“How is this different?” she asks.
“Because there are people out there who would give anything to hurt you, to hurt me, and you willingly put yourself in danger.”
“We barely left the palace.”
“It doesn’t matter. You left,” I say. “You put yourself out there, for anyone to take advantage of the situation.”
She places her hand to my chest. “But—”
“You don’t get it,” I yell at her as I move my hand to hers and pin it up above her head, my body eclipsing hers. “Just because you didn’t get hurt, doesn’t mean you won’t get hurt the next time.”
Her breath catches in her throat as she stares up at me, those wide eyes filling with tears.
“Are you trying to make me mad? Is this your way of getting back at me for all this shit we’ve been through?” I ask.
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “I was just trying to have some fun. My life has been a circus lately with engagements, fittings, wedding planning, couples therapy that—”
“It’s not couples therapy. They’re pre-wedding classes.”
She rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean. It’s all been very heavy. Timmy thought we could loosen up.”
“Timmy has no goddamn clue the kind of pressure we’re under or the threats being made.”
Her eyes widen as a tear falls down her cheek. “Threats? What threats?”
Fucking hell.
Good job, Keller. You weren’t supposed to say anything, and there you go, letting it fly off your tongue as a defense tactic.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” I answer. “It’s being handled.”
“No.” She tries to remove her hand, but I keep her pinned. “Keller, I want to know.”
“There’s nothing to know that will do any service to you.”
She struggles against me, and I loosen my grip to let her free. She sits up in bed and says, “I deserve to know. This is my life, and I’ll be damned if you shelter me from it.”
“Why? Because the more you know, the more you’ll be careful?”
She crosses her arms, clearly hearing the sarcasm in my voice. “Maybe if you told me earlier, I wouldn’t have gone off to the bar . . .” She pauses and then tilts her head to the side. “Is that why you had a larger security detail assigned to me?”
“Yes,” I answer.
“Keller,” she yells. “You lied to me.”
“With your best interest at heart,” I say. “If we told you we’ve received threats about the wedding, that would have stressed you out more, and Theo was worried about you.”
“Why don’t people stop worrying about me and let me worry about myself?”
“Because when you worry about yourself, you ditch your security and go to sketchy bars, not even considering the people around you.”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” she yells. “Jesus, Keller. I said I was sorry, what more do you want from me?”
“I want you to be safe. I don’t want to have to worry about you.”
“Well, I’m sorry for being such a burden to you.” She turns away from me, and I grind my teeth together, trying not to lose my shit.
“You know you’re not a burden to me.”
