“I will be honored to be your husband, baby girl, and I promise to always place your needs above mine. I won’t pretend this will be easy, but I’m not a monster, no matter how many people will disagree with that.”
“You’ll be my monster.” Her impish grin breaks a rare smile on my face before the matter at hand replaces pleasure with practicalities.
“We should sleep; tomorrow will be a busy day.”
“What happens now?”
“We sleep first and then get the hell out of Spain.”
“When will we marry?”
She falters, biting her lip, before whispering, “I mean, surely that should be the first item on the agenda with perhaps an announcement online, or wherever those things are posted now.”
“It will take time to arrange unless–”
I stop, a plan forming that will probably work out for the best.
“Leave it with me, baby girl. Your wish is my command.”
“But–” I silence her with a deep kiss, and as she leans against me, I fight the urge to consummate the deal. However, if we do this, it will be done in the right way because Rose deserves the fairy tale and not the shotgun version. She is undoubtedly a virgin, and taking that away from her without giving her time to change her mind would be the worst thing I could do. I may be a bastard in many ways, but she makes me a better version of myself, and it will be special for her.
However, this time tomorrow she will be my wife, probably pregnant with my child and chained to me for eternity, and if any bastard attempts to change my plans, then it will be the last thing they ever do.
26
ROSE
When I wake, what happened yesterday reminds me why I should have never left the convent. It’s as if my world crashes onto another planet as the full implications of what happened explode my mind.
Today is my wedding day. I asked a man to marry me, and it kind of made my decision for me. It took two days to convince me that I don’t want to return to the convent, but at what cost?
I blink in the hope it brings clarity, but if anything, it reprimands me further.
You are a fool.
My head screams at me while my heart whispers,You did the right thing.
I am torn between the two of them, and common sense interjects with,You solved a huge problem. You had no other choice.
But at what cost? My sisters may decide to return to the convent, and I will have lost them forever. I didn’t even wait until I got to Washington. I foolishly grasped the nearestsafe pair of hands and pleaded with him never to let go of me.
It’s better the devil you know than the demon intent on harming you.
My voice of reason makes a good point, and I breathe a little easier. I made my decision after possibly one of the scariest moments of my life, and I will have to live with that.
I glance across at the space beside me and note with a sigh that it remains untouched. Julius never joined me, no matter how much I wanted him to, and yet it’s only a matter of time. I sense it.
My mind returns to when he touched me. When his fingers glided against my skin, and drove me slightly mad. I wanted something sinful. I’m under no illusion that I wanted him to touch me more, to explore my body like he promised and own it as he intends to. I should be horrified, but I’m full of anticipation. Will it be today, tonight, next week or next month?
I sense the tension building between us, and I’m so ready for the result of that, and when the door opens, and the man himself enters the room, my heart flips, and my body comes alive the second he smiles in my direction.
“Morning, baby. I’m sorry, you should shower and dress for a flight. We have thirty minutes before the cab arrives.”
“The cab? I thought–”
“Change of plan.”
He is wearing his customary black shirt and trousers, the gold wristwatch complementing the crucifix hanging around his neck.
