Page 428 of Hate Mates

And pleases me.

And scares me.

The bitterness I’ve carried all this time is starting to seem misplaced.

The anger driving my hatred for him could be unjustified.

The shame I’ve endured might be unwarranted.

I scan his face. The disappointment pulsing in his expression is an emotion I never expected to see.

My aversion to an arranged marriage is different from my loathing of him. Maybe I intertwined the two when I shouldn’t have.

It’s my father who should be feeling my ire.

Not Lucian.

My future husband.

The man who isn’t repulsed by me.

I don’t know how to handle this revelation.

So I don’t.

Not now.

I can only handle one issue at a time. I have to talk to Mirabel to find out why she didn’t tell me what Lucian said.

She knew how he destroyed me, and she never said a word. I’m trying not to jump to conclusions as I’m sure she has an explanation. My pulse races. But I can’t figure out what reason she would have to let me suffer like this.

Drawing in a deep breath to calm down, I face Lucian. He still looks furious. The ideas are swirling in his mind too I would guess. “Will you take me home please?”

A smirk I don’t expect suddenly brightens his expression.

“Youarehome, mama. But I’ll take you to your apartment.”

Oh my God. He can never be serious. “Fine. Take me to my apartment.”

The huge, goofy grin on his face confirms he delights once again in aggravating me. Yet his grip on my hand is not playful. Somehow, in a way I don’t fully understand, our relationship has changed.

I’m not sure if we’ll ever go back.

I’m not sure if I want to.

He leads me through the house and outside to his vehicle. His concern over helping me into the SUV and ensuring my seatbelt is fastened impacts me more than I want to admit. How have I not realized his gentleness with me despite his brutality in the rest of his life.

“There you go doll face.”

His thumb strokes over my cheek before he steps back and closes the door. Despite my best intentions to despise him, Iwatch him with wonder as he strides to his side. His gaze flicks all around, always on the alert for danger regardless of the cameras and security guards everywhere on the property.

He protects me.

The thought hits me hard.

Without a shadow of a doubt, I know he would save my life even if it meant losing his.

Wow.

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