“Minnie, Minnie, Minnie. See, that’s where you’re confused.” He leans in, voice dropping. Dark amusement curls around every word. “You’re already mine. You always have been. Your father promised me.”
His fingers flex around my wrist, and I yank my arm again.
“Let me go,” I snap.
His jaw clenches. Then, slowly, deliberately, he releases me. Just to prove he can. That he’s the one in control of my physical body. At least in this moment. I step back immediately, my skin still burning where he touched me.
Luca watches me with an infuriatingly lazy smirk. “You wanna play stubborn?” He tilts his head. “Fine. But this flippant attitude? It’s ending. First thing I’m doing after the wedding is booking your appointment.”
As I freeze in place, my stomach drops. Luca clocks my discomfort immediately. He’s paid to read people. And torture them for their weaknesses.
He chuckles, stepping closer again, forcing me back against the wall. “No wife of mine is gonna be walking around looking like a teenage boy. You’re gonna get some real tits, Minnie. Big enough to fit in my hands—”
He lifts his right hand, cracking his knuckles, flexing his thick fingers.
“—which means bigger than those mosquito bites you got now.”
The air in my lungs turns solid.
Luca smirks. “You really think a man wants to come home to that? To a wife with nothing to squeeze? Shit, Minnie, my fucking thumb is bigger than what you got.”
Heat crawls up my throat, the familiar kind—the one that says he’s right, that everyone who ever laughed was right.
You’re embarrassing. No real man wants a woman built like you. You’ll never get married looking like that.
My sister, Frankie. My father. My schoolmates. Every sneer. Every whisper. Every sideways glance.
After I graduated from college, I thought I was past this, thought I had buried it.
Luca tilts his head, studying me. “What?” His lips curve up. “Cat got your tongue? Thought you were tough, Min. Ripping up that bill, walking away from your father.”
His words swirl through my head until I snap. My hand moves before my brain catches up. For once, instinct doesn’t freeze—it fights. Before I can stop myself, I slap him hard. The sound cracks through the hallway.
Luca’s head jerks to the side. His smirk vanishes. For one horrifying second, the air freezes. Then his jaw ticks. His eyes darken. And a diabolical grin spreads across his face.
Something slow. Dangerous.
“Oh, Minnie.” He rolls his jaw. “You really shouldn’t have done that.”
Before he can hurt me, before he cankillme, I run up the spiral staircase toward my bedroom.
The second I’m inside, I slam the door shut and lock it. My heart pounds against my ribs like a drumline, my pulse roaring in my ears. My hands tremble as I brace them against the wood, sucking in air.Steady. Keep it together.
I don’t have time to break down.
I don’t have time to think about Luca’s voice, thick with amusement as he humiliated me.
No real man wants a woman built like you. You’re gonna get some real tits. My thumb is bigger than what you got.
I squeeze my eyes shut.Don’t cry. Don’t give him that satisfaction.
My closet door stands open. I stare at it for half a second before I start moving. Yanking a duffel bag from the top shelf, I shove in jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, socks, underwear. Whatever fits. I don’t think, I just move. Because if I think, I’ll crumble.
Behind me, my door handle rattles. Then comes a slow, taunting knock. My sister’s voice is another hit to my already frazzled nervous system. I unlock the door anyway.
“You know, this is actually a good thing,” she says as she steps inside, her voice light, casual. Like we’re chatting over coffee.
I don’t answer.
