“No, please, no. Don’t say anything.” She tried to dig her heels into the carpet. “Yesterday!”
This made him stop, but he didn’t let her go.
Gritting her teeth, she tried not to squirm beneath his intense stare, but that was next to impossible. He kept on looking at her, and she didn’t know if he liked what he saw, not that she should care.
This wasn’t going well.
“I don’t want a marriage like our parents. I’ll … I’ll be good to you, I promise. I won’t embarrass you, but please, let me go.”
“I’m taking you to the kitchen to get some food.”
She shook her head. “No, please. I’m not allowed. I think you should go back to your father, so you can be part of the negotiations.”
He didn’t move.
“Please,” she said.
Begging was something she hated doing, but in her life, she’d been put in situations that actually required it of her. If that wasn’t humiliating enough, her soon-to-be husband was already pushing boundaries.
Her heart raced. If he caused trouble, her father would make her suffer.
“He starves you,” Klaus said.
Lifting her head up, even with tears in her eyes, she looked at this giant of a man. She’d heard so many rumors about him. Most of them were bad, but there was no mistaking the attraction a lot of women felt for him. Many women in their world would envy her, and she knew it wasn’t going to be long before she became the target for hatred. She wasn’t the most-liked woman as at eighteen, she’d been the first woman without an already arranged marriage. She was used to their spiteful words. Now it was going to be worse.
“Wouldn’t you if you had a fat little daughter with my reputation? Please, don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”
She didn’t get to add more as her mother was suddenly at the door, being her usual cheery self. She was an expert in turning a blind eye.
Klaus didn’t say a word, and for that, she was thankful.