Page 52 of Treasured By Them
“Yeah, until tomorrow when she leaves for her grandfather’s house.”
His grin fades. “Yeah. Well. That’s not up to me, is it?”
Dani decided to spend the three days before the wedding at home. She wanted to stay at her old place with her roommates, but Edmund and I argued hard against it. In the end, we compromised—Sergey’s place. It’s gated, with guards. She can sequester herself there while we wait for the wedding.
“Anyway.” He steps into my room and lowers his voice. “Have you thought more about proposing?”
“‘Course I have.” I step out of my jeans and into a pair of workout shorts.
“So why haven’t you done it?”
I scoff. “I don’t know, maybe because of all this other shit going on? After the ceremony, we’ll figure it out.”
The way he shrugs means he disagrees, but for once he doesn’t say anything.
Danica
After dinner, I storm off toward my room.
“Dani, do you want to watch a movie?” Troy calls after me.
“No.” I close my door. I don’t slam it, but I’m not exactly careful with how hard I shut it, either.
Why won’t they touch me? It’s like they think I’ll break or something.
We only have tonight left, then I’m off to Granddad’s for the few nights before the wedding. Maybe it’s a stupid idea, but I feel like we shouldn’t sleep together right before Edmund and I get married. Make the wedding night special. Romantic.
I’m such an idiot. They don’t care about that stuff.
Also, we haven’t talked about the wedding night. I want Troy there, as well as Edmund. Is that weird? I don’t want it to be, but…none of this situation is normal.
This whole marriage is a bad idea. But the thought of breaking things off makes my eyes prick with tears. It’s not like I could break things off, anyway—Vorsong Circle is still very much a concern.
If I could just turn off my feelings, that would be great.
“Danica, can I come in?” Edmund knocks on my door.
“No.”
Ugh, why am I crying? This is so annoying.
“Dani.” Troy’s deep voice reverberates through the door. “We want to talk to you.”
“No.” I gather Cackle in my arms.
He purrs for five seconds before squirming to escape my hold.
Does nobody want to touch me or be with me?
I throw myself down on the bed and cry.
Troy
I can hear her crying in there. I want to break down her door, but that won’t help any trust grow between us.
I look over at Edmund, who shrugs.
“She’s crying.” I lean back against the wall next to her door.
