Page 34 of Broken Saint

I didn't know who she was trying to convince with her speech. Me or herself. Either way, she was full of shit. We'd gone well beyond the original parameters of just having sex.

"You didn't think telling me you were engaged to be married was important for me to know?"

"I'm not really engaged. At least not in the traditional sense."

My fork paused midair. "What the fuck does that mean? Either you're engaged or you’re not."

She sighed, placing her silverware on the table and reaching for the wine she'd poured. "Not everything in life is quite that black and white. Some families are a mess, and half of life ends up being gray."

She was talking in circles and insulting me at the same time and it was seriously pissing me off. "That's a shit answer, Nova. Are you engaged to him or not?"

"I didn't accept a proposal if that's what you mean, but technically we are kind of engaged. It's an arranged marriage put together by our families."

"An arranged marriage? What the hell, Nova? Is this 1950?"

"You asked. If you don't like the answers, I can't help that. I'm from a an old school wealthy Italian family. This kind of thing isn't as uncommon as you think."

I shoved my chair back and pushed to my feet. This situation was escalating to a dangerous place. I needed to rein in the anger and the—

Mine.

I couldn't get the damned word out of my head. Our situation was approaching the impossible, and instead of walking away, I wanted to dig in. I wasn't about to let her go to a marriage she doesn't even want, let alone to someone like him. Fucking bullshit.

"Did you agree to this arranged marriage?"

She dropped her head and I had my answer. Un-fucking-believable.

"It's not what you think." she started. "My family has expectations, and I had dreams and aspirations. When I turned eighteen, my father tried to marry me off, but it didn’t work out. So I negotiated a different deal."

"So, break it. Tell them you are already taken." I had so many other questions, but my brain seemed to have a single track of focus. Getting her away from Ronin.

She swung her head sharply to meet my gaze. For a few tense moments I simply stared at her. I didn't regret what I'd said, but I wasn't sure she was taking me seriously.

Finally, she dropped her gaze again and spoke while staring down at the table. "You really don't understand. I can't go against my family. It’s complicated. I’m not giving up, but it’s going to take some time."

“Can't? Or won't?" I knew I wasn't thinking as clearly as I should be, but that was the kind of passion Nova inspired in me. I wanted her by my side and on my fucking side. "If ever there was someone who understood family expectations it would definitely be me. But I broke free. I put my foot down and worked my way out."

"You're a man. And not from a family like mine. Trust me, it's different."

She looked resigned to her future, and that pissed me off more. "So that's it? You're going to marry him because Daddy says so? I don't fucking think so."

"Seriously, I'm working on a plan. I might be able to negotiate with my father soon."

That got my attention. "Tell me about the plan."

She shook her head. "I can't."

"You know there's a big difference between can't and won't. If we're going to have this conversation, at least be honest."

She pushed from her chair, anger darkening her face. "I haven't lied. But I have to deal with my family on my own. If I'm getting out of this mess, I'm doing it on my own."

I understood that, to an extent. I'd had to deal with mine in my own way and no amount of coercion from others swayed me to handle it any other way. But this was Nova, and at this point, I'd earned the right to help her. She was mine.

“Not good enough. I need more.”

She glanced down at her hands fidgeting nervously in her lap. It was obvious she wanted to say more, but was too scared.

No fucking way in hell would she ever marry that vicious criminal. I didn't even want her in his presence. "I don't think you understand what you are getting into with Ronin Kavanaugh. I looked into him, and he's bad news. Hell, beyond bad news. He's a nightmare."

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