Page 14 of Urgent Vows
"I want you to tell me."
"My father hurt me. Again." I say the last word as a reminder to my husband that he'd pushed me into dancing with a man who had smacked me and kicked me in the ribs only this morning.
Not that I'd told him the extent of my father's violence, but he knew it was more than a slap because of my sore ribs.
Severu winces, like the arrow of my words hit their target. "Why?"
"Does it matter?" Does he think there's any justification for my father nearly breaking the bones in my hand while we danced?
"No." His features taut with fury, Severu's own hands fist at his sides.
Because he said it didn't matter, I tell him, "At first because I would not smile."
"What do you mean at first?"
"Just what it sounds like. He squeezed my hand hard enough to hurt. Then when I said some things he didn't like, he squeezed so hard I could feel my bones rubbing together."
"Fuck."
"That's what Miceli said."
"Don't make a joke out of this."
"You think I'm trying to be funny?" I ask, my voice rising. "You made me dance with a man you knew was not safe for me and he hurt me. Now I have to figure out a way to hide my swollen hand from the rest of the guests, while pretending to be happy I married you."
Severu stares at me like he's seeing me for the first time. "You are not happy to be married to me?"
"Considering how much you suck at protecting me, take a guess."
"I miscalculated your father's idiocy. You should have been safe dancing in front of hundreds of guests."
"Is that an apology? Only it didn't sound like one."
"I do not apologize."
"Neither does my father."
Severu doesn't like being compared to his consigliere. That is obvious. Though I'm not sure why. After all, he made me dance with Papà. I cannot forget that.
And he's not sorry.
He reaches out like he's going to touch me, but then his arm drops back to his side. "You will not return to the reception."
"How are we supposed to explain that? If you say I'm ill, everyone will think I'm pregnant like you pointed out earlier. The guests already think I'm some kind of slut who enticed my sister's fiancé away from him. I don't want them believing I had sex with you while you were engaged to her."
"What the hell are you talking about? No one thinks you are a slut."
I let my silence express my disagreement.
"You are stubborn."
"What I am is at the edge of my endurance." Only somehow arguing with Severu has invigorated me, rather than adding to my exhaustion.
"I do not believe it. I think you are stronger than a lot of made men."
His compliment makes me feel good until I remind myself that he didn't marry me because he wants me for his wife. He married me to salvage the disaster of his nonwedding to my sister.
And my belief he will protect me from my father has already been proven wrong.
