Page 139 of Kiss Me Like I Didn't Kill You

My pulse stutters.

Fiancé.

The word doesn’t sound real. For a second, I think I must have misheard him. But everyone’s eyes turn to Arlo, and the room seems to tilt slightly on its axis.

I can’t make sense of it. Even when Arlo and I were together, I always knew my father would never permit it. I’d lived in dread of the day he discovered us.

He already had an arrangement—an alliance that suited his interests. For Arlo to replace that, something must have happened. Something drastic. Either he offered my father a deal he couldn’t refuse, or he found leverage he couldn’t ignore.

Arlo steps forward. He stops in front of me, his voice carrying easily through the quiet.

“Tonight isn’t only a Christmas celebration,” he says. “It’s also our engagement party.”

I can’t breathe.

He reaches into his jacket and draws out a small velvet box.

My heart falters.

When he opens it, the diamond catches the light, a clear, cold brilliance with a flicker of fire beneath. The cut is flawless and elegant, set in a band of white gold so fine it almost disappears against it.

I have so many questions, but none make it past my lips.

He takes a slow step closer. “May I?”

His voice is low, almost reverent. I can’t seem to move, yet my hand extends on instinct. Our eyes lock, and time seems to hold.

Without breaking our gaze, he takes the ring from its box and slides it onto my finger.

It fits perfectly.

Then he lifts my hand and presses a kiss to it before letting go and taking a step closer, lowering himself slightly.

When he leans in, his breath is warm against my ear.

“You’ll have your proper proposal soon,” he murmurs. “Something worthy of you. But I needed this first, to claim what’s already mine. So no man, not even your father, dares stand in my way.”

A shiver runs down my spine. I should step back, say something, anything, but I can’t. His presence seems to fill the air itself.

I’m not naïve enough to oppose the engagement, I’ve always known this was my fate. My father would see me married for advantage.

And however hurt I am by Arlo, he’s still the only man I could ever bring myself to marry.

Before I can speak, the room bursts into applause, cheers, laughter, the clinking of glasses. My mother hurries forward, tears streaming as she throws her arms around me.

“Oh, my darling,” my mother says breathlessly, laughing and crying all at once. “I’m so happy for you.”

Octavia’s beside her, grinning, dabbing at her eyes.

I told them about Arlo and me, how we met, how it started, but I left out everything that came after.

The party. The betrayal. All of it. Because the moment they knew what he’d done, they’d never forgive him.

And perhaps he deserves a bit of my sister’s anger, but I don’t want them involved.

So, to them, this is the happiest day of my life, the day I officially escaped that dreadful arrangement my father made months ago and became engaged to the man I love.

And in a way, they’re not wrong. I am grateful, truly. But that doesn’t mean it won’t take time for Arlo and me to mend what was broken.