Page 54 of Arranged Wolf's Nanny

Rosalia spun on him, her fists clenched at her side, “War? You killed Carter to incite awar?”

He blinked in shock, looking down at her, “What? No. Of course I didn’t.”

She gestured to the door. “Then what was Nicolas talking about?”

He was so taken aback by the sudden shift in her demeanor that he couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped him. She scowled, her teeth flashing at him, and irritation curled in his gut.

“War was always inevitable,” he said, folding his arms across his chest, “Felix knows that. So does Nicolas.”

“Inevitable? Or just somethingyouwant?”

He snarled, but she didn’t shy away from him. “I just saved your life and you’re questioning me about mypolitics?”

“I am,” she said, two pink spots appearing on her cheeks, “if the only reason you did it was for your preciousagenda.”

“For God’s sake,” he spat, throwing his hands up, “first you get angry with me for trying to protect you from your father, now it’s because I’m protecting you for the wrong reasons? What, should I have just left you there at their mercy?”

Her lip quivered, but her anger remained, a vibrant, beautiful thing, “No! Yes, I don’t know!”

“Well, which is it, Rosalia?” he hissed, gesturing to the angry, mottled bruising at his ribs. “I could have saved myself the injury.”

“You said you wouldn’t follow me!”

“You’d be dead if I hadn’t!”

“Maybe if you hadn’t pushed me about my father, I wouldn’t have run away in the first place!”

“So we’re back to this now? I still fail to see what I did wrong!”

“It’s because you don’t get it!”

“What don’t I get?”

“If confronting my father was about your pride and killing the Black Claws was about politics, then it means you don’t really care about me!” she exploded, tears pooling in her bright green eyes.

As soon as she said the words, her eyes widened, and she spun around, hastily swiping at her face.

Rick stood, dumbfounded, for once utterly at a loss.

“Forgive me,” Rosalia said, her voice choking slightly over the bitter words, “I don’t expect you to care about me. This is just a political marriage after all.”

“Rosalia,” he said, reaching for her, his hand hovering over her arm, not touching.

“No,” she said, spinning around, her face set yet again in that damnable mask. “No, I overstepped. I’m sorry. I’m going to bed.”

She strode past him, face down, hidden from his view. She couldn’t hide her scent, however. Her beautiful, wild, passionate scent.

In the end, he couldn’t remain silent.

“I killed him because he touched you.”

Rosalia froze, her hand hovering above the doorknob. She turned back, her lips parted slightly. “What?”

Rick’s jaw worked, his temper flaring. No, not temper. Something else. Something large and fierce and out of his control.

But he had released it now. And there would be no containing it.

He stalked towards her, slow and predatory, not bothering to hide the viciousness in his face, “He touched you.Hurtyou. I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t care. All I knew was that a male had you pinned to the forest floor and you were in danger.”