Page 32 of Wicked Sinner
Now Ido, and yet she’s the furthest thing from mine. I’m alienating her more with every hour she stays in that room, but I don’t know what the fuck else I’m supposed to do.
If I let her go, she’ll run. If I keep her, she’ll hate me and fight me until…
She can’t hate me forever. I keep holding onto that, trying to believe it, but it feels like my certainty is slipping further and further away.
As I drive home, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve fucked everything up.
—
The next morning,I have a meeting with Konstantin, but my focus is far from where it needs to be. I checked on Bridget several times yesterday, noticing that she only picked at her meals. When I reminded her that she needs to eat, she tried to slap me again.
I can tell she’s not sleeping well, though, thankfully, she’s asleep when I bring her breakfast. I quietly leave the room again, not wanting to wake her, at a loss for how to get us to move forward. I need her to agree to a marriage, and I need her to understand that this is the best option for her and for our child.
I’m just not surehow.
I head to Konstantin’s, where I find him and Tristan in his office waiting on me. My mood instantly plummets the moment I see Tristan sitting there.
“Is he going to be present for all of our meetings?” I ask flatly, and Konstantin eyes me, clearly not impressed with my feelings on the matter.
“He’s a part of all of this too,” Konstantin says calmly. “Sit, Caesar. We need to discuss the dinner party. Specifically, how you’re feeling about the women you met. I think Catherine would be an excellent choice, but I’m open to hearing your opinions.”
I sit down, feeling the tension rippling through my body. “I have a development,” I say, as calmly as I can manage. “I’m not going to be marrying any of those women. I’ve found my wife.”
The silence that follows is tense and charged. The other two men exchange looks before Konstantin returns his ice-blue gaze to me, his eyes narrowed.
"Found her where?" he asks carefully.
I let out a breath. "It doesn't matter where. What matters is that she's pregnant with my child."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tristan’s eyebrows shoot up. “How pregnant?”
“Not very. But I’m sure of it. She took tests. I’ll have a doctor come to see her as soon as it’s possible.”
Konstantin’s expression is still unreadable. I can feel the shift in the room's atmosphere. "And this woman—who is she? What family is she from?"
“She’s not… mafia,” I admit, knowing that this isn’t going to make my argument any easier. “She's a mechanic. Owns a small shop outside the city.”
The temperature in the room seems to drop ten degrees. Konstantin and Tristan exchange a look that I don't like at all.
"A mechanic," Konstantin repeats slowly. "With no connections. No family alliances. No understanding of our world."
"She's carrying my heir," I say firmly. "That's all the connection she needs."
"No," Tristan says flatly. "It's not."
I turn to face him, feeling my temper start to rise. "Excuse me?"
"Caesar," Konstantin says, his voice taking on the patient tone one might use with a particularly slow child, "I understand the appeal of a pretty face. I can understand that you might like this woman, even care for her. I also understand that this might seem like a simple solution, but it isn’t. You know as well as I do that marriage in our world is about more than personal satisfaction. It’s about connections, and power. It’s about strengthening alliances and building on a foundation of what you’ve been left to inherit. She can give you none of that.”
“She’s giving me a child?—”
“A bastard," Konstantin corrects coldly. "Because that's what it will be if you marry some nobody mechanic with grease under her fingernails."
The insult to Bridget makes my vision blur with rage, and I have to grip the arms of my chair to keep from lunging across the desk. "Watch your mouth."
"Or what?" Konstantin's smile is razor-thin. "You'll make me? Caesar, you're in no position to make threats. You've been back for a month, and you think you can dictate terms to someone who’s been running this city for decades?" He letsout a sharp breath. “Both Tristan and I made advantageous marriages. We married women we didn’t know and didn’t care for at the time to further our families’ futures. That those marriages turned out well is of no consequence. The beginning is what matters, and your beginning will be the same. Hopefully, with time, you’ll find the same love and passion in your union that we have. And if not—” He shakes his head. “It’s unfortunate, but you made the choice to come back. You know how this all works. It’s why you left in the first place, isn’t it?”
"I think I can make decisions about my own life and my own family."
