Page 69 of Captive Bride

I can’t stop the tears that are pooling in my eyes. I can’t believe he’s saying this to me.

“Isn’t our love more important than all that? Don’t you care about me more than some delusional sense of family honor?”

He looks at me regretfully, and I know the answer is no. His name means everything to him—more than I do, apparently.

“Isobel, confronting this is something I need to do. Please try to understand. I will keep you safe through all of this.”

I throw my napkin on the table and get out. I can’t even look at him. If he’s willing to destroy all that we have for some battle, then I have nothing more to say to him.

“You know what, Tristan? Screw you and your family honor and everything you think you stand for. You’re doing the wrong thing. And I can’t even look at you,” I say as a storm out of the room.

I run as fast as I can to my room in the tower. The bodyguards look at me, but I don’t care.

Let them see me cry. Nothing matters now.

All I can envision is Tristan’s impending death and possibly my own. He’s putting us both in danger with his reckless need to prove something about being a Montague.

I get to my room, and I slam the door behind me. I hope he doesn’t come find me. I’m not ready to talk to him.

Think about loving somebody so much and then knowing that they could very possibly die within the next few days, and you’ll know something about where I’m at.

Once inside the safe confines of my own space, I crouch down to the floor and begin to cry.

I should’ve known happiness could never be in my grasp.

It evades me every time.

---