My dad raises one of his bushy eyebrows at me. “You okay?”
No. I’ll never be okay again. I should try to talk to them. They can’t protect me, but they might be able to help me.
My gaze darts around the room and I grip my mother’s arm. I don’t like it when I can’t see him. “No,” I whisper. “I need help.”
“What’s wrong?” my father asks.
“I need help. Gideon is?—”
My mother sighs and rolls her eyes. “Joseph, leave us for a minute. This is a mother-daughter conversation.”
My father hesitates, but after receiving a glare from my mother, he steps away. She tugs me toward the window and behind a heavy curtain, away from keen ears.
“Men like Gideon need to be the alpha in a relationship. If he’s had to be firm with you because of your sass and stubbornness, then that blame lies with you. Anticipate his needs and be a dutiful wife. So he won’t have to correct you.”
My mouth flops open. I’m rendered utterly speechless by thewoman who is meant to love me unconditionally. I shake my head. “Mom?—”
She cuts me off with a slice of her hand between us. “No, I won’t tolerate you messing up this marriage.”
My eyes drop to the new diamond necklace and expensive dress she’s wearing. “You mean you won’t tolerate me risking your newfound luxury?”
Her hand lands on the diamond teardrop hanging from her neck. “We don’t believe in divorce, Honor. Learn how to please your husband. There is no out for you. You married the city’s prince.”
“He starves me, rapes me, and tortures me, yet you want me to learn how to please him?”
“He helps you have the figure women dream about. He’s a virile man with needs, and the rest is correction for your behavior.”
The blood in my veins turns to ice, and a lump of emotion clogs my throat. I take a step away, my bruised heart beating painfully in my chest. I resist the urge to fall to my knees and plead for her assistance. We’ve never been close, but I held the idea she would believe me and help. I stand corrected.
The curtain we are behind snaps open and Gideon’s scowling face comes into view. “There are my two favorite ladies. What are you plotting back here?”
My mother blushes. Wait, no. Jane. I think she gave up her parent card. She touches Gideon’s chest with her fingers. “A little girl talk, giving my daughter some pointers on being a successful wife.”
Gideon’s arm curls around my waist and presses against my stomach, tugging on the chains and bringing the pain flooding back. I hadn’t forgotten them, but I had compartmentalized the agony. One of the many mental skills I’ve honed over the last year.
“If she turns out like you, Jane, then I’m a lucky man.”
Enough with the nice guy act—now my fantasy involves a steak knife and some matricide. I want to peel back their skin so the rest of the world can see the rotten meat underneath.
“I’m stealing my wife for a dance,” he says with a grin, showcasing his perfect pearly white teeth. It reminds me of a lion about to tear into a meal. He steers me away from Jane with a curt nod to my father, who will follow his wife into the abyss if she demands it.
Gideon leads us to the middle of the room, which has been cleared of the twenty-seater dining table to make space for a dance floor. The sparkling chandelier hanging from the center of the coffered ceiling casts a warm glow over the dark wooden floor. A live band plays their own version of popular music. I enjoy rock—or at least, I did. Gideon prefers silence.
He spins me to face him and wraps one hand around my back while clasping the other with mine. I grip his shoulder as he leads us around the dance floor, wondering if he can feel my traitorous heart beating double time. He leans in closer and presses his cheek against mine, the movement of our bodies making me wince.
“What were you really talking to your mother about?” he utters in my ear. I stiffen and he senses it. “Honor,” he drawls. “Better to tell me now.”
I swallow. “I wanted to know how to make you happier.”
“And?”
“She said I needed to reign in my sass and stubbornness.”
“I think we’ve managed that already.”
“I agree.”
“Obey me. That’s all I need from you, baby. You don’t need to overthink it.”
