Page 240 of Redeemed

At the disappointment in Colton’s voice, I look up in surprise. I didn’t realize he’d thought about his preferences for his wedding. Until I found out about Delilah, I assumed he wasn’t the type who ever wanted to settle down. When I found out he was fighting the marriage arrangement with her, that only confirmed it for me.

But I guess I was wrong.

“I know it’s not ideal,” Colton says, “but this is happening whether or not either of us like it.”

When Colton holds out his hand, I take it, and he pulls me out of the car. He closes the door, and for the briefest of moments, he looks regretful. The expression disappears as quickly as it came, replaced by hard, stony resolve.

I stick close to him as we head inside the building and move through security. Colton must sense my growing anxiety because he wraps his arm around me as we walk toward the judge’s office. The sound of my heels against the tile echoes against the walls, and the noise grates against my nerves.

My entire life, I’ve found safety in being small and quiet. If I can slip past people’s perception of me, then I won’t get singled out. Won’t get blamed for a chore that went undone. Won’t get hit.

Now, with these goddamn heels announcing my every move, I feel vulnerable. My gut instinct is to hide, so I press myself closer into Colton, even though he’s probably who I should be hiding from.

“You’re okay,” he tells me, squeezing my shoulder. “We’re gonna be okay.”

That’s not what the nausea spreading through my stomach is telling me.

“What if I refuse?” I ask breathlessly.

“I’ve already bribed the judge once. I can do it again.”

“If I don’t sign the—”

“I’ll forge your signature.”

“Colton! You can’t just do this.”

Hands in his pockets, Colton leans down until he’s at eye level with me. “Protest all you want, angel, but you’re not walking out of here a single woman.”

My throat tightens. Ever since Christmas, Colton has let his guard down around me. It’s only every once in a while, but those occasions have been growing closer together in frequency. But here he is, emotionless, all cold and detached.

And I think I know why.

He’s afraid of me saying no.

It’s why he didn’t bring me in on the application process. It’s why he told me to get dressed and then didn’t explain where we were going until we were already in the car.

He lost his mother. His father emotionally abandoned him. I betrayed him. Taking another rejection from someone he obviously cares about would be brutal.

I touch his arm. “Colton—”

“Don’t,” he says tightly. “If you start begging, I don’t know if I can keep saying no to you, and I have to do this.Wehave to do this.”

“That’s not what I was going to do.”

He looks down at me in shock. “What, you’re willingly going to go through with this?”

“Tell me I can trust you.”

His eyebrows draw together. “What?”

“Tell me that the last six months mean something to you. Tell me that today isn’t the end of you caring about me—caringforme. Tell me I can trust you, Colton.”

He twists a strand of my hair around his finger. He tugs on it gently while saying in a quiet, tortured voice, “You can trust me.”

“Okay.” I take his hand. “Then I trust you.”

He looks away then, his eyes glassy. “I really am sorry. I—”

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