Page 96 of Vicious Little Princess

He smiled. “I think I’ll be able to enjoy a lot of things. We all will.”

“And what about our living arrangements then?” she asked.

The question had all of us stilling.

“What doyouwant them to be?” Nico put to her.

She looked down at her plate. “I guess I have some thinking to do where that’s concerned.”

“I guess you do.” Nico leaned forward in his seat. “But just so we’re clear, the choice is in your hands.”

“What? I thought we’d be butting heads over this majorly, that you’d be insisting—”

“As much as I would be overjoyed if you chose to remain here in the Manor, albeit without the separate rooms situation we’re all currently operating under, it needs to be your decision. You’ve been through a lifetime of suffering from others trying to control you and infringe upon your freedoms.” He gestured at me and Julian in turn. “None of us will allow that to befall you again. You’re safe with us, Caterina. Free.”

“I know,” she said, smiling out at us. “I know I am.”

“With that in mind, we should also start the process of getting divorced.”

All of us stilled to stare at Nico putting words out there we’d never thought we’d hear.

It had taken him years to have Caterina here with him. And she was even bound to him through their marriage too. For him to give that up, it was a hell of a thing.

Off our looks, he eyed Caterina and said, “I told you when the marriage was first put on the table, I didn’t want it like that with you. I wanted it to be on our terms, especially yours. It’s also creating an imbalance between the four of us, with you and me being married and Milo and Julian on the outside of that.”

“Thank fuck,” Julian spoke. “I thought me and Milo would have to be all over you to push this issue, Nico. I figured we’d really have to bring the pressure to convince you to get it annulled, or whatever needs to be done in this strange forced-marriage situation.”

Caterina looked between Julian and me. “The two of you really kept your disapproval and upset about this situation on the down low.”

I lifted a shoulder. “There was nothing to be done about it at the time, so there was no point airing our thoughts about it and only serving to further antagonize an already sensitive issue for you. We know how hard it’s been on the both of you, particularly you, Caterina. But now, with Nico already taking a stand against things via Leo outside the hospital that night, and other things ramping up in that respect too, itcanbe dealt with. That’s all that matters.”

She smiled at me and Julian. “Thank you for doing that.” She eyed Nico. “I’ll get the paperwork started for us then.”

“Perfect,” Nico said. “When this is done, when this war is won, I don’t want anything ofthemtaintingus.We need to be free of it completely.”

I reached for the champagne in the ice bucket and went about filling four glasses. When I was done, I cried, “Facciamo un brindisi!”

Julian pushed Caterina’s orange juice in front of her instead.

Off my look, he told me, “She’s not a fan of champagne.”

“That’s me and wine, Sunshine.”

He eyed Caterina. “I thought you were the same there. Right?”

“It’s bad luck to toast without alcohol,” Nico reminded him.

“It’s fine,” Caterina assured Julian. “It just requires a sip.”

“You don’t like champagne?” Nico queried. “I thought that was wine, that this was the exception?”

“I guess I’m not a major fan, it depends,” she answered.

“Huh, that’s another small thing I didn’t know about you. I thought I had it all covered.”

“I’m full of surprises.”

Julian chuckled and nudged her. “You certainly are. Keep us on our toes, don’t you?”

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