Page 87 of Nikola

She stroked my hair gently. “That was hardly telling us you’re in love with him.”

I sighed, then brought my palm to my forehead before I dared to say, “I didn’t think he would approve, and judging by how badly he took the sex tape, I was right.”

“Not necessarily.”

I extended my hand to the bed, then shot her a pointed look. “You want to tell me he didn’t take it badly?”

It was a dumb question since apparently he had to be sedated.

She shrugged. “He’ll get over it eventually.”

I grabbed her arm, my eyes boring into hers, searching. “You really think so?”

“I do, but it might be best for your boy to hide for a bit.” She smiled to soften the blow. “You’ll have to come home with us. You know that, right?”

“No.” I shook my head.“Why can’t I just marry him?”

“Because your papa will probably murder him if you do. He has to cool off for a bit and then we can work out the details.”

“But I don’t want to wait.” I sounded like a spoiled, petulant brat. But I didn’t want to be separated from him.

“Skye, are you pregnant?”

I blew an exasperated breath. “No, I’m too young for kids and I have the IUD. Remember?”

“I do, but you’re not acting like yourself. Rushing into marriage?—”

I raised my palm. “Now hold on a minute. Are we seriously talking about me rushing into anything when Papa arranged a marriage for me with a complete stranger?”

My throat vibrated, and I swallowed down a sob.

“Skye, sweetheart, breathe.” It wasn’t time to panic. Inhale. Exhale. I stilled my spine and she signed, “You’re right; this arranged marriage idea was thrown to him in a rush. Papa fought Enrico Marchetti to push the wedding out a year and buy him time to find an alternative.” I’d always loved how my parents were such a united front, but I wanted more than anything for her to take my side on this one. “Listen, I think it’s best if we take it slow. Nikola isn’t going anywhere. If you two love each other?—”

“We do.” Although, as soon as I signed those words, I realized neither one of us had talked aboutlove. Passion, possession, obsession… yes. But nothing about love.

“If you two love each other, time will only do you good,” she finished pointedly. “In the meantime, we’re going to delete that sex tape from Papa’s phone. I’ll ask Branka to do the same from Sasha’s, and with some luck, it’ll all be ancient history.”

“Those two have the memory of elephants,” I signed, grumbling, but grinned as I looked back at my dad. “But I love you for helping. Let’s hope he wakes up feeling forgiving.”

With Branka in tow for extra reinforcement, we found Mr. Nikolaev sitting on the couch in the living room with his wife, Nikola, and Marietta. My future sister-in-law winked mischievously, giving me a thumbs-up, but I didn’t dare look her parents’ way.

Instead, I focused on Nikola, who jumped to his feet and strode over to me.

“Here is my future bride,” was his greeting as he pecked me right on the lips.

Mama shot him an uneasy smile and Branka grimaced, then said, “You’re really loving this, aren’t you?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Nikola retorted, beaming. “I’m about to marry Skye.”

Branka shook her head and tsked. “Yes, but you caused quite a havoc.”

Nikola shrugged. “Not my fault. I told those two idiots—” He shot Mama a sheepish smile, then corrected himself. “I told Uncle Sasha and my future father-in-law that Skye was mine. They refused to listen, so here we are.”

“Nikola, a woman isn’t yours just because you claim her,” Mama reprimanded him softly. “Both of you should have come to me and your parents. You knew Dante and Sasha are prone to over-the-top protectiveness.”

“Phoenix is right,” Mr. Nikolaev jumped in. “Asking us parents to negotiate the marriage contract would have been the right thing to do.”

Nikola scoffed. “Yeah, I remember how well that worked out for Matteo.”