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Ballsy move, but I had to say it.
Arlo ran a hand across his jaw that could cut through steel. “You’re free to roam about as you please. No one is detaining you.”
Roam about? Did he think I was a fucking sheep?
“Good. Then, I’d like to drive myself because I’m getting sick of being chauffeured.”
Arlo’s eyes swept over to Marcello, then back to me. “If you wish to drive, yes.”
“Her doctor hasn’t cleared her to drive,” Luca cut in, and I wanted to slap him.
Arlo ignored his son and said, “You’re not a prisoner here. The security is for your protection.”
“From what? This place is like a fortress. I don’t need someone to shadow me inside your house or shop for me.”
The last part I directed at Luca.
Crazy control-freak.
“You’re the only granddaughter of one of the second wealthiest men in the world,” Arlo continued. “That makes you a target.”
I waved my hand dismissively. “I’m no one.”
“You are the only heir to the Wellington fortune,” Arlo pointed out.
Because your family made my brother vanish like fucking Houdini.
“You have more in common with my Eva than you think,” Arlo said, a somber expression spreading across his face. “She had a lot of fire. Passion. She also wanted a daughter. It was the only thing I couldn’t give her.”
Was he softening me up for the final blow? With Arlo, nothing was ever simple. Like his son, he was only friendly when he wanted something and was never this personal with me.
“Perhaps you will have a child with Luca.”
My mouth hung open.
“Youaremarrying my son.”
I held up my left hand. “I don’t see a ring on my finger.”
“It’s time for Luca to marry,” he insisted.
I shot a glance at Luca. “Luca doesn’t want a wife. He wants someone to control.”
Luca’s eyes burned a hole through me. “Don’t tell me what I want.”
“What’s the rush to put a ring on my finger?”
“Because it’s time for us to finalize this union,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’m done playing games with you.”
I threw my hand over my heart, making a silly face. “Your declaration of love touches me.”
He tipped his head back and laughed like a lunatic, like loving someone was the silliest idea he’d ever heard. “Get real, Drea. We don’t marry for love.”
He wanted to get this wedding over, produce an heir, and wash his hands of me. Our marriage was a business transaction made by rich pricks behind closed doors. But I wanted love and respect, which I’d never gotten from Luca. Rage stirred inside me like a potion brewing in a cauldron, my anger about to bubble over.
I tossed my napkin onto the table and shot up from my chair. “Thanks for the heartwarming proposal, but I think we’re done here.”
The legs of his chair scraped across the marble floor. “You think I’m letting you go? Nah, baby. You’re not going anywhere. Sit your pretty ass in that chair.”