That wasn’t what she expected him to say. “Then what did you bring me here for?” she questioned.
His gaze locked onto hers. “Well, I brought you here to be my wife,” he said.
She stepped closer to him. “I’m not going to sit in a room while you make decisions about my life,” she insisted.
“I know,” he agreed. Her steps faltered slightly. Every time he agreed with her seemed to confuse her further.
“You know?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “You don’t seem to be wired that way. I didn’t peg you as the type of woman who’d be all right with her husband calling all the shots.”
Something in her chest tightened because that sounded like he actually understood her. And she didn’t want that. She didn’t want him to understand her. She didn’t want him to even see her, because that made him dangerous in a way bullets weren’t.
“Then stop treating me like I have no say,” she said.
“I’m not,” he said.
Her eyes narrowed. “Locking me in my room, controlling where I go, and who I talk to—that’s not treating me like I have a say in any of this.”
“You’re being targeted, Isabella. Someone in your family has possibly betrayed you and your father, and now, they know exactly where to find you. I’m just trying to figure out how to keep you safe.”
She exhaled slowly, knowing that there would be no fighting with him because he was right. “Then let me help.”
Luca didn’t answer right away. He studied her instead, as though he was trying to solve a problem. “Help with what?” he finally asked.
“My father,” she said. “I can help you find the people who took him, and the people who leaked my location. I can help with all of it.” He took a step closer, and she took one back. “I know things,” she insisted.
His expression didn’t change. “You don’t know enough,” he growled. “And getting involved in this will get you killed.”
She was beginning to think that Luca was the most stubborn ass on the planet. “Then test me,” she insisted.
His gaze sharpened slightly. “Why were you at my club?” he asked. Okay, so they were getting straight to it. There was no warning, and that made her stomach tighten.
“I was looking for you,” she said.
“I know that,” he responded.
“Then why ask?” she asked.
“Because I want to hear your version of things,” he insisted. Of course he did. Luca was taking back control of the situation.
“I needed answers,” she said.
“About your father,” he added.
“Yes,” she said.
“And, what else?” he asked, pushing her for more answers.
Her jaw tightened. She wasn’t sure if telling him the rest would be in her best interest, but the stubborn look on his handsome face told her that he wasn’t going to give up questioning her until he was satisfied with her answers.
“I heard things,” she said.
“What things?” She hesitated, just for a second, but Luca saw it—of course, he did.
“Careful,” he said quietly. “Now’s not the time to start holding back.” His warning made her pulse race.
“I heard my father wasn’t just negotiating peace,” she said slowly. “He was restructuring the family’s power.”
