“You’re deflecting,” I growl.
“I don’t believe this is something you need to know yet, Rosa. I also am not entirely sure you’d believe me,” Nico stands,signaling the end of our conversation. “Would you have used the poison your cousin gave you?”
The change of subject makes me blink slowly at him as I struggle to find my answer.
“She promised it would be painless, and there was some power in knowing I’d no longer have to fight to simply exist. Papa broke something inside of me these last few weeks. If Verona had died and I didn’t? The temptation may have been too much to ignore then.”
“One day, you’ll fight to live because there are things you are looking forward to, Rosa. Until then?—”
“Are you going to remove the doors to all the bedrooms?” I ask, already tired of this conversation. “Or will you have people follow me around on the off chance I’ll hurt myself? That’s the hellscape you invited my father to by telling him I was a danger to myself.”
“That wasn’t my intention,” he promises. “I don’t like knowing you want to hurt yourself. Don’t you understand? It hurts me too!”
“Maybe, but it shouldn’t. I’m just a means to an end for you. Once this mess with my father is over, and you have your heir, we should agree to dissolve this marriage, Nico. Let me go,” I whisper.
“I can’t do that, Rosa. I’m sorry. Dario will be back soon with food from a restaurant I hear you really enjoy. Would you like a shower before that?”
“Sans razors, I’m sure,” I drawl, getting up.
“I’m not currently worried that you’re going to hurt yourself. As you said, you’ve been waxed within an inch of your life. I don’t have a preference for body hair, by the way. Grow out your bush and braid it for all I care.”
The very idea makes me wryly smile, rolling my eyes as Nico rustles through the bag to pull out clothes for me.
“I want you to be happy in our pack, Rosa.”
“You are willing to do everything but let me go. That’s wonderful to know, husband.”
“You’re being impossible.”
“I typically am, I simply don’t have the safety to be able to brat to my full potential.”
“Well, brat away,” Nico growls, handing me the pile of clothes he’s collected. “Be nice to Pablo, but I can take whatever you’ve got,mia piccola.”
“It never occurred to me to be mean to him.”
Deciding to find the bathroom myself, I walk away from him. I only lose my balance twice, and I grumble in my mind once I find the open door leading to hot water and hopefully a better outlook on my life.
It’s a tall order, and not one I’m likely to get. Shutting the door, I lock it simply because I can and stare at the haunted reflection in the mirror as I begin to pull at the laces behind me to escape this corset.
I am not a bully, despite how others view me. I’ve grown up with too many of those in my life. Pablo has nothing to worry about from me, though there are conflicting feelings inside of me for how I feel about his stepbrother.
Sometimes, I find myself growing closer to Nico, while knowing my future is stunted with him. There are expectations he has for me as his wife, and one of them is to be a broodmare for him. As far as I know, he’s a much better alpha to live with than my father based on my experiences thus far, but I can’t get myself to trust him completely.
The corset falls away, and I work on the rest of the outfit until I’m naked. Refusing to look at the mirror anymore, I turn on the shower and step in under the freezing stream. If a tear drops along with the water on my face, then so be it.
I’ll try to pull it together in a few minutes.
Chapter Twelve
DARIO
“Is Pablo coming to dinner?”I ask, pulling out containers of food for us all.
Verona casually stands outside of the kitchen, pretending not to be paying attention to me, but she flinches at my stepbrother’s name. Yeah, Princess, you keep telling yourself you’re not at all affected by him.
I’m sure that’s going swimmingly for you.
His scent is prevalent in the house, and it makes me want to find him. I want to explore more of what we started.
