forced me to look into his eyes. His earnest, emotion-filled eyes. “Loving you was the one thing I refused to do going into this marriage, yet somehow, you made it happen without even trying.”

Loving you.

Love.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the words. I had seen all the signs, but I had pushed them away. I ignored when he had called me perfect and devoured my body. I had disregarded the way I found him staring at me when he thought I was paying him no attention. I didn’t let myself linger on the possibility that someone like him could ever fall in love, let alone fall in love with me.

All the pieces of the puzzle fell together effortlessly as I considered what to do next.

If he loved me, I could tell him the truth of the pregnancy. I could tell him about my father and his plans, and I could reveal that I had fucked up.

There were two roads ahead of me.

I could follow my father straight to hell and let him use my sisters as collateral for the rest of my life.

Or I could create a family with Enzo and do everything in my power to get my sisters out with me. It would be a risk, but I couldn’t lose this. I wouldn’t break apart my family for the sake of a man who didn’t care for his.

I had to take the gamble.

But before I could say anything, Enzo lifted me on the counter and rested his head on my chest. I felt the vulnerability wafting from him, and I knew that right now was not the time to tell him everything. Soon. I would tell him soon.

There was something else I had to tell him first.

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