Page 37 of Marry Me Not
It wasn’t.
“Do you not understand what that will do to me? In our world, I’d bedamaged goods.”
Something in his eyes darkened, almost as if he was suddenly displeased, but it was gone in the next blink. “Exactly. You’ll be off the marriage market forever. Rafaele isn’t going to ask you to marry anyone else. You’ll be done. Free.”
“Free?”The word tasted foreign on my tongue. What did that even mean for someone like me?
I didn’t know. I only knew that what I had now wasn’t that. And what I had in Geneva hadn’t been that either.
Up until now, no matter how far from home life had taken me, I’d always known that I would end up back here. Married off to someone I didn’t choose.
I’d never even allowed myself to dream of anything else. Why torture myself? Why hope for the impossible? Someone like Elena might have the courage to try to break the chains ofexpectation that held us captive. To risk the relationship she had with Rafe, with the rest of the family. But me? I didn’t.
No, even if Rafe allowed me to walk away from the marriage with Cosimo, there’d be someone else a few years from now. Someone else he’d choose.
What would it be like to be free of all that?
Inside me, something unlatched. Like a window that had been stuck shut until now.
And in came a breeze. Teasing me. Tempting me.
A life on my own terms. Wouldn’t that be nice?
I felt like I was about to float out that window when Cosimo’s squeeze on my wrists brought me back down.
I blinked up at him, almost dazed. His eyes were absurdly blue this close.
“Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself,” he whispered.
Six months. That was all he was asking.
Six months, and I’d never have to go through this again.
But for six months, I’d have to pretend our marriage was real. I’d have to live in his house, stay by his side, play a role in his family.
The role of a don’s wife. The role he’d told me I was too gullible to play.
Prove him wrong.
It was tempting. Very.
But it wasn’t tempting enough for me to give this asshole exactly what he wanted.
I yanked my hands free. “Six months of you insulting me? Disrespecting me? I don’t think so, Cosimo. I’ve had more than enough of that.”
I expected him to get angry. Instead, something in his expression softened. “It wouldn’t be like that.”
“I don’t believe you. You’ve given me no reason to think you can be anything but a condescending ass.”
“What do you want me to do, Fabiana? Get on my knees and beg?”
“That would be a start.”
I hadn’t meant it. The words were just a barb, flung at him on instinct.
And yet, to my astonishment, his jaw tightened—and then he dropped to his knees in front of me.
I let out a stunned gasp.
