Page 30 of Craving Dahlia

“You don’t sound very sorry.”

“I don’t know if you’re telling the truth yet.”

Her shoulders go taut. “This is a terrible apology.”

“I’m out of practice.” My jaw tightens, and I shove my hands deeper into the pockets of my leather jacket. “I came here to make you an offer. If you don’t want to hear it, I’ll just go.”

“Did you use up all your sweet talking in that one night?” Dahlia turns to look at me, and heat licks down my spine as her blue eyes meet mine.It wasn’t sweet,I want to say.It was fucking filthy, just the way we both wanted it.

But resurrecting any part of that night won’t do either of us any good right now.

“Do you want to hear it or not?” I narrow my eyes at her, my jaw tight, and I notice that she doesn’t flinch or back down. It surprises me. Most people—especially those who know about my Bratva connections—are quick to do exactly that.

Her teeth scrape against her bottom lip, and I feel that jolt of heat down my spine again. The way her mouth felt against mine, around my cock…

I was better off when I’d let myself forget just how good all of that could feel.

“Fine.” Dahlia’s expression is blank as she looks at me. “What is it? I can’t imagine what you have to say that could make up for the way you acted when I was at Evelyn’s.”

“Evelyn’s?” My eyebrow rises. “That’s Dimitri’s house.”

“They’re married. So it’s hers, too. But I wouldn’t expect you to know how that works, since the thought ofanykindof commitment makes you behave like a complete asshole and run?—”

“I’m here now.” Something burns in my gut as everything she says hits me, that feeling of old, buried feelings being reawoken lancing through me again.You have no fucking idea what I think about marriage or commitment,I want to snarl at her. My throat tightens, a barrage of everything I want to say choking me, but I hold it back. I don’t know what it is about this woman that makes me come so close to losing control, that threatens to break down all the walls I’ve so carefully constructed, but I want no part of it.

“What does that mean?” Dahlia wraps her arms around herself. “Just spit it out.”

“I’ve thought about the conversation that we had. I was startled to see you, and I was shocked by what Evelyn said. What you’re claiming?—”

“It’s true,” she interrupts, but I keep talking, forcing every word out one after the other. The sooner this conversation is over, the sooner I can leave.

“I handled it poorly. I’ve come to apologize for that. And I’ve come to tell you that I will do what I need to in order to take care of you.”

Dahlia’s eyes widen. “You’ll—what does that mean, exactly?”

“I’ll marry you,” I tell her stiffly. “But it will be a marriage of convenience only. There will be no expectation of love, and no physical contact between us. It will give you my name, my protection, and the promise that you and our child will be provided for. And of course, if the child proves to not be mine, a divorce will be expediently?—”

I’m interrupted by the sound of Dahlia’s laughter.Laughterfeels like the wrong word for the sound coming out of her mouth, a bitter, sarcastic noise that I feel like I’ve heard spill from my own lips recently. There’s nothing humorous or joyful about it,and as her shoulders shake, I think she might be on the verge of bursting into tears.

“I can’t fucking believe this,” she breathes. “First my father tells me that he’ll send me to a ‘discreet’ doctor to ‘quietly’ take care of the pregnancy and bribe a man I can’t stand into marrying me. And now that I’m back home, I haveyoustanding here and telling me that you’ll marry me, but only if I’m okay with a loveless, sexless marriage purely out of charity, and that if I’m lying to you, you expect a hasty divorce.”

Another choked sound comes from her throat, but I’m too preoccupied with the hot flare of anger that lances through me at what she said about her father.I don’t even know if I believe her,I remind myself.I don’t know if she’s telling the truth. And I certainly don’t want a child with anyone.But the thought of Dahlia in a cold doctor’s office, on the verge of ridding herself of a child thatcouldbe mine, sends a possessive fury burning through my veins and tightening my guts. And the thought of her father trying toforceher to do that only adds to it, until I feel my fingers curling into my palms, hot anger throbbing through me like a second pulse.

The thought of another man touching her doesn’t help, either. Blood is roaring in my ears as I look at her, my muscles strung tight. I haven’t felt possessive over anything or anyone like this in years, so why her? Why now? I don’t know, and I don’t want to feel this way.

It brings nothing but pain. Nothing but loss, and torment. It was almost the end of me once, and I refuse to let it happen again.

“If you’re lying, then a divorce only makes sense,” I grit out.

Dahlia lets out another bitter chuckle. “If I was lying, why would I agree to it at all?”

The question makes me pause momentarily, but I just shrug. “Why does anyone lie about anything?” It comes out flippant,but I can hear the bitterness underneath, and I wonder if Dahlia can too.

“Why are you even offering?” she bites out, swallowing hard as she looks back towards the large window behind her.

“If youarepregnant with my child, then it’s the right thing to do.” It comes out flat, and I know she can hear it. But it’s the only answer I have for her. I don’t even fully understand why I’m doing this, except that the man I used to be wouldn’t have abandoned a woman he put in this situation. I’m not that man any longer—but I don’t like to think that I would do that now, either.

Unless, of course, this is all some ruse for her own gain.

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