I couldn’t deny that truth.
I’d stolen her from my brother and was happier than I’d ever been in my life. Except now I hadeverythingto lose. This wasn’t just my life at risk. Emberline’s was at stake, which was why I’d opted for secrecy up to this point.
I’d been trying to keep her safe.
But safety and the truth were like oil and water, and I had made her a promise. A promise I intended to keep.
“I’ve been a coward,” I admitted softly, ashamed it tookme this long to realize it. “I’ll tell her everything. Let her decide if she wants to stay… or go.”
And if she left me… well, I’d pick up the pieces of my shattered heart and toss them in the canal because after her, I would never love like this again.
A floorboard creaked in the hallway.
“Well…” Nico’s eyes lit up in anticipation. “Speak of the devil.”
She was usually so quiet I didn’t hear her, so that creak was a courtesy, warning us she was coming. Then she stepped into the doorway, straight into a beam of morning light, and my carefully constructed mask of indifference fell apart.
She was wearing my shirt.
The white fabric hung loose on her tiny frame, the sleeves rolled up, the hem skimming muscled thighs. Her hair was a delicious mess—she had it pulled back, but dark curls framed her gorgeous face. I clenched my hands, remembering how my fingers had tugged and threaded through those glorious strands, sleep still hazing her espresso brown eyes.
Then Emberline smiled, and the entire world fell away.
For one perfect second, it was just the two of us. No strategic pretend marriage, no revenge, no plots, just two people who fate had thrown together, and for once, the universe had smiled.
“Well, it seems you two are enjoying married life,” Nico, ever the asshole, drawled.
Every trace of softness vanished. Her spine snapped straight, her expression slamming shut so fast, it was like watching a door lock.
“Why ishehere?” she demanded, her low tone bordering on dangerous.
Nico lifted his free hand in a lazy half-wave. “Buongiorno, bella. You make excellent choices in nightwear. Itotallyapprove.”
The air in the room dropped ten degrees as I toyed with killing the bastard right where he sat. I could dump him in the canal after dark. I suspected my wife would be my willing accomplice.
“Say that again,” she hissed, “and I’ll slit your throat with the butter knife. Let me rephrase that. Why is a Draconi soldier, one of your father’s allies, in our kitchen?”
“I invited him here, Ember,” I explained. “Nico is an old friend.”
She didn’t look at me. Her eyes were fixed on Nico, as if calculating his impending murder. Whatever sleepy innocence there’d been a moment ago was gone, replaced by the female who’d stared down my father without flinching.
Nico gave me a sideways glance. “Your wife’s terrifying. It must be a love match. I approve.”
“If you don’t shut up, she really will stab you.” I leaned against the kitchen counter and took another sip, admiring the way my shirt clung to her in all the right places. “And if she doesn’t, I sure as fuck will if you keep looking at her like that.”
“You’re a beautiful female, principessa,” Nico flirted shamelessly.
Iwastempted to gut him with a butter knife, but we only had one, and I honestly didn’t know where it was.
“Is he your brother’s friend, your father’s protector,”—her scorching hot gaze swung to me—“or youraccomplice, husband? Because I saw you two meeting. Exchanging… secrets. Pretending to be enemies in public but allies in private.”
Fuck. Now her standoffish behavior before Rocco’s party made sense.
“There is a lot you don’t know, Emberline. I want to tell you everything, but the truth…” I hesitated. “The truth is dangerous. More dangerous than hunting down your father’s killer.”
“Don’t lecture me on danger like I’m a child. You said we were in this together. You neglected to mention Nico was in this, too.”
“No more secrets,” I insisted. The words came out rough, but I didn’t take them back.
