“I’ll come with you,” Mia offered.
“I just want a few minutes alone.”
As soon as the door of the bridal suite closed behind me, I let out a breath.
And then I ran.
The hallway wasn’t very long. In mere seconds, I burst out onto the balcony at the end of it. Cold air bit into my skin. My palms hit the wet wooden railing. The shawl slipped down my shoulders, and I let it fall all the way to the floor where a thin layer of snow struggled to survive.
I had never loved the cold the way I did right then. It was a balm against my frazzled nerves and the ache that refused to leave my chest.
Calm down. Just six months. Remember why you’re doing this.
I was doing this to free myself from the shackles of duty, so that I’d never have to marry a man like Cosimo again.
A man who lied, cheated, and put men far less dangerous than him in the hospital.
The door creaked open behind me. Somehow, I sensed who it was before I even turned.
Cosimo stood in the doorway, and I could tell from the faint surprise in his expression that he hadn’t expected to find me here.
His hand stayed on the door handle for a moment, as if he was trying to decide how to proceed. And then he made his decision and stepped fully onto the balcony, closing the door behind him.
His gaze drifted over my wedding dress. For once, there was nothing dispassionate about the way he looked at me. Something hungry, almost greedy, ran behind his eyes.
I shivered, and not from the cold.
He wore a tux, his hair brushed back from his face, a white pocket square sticking out. The sight of him in that suit wasn’t for the weak. If I’d seen him in it earlier this morning, my stomach would’ve likely filled with idiotic butterflies.
Now, they lay dead in the pit of my belly.
He swiped his thumb over his jaw. “White looks good on you.”
When I stayed silent, expressionless, his gaze narrowed. He stepped closer, picked my shawl off the ground, and handed it to me. “Having second thoughts?”
It sounded like a joke, but the tightness in his voice gave him away. He was afraid I’d bolt. He needed this more than I did.
His head tilted slightly when I gave him a cool smile. I opened the message on my phone and tossed the fucking thing at him. “I got an interesting email this morning.”
He caught it in one hand and frowned. His gaze lingered on my face a few moments before he looked down at the screen.
A single beat. That’s all it took for him to piece it together. I could see the realization dawn on his expression, and there was a notable lack of surprise there.
He knew exactly what he was looking at.
He handed the phone back. “You’re angry.”
“What made you think that?” I asked. “I just wanted you to know someone’s trying to get you in trouble.”
“It appears they succeeded.”
I laughed. “I’m not going to bolt, Cosimo. Not over receiving confirmation of what I’d already realized long ago.”
“Which is?”
“We’re an awful match. I could never spend a lifetime with a cheater. Good thing I won’t have to.”
His jaw clenched. “It’s not what it looks like.”
