Page 121 of Unforgiving Queen

REINA

After I took a shower, paced twenty-one circles around the room, and banged on the door, I finally decided to take a nap.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I took a nap. My mind whirred with so many thoughts. Would they postpone the wedding or just do a quick wife switcheroo? Bile rose in my throat at the thought of Phoenix having to go through that.

I should have told Papà the truth about what Angelo Leone told me. And fucking Dante… The thought of him breaking my sister’s heart made me want to murder another member of the Leone family.

What the heck… Let’s kill them all.

My meals were delivered by the captain, who clearly had no qualms about letting me drown, so I made sure not to agitate him. I watched as he placed my meal down, left it, and then disappeared with an audible click behind him.

The next day, just as I was about to start banging my head against the wall, the door opened again. Expecting to see the captain, I didn’t even look away from my spot on the little loveseat, my knees curled underneath me and my eyes fixed on the beautiful horizon.

I could see the outline of the shimmering city ahead. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. We were still too far away to home in on any specifics of the buildings.

“What? Not even a hello?”

I jumped out of my seat so fast I almost tripped over my own feet. Catching my balance, I whirled around and glared at Amon. He was dressed in a tuxedo, looking dashing enough to stop my heart.

He gave a nod to someone behind him and one of the men strode in with ten, maybe fifteen designer garment bags.

I still couldn’t find the right words. “What’s… Why are you…?”

The man dropped the bags and threw a terse nod at Amon, closing the door on his way out. I took in the sight of them and ran through different possibilities in my head.

Amon took me by my hand, leading me over to where they lay scattered across the coffee table and couch.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I picked several options,” he said.

I stared at him like he’d gone mad. That would be an explanation for this version of Amon.

“Several options of what?”

“Of dresses. I won’t tell you which dress is my favorite one, but I hope you pick that one. We’re getting married today.”

What?

I stumbled back from the madman, my jaw on the floor.

“W-what do you mean?”

Today was meant to be my wedding to Dante, not Amon. Clearly, I didn’t want to marry either one.

“We’re getting married,” he repeated patiently. “In the Romero family church.”

“Romero family church?” I repeated, drawing out each word slowly. He nodded. “And that is…”

“The Church of Saint Mary of Miracles.” Amon’s hand wrapped around my waist, bringing my body flush to his. “I know the circumstances aren’t ideal, but it’s always been you, cinnamon girl.”

My brain still refused to process it all. Amon reached into his pocket and retrieved a black velvet box. He opened it, and two wedding bands stared back at me, one simple and the other covered in diamonds.

He pulled the ring out and handed it to me. “It’s engraved.”

I didn’t dare touch it, so I just peeked at it, curiosity getting the best of me, and when I read the engraving, my heart just about stopped.You and me against the world.

“It’s you and me against the world.”

My eyes flitted to him, and for a moment, my heart beat just like it had before.