I’m starting to think he doesn’t like me.
Sophia
How am I supposed to marry a man who doesn’t like me? To spend the rest of my life with him?!
Sophia
Is it me? Did I do something wrong? You’re married. What do men want?
“Thatstronzo,” I murmur, angry on my cousin’s behalf.
“Who pissed you off?” Cian asks, arm resting behind his head and his scarred, tattooed chest on full display. My mouth waters. I tear my gaze away from his delicious muscles.
“It’s that Russian that Sophia’s engaged to marry. He stood her up again, and she thinks the problem isher. This is how men make women doubt themselves. It’s despicable. She’s donenothing wrong. I wonder what she can do to get his attention and hold onto it?” I muse. If his wandering attention is even the problem. From what I can determine, he’s just a jerk.
“She could always date another man. Irish, Italian, Russian, it doesn’t matter, we’re all possessive of what’s ours. If that doesn’t get his attention then he’s not into her at all.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “She can’t do that! Her father would murder her for being unfaithful. The Russians would probably call off the deal. It would destroy them all, and my cousin would be caught in the middle.”
“You forgot to mention that they’d kill the man she dated too. Hmm, maybe that’s not a good idea.”
“You think?” I laugh when he reaches out to tickle me for my sassy mouth. “What if he’s not into her? What if that’s what’s going on?”
Cian shrugs. “They’ll have to make the best of it. Arranged marriages aren’t based on love or attraction—only duty.” He pulls me onto his chest. “You and I got lucky,broc meala.We like each other. Attraction isn’t an issue. And someday, we might even…” His breath tickles my ear. The ghost of the words he’s left unspoken hang in the air between us.Someday… we might love each other.
So he feels it too? This giddy sensation. The way butterflies swarm inside my stomach when he touches me, looks at me, kisses me. I thought I was alone in my deeper affections, but now I’m beginning to think they’re mutual. His emotions for me could run deeper than duty and vows. Deeper than protecting what’s his.
He rescued me in my darkest hour. Before that, he went with me to save my sister, no questions asked. He listens when I speak. He values whatever, and whoever, I cherish.
It’s a one-eighty from our animosity-clouded beginning. Sure, it’s been bumpy since then too. But something has shifted in our dynamic since the auction house.
Then shifted again after that cage fighting match. And once again following that nightmare-induced morning.
Am I too optimistic to think that we might have smooth sailing from here on out?
I want a life and relationship that I love. After all the hardship I’ve been through, I just want happiness. Being in Cian’s arms makes me think that God has finally answered my prayers.
My husband nuzzles my neck. “What are you thinking about, baby?”
“Nothing. Everything.” I can’t help the smile that forms on my lips. “I should respond to Sophia before she spirals any further.”
“Take your time. I have some work I need to get done.” He crawls out of bed, then bends down to plant a kiss on the top of my head.
Naked, he saunters to the bathroom and I take my time enjoying the view. Taut ass, rippling muscles, dark ink covering his myriad scars. My insides warm. I have absolutely no shame in admiring my husband’s physique.
Damn. I already want him back in bed.
As if he knows I’m having dirty thoughts about him, he glances over his shoulder at me and winks. I melt into a puddle of goo.
CHAPTER 28
Cian
Call me a selfish bastard, but I enjoy having my wife’s full attention again. She’s no longer constantly fussing and worrying over her twin sister. Though the concern she showed toward her gave me the sense that she’ll be a wonderful mother. One day. Soon, I hope.
Having Elena in my house showed me that she would have been the wrong bride. We would have been a disaster. I thought I wanted the meek, sweet sister, but now I know otherwise. Ravenna was meant for me in every way possible, and even though she originally deceived me, I’m grateful I ended up married to her instead of her twin.
Smart. Sassy. Bull-headed. She’s perfect.
