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“I’d be willing to try if you are.” The second the words leave my mouth, I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from doing something stupid like laughing at the pure insanity of my statement. My control has already been stretched to its maximum capacity today, and I need to get away from her as soon as possible before it snaps.
Evangeline regards me as if I slapped her. “You can’t mean that. An arranged marriage? Us? Never.”
My dick twitches behind my zipper.
Fuck.
Of course, I’d get off on seeing that fire, that hatred for me and the accompanying misery in her eyes. After all, that’s exactly what I want to see.
However, I won’t deny she’s a total beauty either. She’s always been beautiful, but the last three years have matured and sharpened her features, turning her into a total showstopper.
She shakes her head. “After everything that happened, you can’t possibly want to be near me any more than I want to be near you.”
Her voice is the slap back to reality I needed.
“Going for the throat today, Angie?” My smile slips as I take a step toward her.
She takes a step back.
Good. Maybe it’s time to remind her who I am without spilling my secret. “Maybe the time I spent inprisonhas helped put some things in perspective for me. I know I can’t change past events, regardless of how much I want to. The only thing that’s left is to move on. Maybe you should try the same.”
Her mouth opens and closes several times, and she doesn’t look away this time.
Our stare down is interrupted when a knock sounds at the door.
“Come in.” The words come out clipped, but I’m beyond caring.
I need to get out of here. Away from her until I can learn how to handle her presence better. This is only a short preview of what I’ll have to withstand when we’re in the same room.
A woman with salt-and-pepper hair opens the door and pokes her head in. One of the housekeepers, if I remember correctly.
She scans over us and swallows, her gaze settling on Evangeline. “I wanted to see if you’re awake and need anything.”
Evangeline smiles at the woman. “You’re the best, Patricia, thank you. I’m much better now. Do you know where my parents are? I need to talk to them.”
Patricia frowns. “I’m so sorry, miss, but your parents have left for lunch.”
I take Evangeline’s frustrated expression as my cue to leave, desperate to escape from her for a while.
With a casual “Goodbye,” I head toward the door, adding, “I expect you at my place tonight for dinner, Angie,” over my shoulder.
I can’t help myself. I don’t want to miss a single opportunity to dig that knife in deeper.
That’s as much of a promise to myself as it is to my future wife.
Chapter 5
Evangeline
“If they think I’m going to just lie down and marry Phoenix like a good little girl, they’re officially delusional.” I pace the length of our living room over and over. Back and forth. Back and forth.
“Babe, please, you’re making me dizzy. Sit down,” Ruby whines from the couch she and Mason are sitting on.
They’ve been there for the last ten or so minutes while I told them what happened. While I told them I was supposed to marry Phoenix. That I had to track down my parents to confront them, and that my dad expected me to marry him out offamily duty. Those were his exact words. That it’s my job, part of the business. They’ve all lost their fucking minds.
Of course, he brought up the donations again, but there’s only so far I’ll take that. I’ll just have to find another way to help Doreen at the shelter. And the fact that Phoenix is going along with it like it’s totally normal to have an arranged marriage like this in the twenty-first century is insane, and to the sister of his dead fiancée, no less. What is he thinking?
I plop down onto the empty couch and stare at the coffeetable, unable to look at my friends. I don’t want to see the pity in their eyes.