Page 30 of Vicious Addictions

“You can’t be serious.”

I hold my hands up. “Hey, I’m not the one who said it. That was all my Aunt Pippa.”

“And your father?” Jude’s jaw tightens. “What did Victor say?”

“Nothing.” I force another smile. “His silence said it all.”

“Fuck.” Jude rakes a hand through his hair. “Youjustsaid Felix is in his thirties. You’re a teenager, for fuck sake!”

“I’ll be eighteen next year,” I remind him. “And if my father wants to marry me off to Felix, there’s not much I can do.”

“I don’t accept that.” Jude shakes his head.

I huff out a laugh.

“Oh? And just what do you plan to do about it?”

Without waiting for an answer, I walk toward the archway leading out of the church’s garden, the path we take on the Sundays we walk home—the same one I’m now desperate to escape from.

Jude doesn’t let me.

A second later, he’s behind me, grabbing my hand and pulling me to a stop. His grip is firm, but his voice is even firmer.

“You can’t marry Felix.”

“So you’ve said,” I retort with a mocking tone. “And how exactly do you plan to stop it?”

Jude searches my face as if trying to piece together a puzzle, looking for something he doesn’t quite understand. After a long, heavy pause, he exhales sharply.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“Beforewhat?”

Jude presses his lips, his breath slow and measured like he’s holding something back.

“You’re not marrying him,” he finally says with a low and determined voice. “You’re just a kid.”

“It’s funny how you’re the only one who insists on seeing me that way when no one else does.”

I pull away from his grip, frustrated that he only labels me a child when it suits him.

“Fuck, that’s not what I meant!” he yells, running after me.

“Oh no?!” I yell back, halting in my tracks to face him. “What did you mean then?”

Jude walks straight toward me, leaving only an inch between us.

“What I meant was that you have your whole life ahead of you. Getting married this young? It’s acage,Mina. Your father wouldn’t do that to you. He loves you too much.”

“My father might not have a choice.” I sigh, shaking my head. “You forget—he may be the Boss, but he still has people to keep happy. It’s just business.”

His eyes darken. “You arenotbusiness. You’re your own person.”

“So gladyousee me that way,” I say with a tight smile.

If I had even an ounce of courage, I’d rise onto my toes and press my lips on his.

But I don’t.

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