“Tristan Kinkaid, your fiancé.”
The tip of her nose crinkles, letting me know she’s not happy about that. She’ll overcome it. She must.
Tension envelops us, thick and unyielding, not even a machete could cut it.
Her father rushes to our side, placing his palm on my shoulder. I shrug it off, and he immediately drops his arm.
“To a successful union.”
“Your babies will be beautiful, that’s for sure,” her mother chimes.
My spine stiffens, and Viviana stabs me with an icy glare.
“I have no doubt. Tell me, fiancé, how many children would you like?” She smiles my way, you’d think she’s innocence personified.
I clench my jaw, narrowing my eyes at her while she palms her chest as if delighted by the prospect.
Damn, she’s phenomenally good.
Her sister sweeps her eyes from me to her as if sensing there’s more.
“We have enough time. I am sure you’d like to gain experience in your field as a preschool teacher.”
“So generous of you,” she says, keeping that fake smile I would like to smudge off, kissing her senseless so she stops pretending.
“Let’s move to the dining room,” her father suggests.
Viviana walks ahead, giving me her back. Her sister accompanies her, and I stay behind with the men from the Syndicate.
They exchange a look of surprise.
“What?” I ask, hating that they dissect every moment between us after months where it was just us.
“That smooth of an engagement never happened before in our family,” Cato says, chuckling as if the fucker relives the moment and it still gives him great joy.
“Engagement? My first married days were a fucking battlefield,” Kieran says, looking smug.
“Strained as fuck,” Cameron says, gazing at his wife like she’s the wonder of his life.
“No kidnapping involved,” says Hayden as he watches his respective one fussing over my fiancée.
“Consider yourself lucky,” Cato says, and I groan a noncommittal sound.
Lucky my ass. At least they turned their disastrous beginnings into something worth fighting and living for.
Refusing to accept that I lost her, I cast my personal feelings aside, not wavering in going through with the marriage.
The four men cherishing every day with their beloved wives and children, not risking it all like in the past, is the main reason I could obtain this deal. I took full advantage of that, like I will use knowing her to win her back.
Plus, when you find something you’d die for, you turn ruthless. The underworld is aware of what they’re able to pull off. Being their enemy ends deadly. That’s why I wanted more than an alliance; I wanted secure family ties.
That reason would have been my number one, but love obliterated it, pushing it to the bottom of the priority list.
I craved her like nothing and no one else. And I had to ensure our marriage for her sake as well. What she did that night, letting me take her virginity, was as foolish as it was brave.
At the dining table, I take the seat next to her. The over-the-top laughter and chatter, as if tonight’s event is a desired celebration, an extended family dinner, grates on my last nerve.
I want this night over with so I can go home and plan how to win my woman back.
