Page 66 of For his Surrender

“I’m Isabella’s father, I’m her mother, and whatever else she needs!”

“Antonella. “

“No! That won’t change!” He moves his head, nodding.

“And is there anything about you that I don’t know yet, but should know, Antonella?” Again, he retraces a question that he had asked me before, and, as in a déjà vu, my head screams yes, but my lips answer the opposite extreme in a much lower tone of voice.

“No.”

“Are you sure?” he reinforces, and my thought is quick to shout again,no!As quick as my lips are to say.

“Yes!” I don’t know why I lie, what’s done is done, the papers are signed, the marriage is sealed, it doesn’t matter anymore that Marcos finds out that I was never the woman he thought I was, yet I deny, not just once, but twice, three times, if we count the first time, a month ago.

Marcos narrows his eyes at me, investigating me, before nodding affirmatively.

“I told you that for this to work, we’d need to be honest with each other, yet more than once, you weren’t.Your friend?You told me you’d met her recently.”

“And how am I supposed to explain to you that my best friend is the heir to a tech empire?”

“You shouldn’t have lied to me about who your parents were in the first place.”

“I was scared.” In a low voice, I resort to another lie to justify the first ones.Marcos’ expression changes, as it always does when I show him my fragile side that doesn’t exist. “Afraid that you would give up everything if you knew...” I close almost whisperingly.

“I wouldn’t have.”

“I’m sorry...” I force myself to apologize, and he spins the rest of his drink in the glass one last time, before swallowing it all.

“All right,” he accepts.

“All right,” I repeat, and silence tries to settle between us, but I won’t let it. “Where are Carmen and Grazi?”

“They’re back at the party, Grazi made me promise you’ll stop by before we travel.” I’d forgotten about the trip.I breath out and close my eyes, the honeymoon.

“Is this really necessary?”

“Are you okay?” He answers me with another question.

“Yes.”

“So yes, it is.”

“Marcos...”

“We have an agreement, Antonella, you chose to lie to me, deal with the consequences...” he warns, and his tone leaves no room for discussion.

“You’re angry,” I say.

“I don’t think anger is the right word, but I don’t like the feeling of being fooled. Many things about you start to make sense now, but many others stop doing it as well.”

I turn my eyes away.

“I didn’t fool you.”

“You did. And why do I get the feeling that you keep doing this, Antonella?I’m not the kind of having intuitions, but this one is hard to ignore.” His gaze sweeps me from end to end, chilling my spine, because unlike the other times he has walked the same path, this time, there is much more than desire, there is distrust.I shouldn’t care, but I do.

“You’re paranoid, and I really didn’t want to leave Bella now.” I try to bring the conversation to where I really want it.

“Paranoid...” he repeats the word with an eyebrow raised in a silent question that I do not answer, and he finally changes the subject. “She’ll be safe at home, Antonella...” Again, that tone that makes me believe that every word that comes out of his mouth is true. No one who is not expressly authorized will pass through those doors.It’s just for three days,

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