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When Giorgia and I returned to the living room, the men sat around the table and were already discussing wedding dates from the look of it.
“It looks like you’ll become my wife, Giorgia. Your brother showed me your doctor’s statement that you’re fertile. So let’s hope you’ll be pregnant with my heir by the time I turn thirty.”
My lips curled in disgust. That was also part of the deal? Giorgia had to provide an heir for him to inherit everything? I sent Giorgia a disbelieving look. She gave me an embarrassed smile.
“That’s a tasteless deal.” It burst out of me. “You’re behaving like a pig.”
Renato scowled. “I can’t see how my deal with Giorgia is any less tasteless than the deal between your brother and your husband that forced Samuel to marry you.”
My heart did a thud as I blinked at Renato.
Sofia sent Danilo a look that made it clear she knew about the deal, and Samuel looked ready to murder his friend. Apparently, everyone knew except for me. It reminded me of how my mother had lied to me after my accident under the pretense of trying to protect me when it had been just as much about protecting herself from the truth. This too felt like everyone had kept the details of the arrangement from me to avoid an unpleasant confrontation.
Fuck it. I scowled at Renato, who grimaced and gave me an apologetic look. Too late.
Emma paled, looking like she was about to cry.
“Emma—” Danilo and I said at the same time, but I stepped forward. Emma was my wife. It was more important that I cleared things up between us.
“Let’s have a word,” I told Emma and put a hand on her shoulder. She shied back from my touch, and I dropped my arm to my side.
“You can talk in my office,” Danilo said quietly. “And I’ll have a chat with Renato.”
For all I cared, he could rip Renato a new one, even if Renato wasn’t his soldier.
Emma and I headed toward the office in utter silence. It was the first time I was allowed to be without Danilo in his office.
I closed the door, then immediately turned to Emma, who looked like she was teetering on the edge of a breakdown.
“Renato is an idiot. He shouldn’t have said anything.”
Emma fixed me with a hard look. “Did he lie?”
“You know that arranged marriages are always deals.”
She shook her head. “You owe me the truth. What did Danilo do to make you marry me?”
I gritted my teeth. “It was a long time ago. I’m glad I married you.”
“What did he do?”
I had feared the truth would come out eventually. “My sister Serafina refused to marry him after she was kidnapped. But he had a right to her hand. We wanted him to accept Sofia instead so Serafina could heal from her ordeal. He said he would only agree to marry Sofia if I married you.”
I worried about what Emma would make out of this deal.
She turned her wheelchair so I had to look at her brown hair. Her voice was thick with tears when she spoke. “You must have hated to be blackmailed into marrying me.”
I walked around so I could look at her. She was clutching her hands, and tears were running down her cheeks. “Your brother didn’t blackmail me, Emma. We had an agreement, one like almost all marriages in our world are based on. I understand your anger. Sofia was angry too when she found out.”
Emma swallowed thickly. I hated not seeing her face, so I squatted in front of her and took her hand despite her tension at my closeness.
I hated seeing her so broken up. “You were too young for me, and Sofia was too young for Danilo. That’s whyneitherof us wanted to marry you girls.”
Emma looked me straight in the eye. “Danilo is attracted to Sofia.”
I frowned. “He definitely wasn’t back then, or I would have put his dick into a vise.” I moved closer. “And you know I’m attracted to you. Or do I need to show you more often?” I allowed my expression to become hungry, but Emma didn’t crack a smile.
I realized I needed to give Emma more than just a sexual innuendo. And in the few weeks since our marriage, I had already seen that she was a good match for me beyond the bedroom as well, even if her worry meant I had to be more careful about my drinking habits.