Dinner was worse. Hours of him discussing our future like it was something I should be excited about instead of dreading with every fiber of my being.
"I expect at least three sons. Heirs to continue the family legacy. You're young and healthy. That shouldn't be difficult to achieve."
Three sons. With him. The thought made me want to vomit on the expensive china.
"I'll do my best to give you everything you desire."
The lies were getting easier. More automatic. Like I was becoming someone else entirely. Someone who could smile and agree while internally screaming.
I hadn't seen Kai in five days. Five days that felt like five years. Five days of wondering if he was okay, if the plan was progressing, if we'd actually pull this off.
The separation was destroying me. Making it hard to sleep. Hard to eat. Hard to remember why I was fighting so hard to survive when surviving meant living this nightmare.
Lia managed to sneak me notes sometimes. Brief messagesfolded into napkins at meals or slipped into my hand when we passed in hallways.
"Kai is working on the plan. Stay strong. Almost there."
"Father Benedetto is almost convinced. Just a little longer."
"Hold on. We're going to make it."
Those notes were lifelines. Proof that I wasn't alone. That someone was fighting for me even when I couldn't see them.
But they weren't enough. Weren't the same as seeing Kai. Touching him. Hearing his voice tell me it would be okay.
I was drowning. Slowly. And those notes were air bubbles that let me breathe for a few seconds before the water closed over my head again.
The seventh night in Salvatore's wing, I thought I might actually lose my mind.
Salvatore had left for a meeting across the city. Some territorial dispute that required his personal attention. He wouldn't be back until morning.
I should have felt relief. A few hours without his oppressive presence. Without having to perform.
Instead, I felt empty. Hollow. Like all the fighting had drained out of me and left nothing but exhaustion.
I lay in bed at midnight, staring at the ceiling, willing sleep to come. It refused. My mind kept spinning through worst-case scenarios. What if the plan failed? What if the wedding actually happened? What if I ended up like Salvatore's other wives—dead before forty?
What if I never saw Kai again? That thought hurt worse than all the others combined.
The door to my suite opened. I bolted upright, heart hammering, reaching for the lamp on my nightstand like it could be used as a weapon.
Kai stepped into the moonlight streaming through my windows.
For a second, I thought I was hallucinating. That my desperate mind had conjured him from pure need. Then he locked the door behind him and I knew he was real.
I was out of bed and across the room before conscious thought caught up. Threw myself at him so hard we both stumbled.
His arms wrapped around me immediately. Crushed me against his chest. His mouth found mine, hot and desperate and claiming.
I opened for him, pouring every ounce of loneliness and fear and desperate love into the contact. His tongue swept past my lips, tasting, claiming, reminding me exactly who I belonged to.
The moment the door clicked shut behind us, the air in the room shifted. It was like the world outside ceased to exist—no more whispered threats, no more scheming enemies, no more weight of the empire pressing down on us. Just him. Just me. My body starved for the way he filled me, claimed me, ruined me.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
"How did you get in here? The guards—"
"Patrol change creates a three-minute window. I know every blind spot in this house." His hands cupped my face. "Your father won't be back until morning. We have a few hours."
