Her son.
Zeke.
I need space to breathe.
Air.
I keep distance between us and fumble back toward my bed, falling to the edge as my knees give out and I struggle to function.
Harper watches me, but she doesn’t move closer. “You lied to me too,” she says, her voice calm, but I feel the betrayal. “This wouldn’t have happened if I’d known the truth about your family.”
“You’re blaming me.” My gaze shoots up at her. “You were the one who snuck into the basement and let that kid out. You nearly got both of us killed!”
I can’t admit that she nearly got herself killed and I would have been the one forced to pull the trigger.
I swore I’d never become my father.
If she dies, I die.
But this isn’t some Romeo and Juliet bullshit.
Right now, I don’t even like her. And I’m pretty sure Romeo loved Juliet.
How’s that for tragic?
Me, forced to marry a girl I don’t love to protect her. But I don’t love her.
I tip my head back, staring up at the ceiling, and sigh. I really wish we had a hockey game tonight. I could use the time on the ice. Lifting weights wasn’t enough to stave off the excess energy that she’s building within me.
“What are we going to do about next weekend, dinner?” Harper asks.
“Cancel it. You’re not stepping foot back into that house,” I say. All she’ll do is wind up dead.
“I don’t think your parents are just going to accept that our engagement is over,” Harper says. “They threatened my son, Luca. Maybe you don’t care about what happens to him, but I do.”
“That’s not fair,” I growl at her and leap up from the bed. I’m just inches from her face, and I can feel her breath caress my cheek.
My body craves her as I lean closer, but my mind knows better.
If there were any other way out of this mess, I’d jump at it.
Marrying Harper wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if she didn’t have a son. But putting Zeke’s life in my hands, it’s dangerous.
When I’m ordered to kill men, how can I not turn into the man I despise most of all? I don’t want that for her son.
“Tell me what I’m supposed to do, Luca.” Her voice is soft and filled with concern. Her brow is etched with worry. “I’d leave this place all behind, take Zeke with me, but you said there was nowhere I could go that your family wouldn’t find me.”
She’s right; there is no escape for either one of us that doesn’t end with us buried six feet deep.
Reluctantly, I reach for her hands. Her fingers are cold, and I feel the slight tremble as I intertwine our fingers together. “We put on a show, for your parents, for mine.”
“You’re willing to do that, for me?” Harper asks.
“I told you I’d protect you, that means your son as well.”
Standing outside of Harper’s dorm room, she has her backpack over one shoulder and a duffel bag in her hand.
“No Quinn today?” I ask, noticing her roommate isn’t in the room. I’m more than relieved. After Quinn practically tackled me at the front door, shoved her lips on me, and landed me in hot water with Harper, I don’t want to run into that succubus.
