This marriage between us, it wasn’t about personal feelings. It was about loyalty, history, and the weight of expectation.
My family had always warned me about people like Max. They’d said the other side was manipulative, dangerous, and never to be trusted. Yet here I was, drawn to him in a way I couldn’t express, feeling things I’d been taught to suppress my entire life. It felt like a betrayal—not just to my family, but to the values I’d grown up with.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I finally said.
“Flattery has nothing to do with it.” His voice was suddenly serious. “I just call it like I see it.”
“You’re insufferable.”
“And you’re impossible,” he replied. “Which makes us quite the pair, don’t you think?”
I rolled my eyes, refusing to let him see how much his words affected me. “In your dreams.”
“Every night,” he admitted, his smirk returning.
“Must be nightmares then,” I quipped, trying to regain some ground.
He chuckled—a rich sound that drew me in without fail. “Only if you consider it a nightmare to wake up wanting more of you.”
“More of me?” I raised an eyebrow. “You can barely handle what you get now.”
“Oh, I handle you just fine,” he said, leaning forward, his eyes locking onto mine. “It’s you who seems to struggle with the concept.”
I folded my arms defensively. “I haven’t had much time to adjust to the changes that have been made since you uprooted my entire life. Everything I knew, everything I was familiar with, it’s all been turned upside down.”
He sighed, clearly frustrated. “I’ve given you more than enough time to adjust, Rosalie. In fact, your five weeks expire soon.”
“Right,” I said with a sharp breath, feeling the weight of his words pressing down on me. “The wedding.”
There was still so much to do, and the days were slipping away faster than I could keep up with.
I mentally ran through my checklist: the final fitting for my dress was in a few hours, the caterer needed confirmation on the menu, and I still hadn’t decided which heels I wanted to wear. Something other than myValentinos.They were my most uncomfortable pair, but Max had said he liked them, so I’d worn them.
He stood up, straightening his jacket. “The rehearsal is tomorrow at six. I want your things moved into my bedroom by then.”
“What about our rules?” I asked nervously, biding my time. “We aren’t married yet.”
“Rules?” he asked. “Like the one you broke last night?”
“Well,” I scoffed, “you certainly helped.”
“Maybe, but you broke one first, which means I get to break another. You’ll be sleeping in my bed tonight.”
“What?” I asked. “No.”
“No more excuses, no more delays. It’s time for you to accept the way things are.”
I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks—a mix of anger and helplessness I struggled to control. His gaze bore into mine, challenging me to defy him, but I remained silent, my jaw clenched.
I was running out of time. I hardly had any left.
Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked off, his footsteps echoing through the empty hall. The sound seemed to grow louder, each step a reminder of the control he had over my life.
The thought of moving my things into Max’s bedroom felt like the final surrender, a step I wasn’t sure I was ready to take.But maybe I was ready ... After all, I’d had my mouth all over his last night.
As the day wore on, I reluctantly started to gather my belongings, muttering under my breath about the unfairness of it all. I began with the bathroom, figuring if I was going to invade his space, I might as well start with the essentials. I placed my bright pink toothbrush right next to his black one.
Next, I tackled the closet. It was a huge room, but he’d only filled a small corner of it. Max’s wardrobe consisted of two colors: black and white. He had a suit for every day of the week, and they all looked the same. My heels alone took up twice the amount of space as everything of his.
