17

17
Six

I followed behind Arabella, watching as she aimlessly tossed clothes into the cart. She wasn’t even paying attention to what she was grabbing; half the things she picked up weren’t her size.

The way her fingers fumbled over the fabric, how she moved in jerky, uncertain motions, it was obvious she wasn’t here, not really.

Her steps were uneven, her breath just a little too quick. She was nervous. Her mind was elsewhere. Clearly, something was bothering her, and I didn’t know what it was.

We turned down another aisle, and something caught my eye. A smirk played at my lips as I reached for a small box. I turned to her, holding it out casually.

“You’re going to be needing that,” I said, my voice low with amusement.

Her entire body froze. I watched as her wide eyes flicked to the box in my hand, then back to me.

Her skin flushed instantly, a deep, unmistakable pink blooming across her cheeks.

I held her gaze for a moment before dropping the item into the cart. My smirk widened as she stared at it in horror - a huge, purple dildo.

“You—” she started, then clamped her mouth shut, her hands gripping the cart so tightly her knuckles turned white.

I chuckled, enjoying her discomfort. “Something wrong?”

She glared at me, but the effect was ruined by how red she was. “You’re an asshole.”

“And you’re fun to mess with,” I answered. It was true.

She huffed, snatching the box from the cart and shoving it onto the nearest shelf. I let it slide, knowing I’d already won.

We continued down the aisles, but I could still feel the tension rolling off her. She was keeping her head down, trying to act normal, but every few seconds, her eyes darted around, her shoulders tensed like she was waiting for someone to jump out at her.

After a while, she spoke. “Are they looking at us?”

I didn’t answer immediately. I let the silence stretch, let her squirm before I finally turned my head in a slow, deliberate motion. I glanced behind me, took my time scanning the store, then looked back at her.

“No,” I said simply.

She let out a breath, but it didn’t seem to help. If anything, her grip on the cart tightened.

Then she hit me with the question I’d been expecting.

“Why did you keep it a secret?”

I shrugged. “I was thinking about it.”

She scoffed. “What do you mean you were thinking about it?”

I just shrugged again.

Her frustration grew, but there was another emotion, one I recognized. Fear. She wiped her forehead and glanced around nervously. Then her voice dropped to a whisper. “Have you told him?”

I tilted my head slightly, watching her carefully. “What do you think?”

She looked at me, then back over her shoulder. The panic in her eyes was real. She swallowed, voice barely above a breath. “I don’t know.”

I took a step closer, lowering my voice. “If I had told Marco that you were plotting with his enemies to kill him, your body would already be cooling off in the morgue. That’s assuming they even found it.”

She didn’t respond, but I saw her shoulders drop just slightly. She sighed in relief.

I exhaled sharply, leaning in. “What the hell were you thinking, Arabella? What you did was reckless. Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Her lips parted, her lashes fluttering. A single tear slipped down her cheek. “Death is a better option than this.”

I clenched my jaw. “Bullshit.” My voice was firm, but I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t going to let her fall into that pit, into that kind of thinking. “You’re stronger than that. I know you are. You’re not broken enough to want to die. You’ve still got too much fight in you. I can see it in your eyes. And guess what? Marco can see it too. That’s why he will stop at nothing to break you.”

She blinked quickly, shaking her head. “Okay, okay. I’m not trying to die.” She sucked in a breath. “I’m trying to kill. I have to kill to survive. That is my Hail Mary.”

She looked at me then, really looked at me, as if weighing whether or not she could trust me with her truth.

Finally, she spoke.

“My father… he arranged this marriage for me. To a man I’ve never even met. I tried to escape, to run away, but he always finds me. He threatens me, tells me that if I don’t go through with it, he’ll… he’ll hurt me.”

A cold rage settled deep in my gut, the same kind I felt whenever Marco touched her. “He’s done this before?” I asked, my voice carefully even.

She nodded. “Yes. Multiple times. I’ve tried to escape so many times, but he always catches me. He drags me back and makes me feel like I’m nothing, because I am. I am nothing to my father and to men like Marco. I’m just a pawn in his game. The night we met, it was my last desperate attempt to run away, but he found me. I can’t be with Marco. I’d sooner kill myself than be married to a man like him.”

I was about to respond when I heard it. A shift in the air. Footsteps.

I moved instantly, my hand clamping over her mouth. “Hush,” I whispered against her ear.

She tensed, confused, but I pulled back just as Francesco rounded the corner.

His gaze landed on Arabella, a slow, lewd grin stretching across his face. “The capo said to tell you to pick out sexy underthings for when you two fuck. You know what I mean, right?” He sneered and turned on his heel, laughing as he walked away.

Arabella lowered her head, her hands trembling.

I wanted to comfort her. I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her that I’d fix this, even though I had no clue how to.

I just wanted to hold her in my arms, but I couldn’t, not with Marco’s men watching.

“Come on,” I said, keeping my voice even.

We walked deeper into the store, arriving at the underwear section.

I scanned the racks, my eyes landing on a pink bikini on a mannequin. I took it down, looked her over, and dropped it into the cart. “You’d look good in that.”

She turned red again, glaring at the cart like she wanted to set it on fire.

We walked in silence, the air between us charged. I picked out a few more things and tossed them into her cart. She didn’t protest anymore.

Then she finally asked, “What are we going to do now?”

I looked down at her, taking in the uncertainty in her wide eyes, the way her lips parted slightly. I lingered on her lips, they looked plump and red…

Without thinking, I grabbed her wrist, pulling her to the side.

She barely had time to react before I crushed my lips against hers. It was a deep, passionate kiss.

She gave in to me instantly; her lips were soft like I remembered. Then I pulled back, my breath steady. I didn’t say anything. I just turned on my heel and walked away.

Leaving her stunned. Breathless. Wanting. Just like I was.