His eyes narrowed. ‘You persist in believing wants and needs were relevant in my decision. They weren’t,’ he stated bluntly. ‘Your sister died before an alternative could be found besides your brother. And her last wish was that you be taken care of. I just happened to be the person she expressed that wish to.’
She drew in a shaky breath. There it was. The stark truth. She’d been pushed on him in a moment of great trauma and turmoil. And she’d become the burden he couldn’t shed.
‘Let me go,’ she whispered low, almost inaudibly because more than even the wish her sister had had no business foisting on him, the shadows in his eyes when she spoke of Helga drew claws over her heart. And yes, it was very unnerving to realise those shadows bothered her more than she wanted to admit. Because she couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling that the need to see Prince Valenti Domene free of those shadows was derived from a well much deeper than a mere schoolgirl crush.
She felt more than saw him approach, her eyes downcast on her knees. But she smelled him when he crouched before her. His gaze sizzled away the layers of her composure, until compelled, she raised her head. Met the implacable expression he wanted her to witness.
‘No. I will not.’
It was so final it struck deep in her soul.
She was grappling with why that didn’t completely shatter her when he continued.
‘Even if I wanted to break the promise I made, I won’t.’
‘Why not?’ Her throat was thick, her voice hoarse, her eyes unable to move from the mesmerising silver of his.
‘Because you’re yet to prove to me that you don’t need a guardian. And no, sparking pure fire at me with those eyes isn’t going to make your case.’
Hypnosis receded, replaced by a thrill-tinged anger. ‘If you think I’m going to hang on your every word just to prove some sort of point to you, you’re seriously—’
‘I believe it’s my turn now,’ he interrupted firmly.
She frowned. ‘To do what?’
‘To have a question answered.’
‘That wasn’t part of the agreement.’
‘It is now. You faltered on our very first outing. So I’m renegotiating our agreement.’
She plucked at the sleeve of her cashmere sweater, trying and failing to find a way to wriggle out of the corner she’d been backed into. Eventually she exhaled. ‘Fine, ask your question.’
‘How is showing off how to wear a shirt three different ways useful to anyone?’ he mused drily.
It was unexpected. And the scoffing tone hurt more than she wanted to admit. ‘You think I’m a waste of space?’
His mouth tightened, his raised eyebrow clearly held tones of ‘You said it, not me.’
Her mouth twisted, her hurt deepening. ‘Come on, at least have the balls to own it.’
‘Watch your mouth,’ he growled.
Her arms unshackled, her bare feet hit the floor as she glared harder at him. ‘Or what? You think what I do is useless? Try being a single mother on minimum wage trying to improve herself by working her way through night school. She’s striving to land her dream job but only has two outfits to wear before her first pay cheque. She sees my video and asks me to show her how many ways she can wear the two decent shirts that she owns so her colleagues don’t think she’s dirt poor.
‘What I do may seem inconsequential to you but when she tells me I gave her a single ounce more confidence than she possessed the day before, thatnonsenseof helping her find a bit of dignity and pride is worth its weight in gold. Here’s another one for you to toss into your arrogant pipe. I may not be the world’s greatest chef and yes, you hired me a cook who makes my meals, but if I can show a college student how to make a simple meal so they don’t exist on cereal or noodles every day or, shock-horror, starve because they don’t have a clue how to cook a basic but nutritious meal on a budget, then don’t you think it’s worth it?’
Several heartbeats after her long, rambling breathless diatribe, he pointed out, ‘I don’t smoke a pipe.’
She surged from the table, throwing up her hands with a muted scream. ‘You’re an incorrigible mongoose bear kraken snake!’
A sensation bubbled in Valenti’s gut, then erupted through his throat. A second later, it registered that he was…laughing.
Her face froze for a second and her eyes continued to blaze in a glare before she too dissolved into laughter.
The sound was far too lovely for his ears and that peculiar place in his chest. ‘Did you just pluck real and mythical creatures out of thin air as insults?’ He attempted to sound stern and somewhat vaguely succeeded.
She shrugged, the wide sleeve slipping off her shoulder to reveal flawless skin. ‘Maybe. But now I feel sorry for all of them because compared to you, they’re sweet and harmless.’
