Page 68 of Deceitful Oath
“That’s what marriage is for,” I explain, desperately trying to save my wild idea. “To get to know each other. We’ll have a whole lifetime to do it…and I want to. I want to spend my lifefiguring out who you are and falling in love with you more every day.”
Her eyes mist over, and she covers her face, quietly wiping away a rogue tear. I know she’s considering it but struggling to get over my lies.There’s more you haven’t told her,the voice in my head reminds me,and it’s even worse than what she already knows.
I block the voice out and lean down to kiss her softly, trailing my lips up her face to kiss away another tear sliding down her cheekbone.
“Besides,” I whisper into her ear, stroking her hair. “I’ll be able to better protect you and our child if we’re married. And right now? There’s a lot playing out with the Mancinis that puts both of you in serious danger.”
She sighs, shutting her eyes tightly, and takes a deep breath. “Okay.”
Okay?I can’t believe my ears. Her voice is so small that I need to hear it again so I pull away and gaze down, searching her eyes. Resignation is all I find and my heart cracks just a little bit.
She doesn’t want this,the wretched internal voice screams.
“You’ll marry me?”
“Yes,” she says softly, tracing her finger up and down my arm, avoiding my gaze. “I’ll marry you.”
***
After a tumultuous night of zero sleep and way too much overthinking, I peel myself out of bed at a reasonable time and hop in the shower.
Lux is snoring softly, star-fished in bed, which I take as a good sign. I head to the gym upstairs to work the jumbled thoughts out in my mind.
As I hop on the treadmill to warm up, I question my decisions last night. I know she’s angry I lied about my identity and she doesn’t trust me. I know this marriage isn’t what she wants right now. I try to figure out how much it matters to me.
I never hoped for love, for a happy marriage. In fact, I had resigned myself to being a bachelor my entire life and I was fine with the decision. Then she showed up in my life and turned it upside down.I can’t let this opportunity pass by.
“Morning.”
Her sleepy voice makes me jump, almost losing my footing on the treadmill.
She wanders over to me wearing one of my button-down shirts and a pair of slippers. Her hair tumbles down in messy golden waves over her shoulders, and she yawns, stretching her arms over her head. I catch a glimpse of toned thighs and nearly fall off again.
Okay, no more treadmill. This is too dangerous with Lux around, tripping me up.
“What are you doing up here?” I ask, turning the speed down and hopping off. I walk over to give her a hesitant little kiss on the cheek, not really knowing where we stand. She shrugs and slides her arms around my neck.
“I wanted to see the sunrise,” she says, pressing her face into my chest. I wrap my arms around her, feeling her soft, warm body melt into me. “And I knew you’d be up here.”
“Come on, then,” I say, tugging her by the hand. We walk over to the pool and sit at the edge, dipping our feet in. She wiggles over closer to me, and I wrap my arm around her waist.
We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching the sun slowly climb out over the skyscrapers in front of us.
“This view is amazing,” she breathes, snuggling her head into my shoulder. I glance down, entranced by the constellation offreckles across her nose and how long her eyelashes look against her cheeks.
“It is,” I say, and I’m not talking about the skyline. “Luxy, you don’t hate the thought of marrying metoomuch, do you?”
She glances up, wrinkling her eyebrows. Her mouth dips into a serious little frown, and she pats my chest absent-mindedly. “I wouldn’t have said yes if I hated it, Rafael. I’m still unsure it’s the right decision…emotionally. But I’m smart enough to know that it’s the right thing to do for the baby, safety-wise.”
I nod, absorbing this revelation.She doesn’t hate me.My stupid, hopeful heart soars, and I tip her chin up to kiss her.
“Let’s do it today.”
“Today?” she laughs, pulling away to stare at me in mock horror. “You’re insane.”
“Why not? We have no reason to wait,” I say. “We’ll do a quickie little courthouse wedding to make it official, then you can plan the real thing for as long as you want.”
“I have always wanted to get married by an Elvis impersonator at a little white wedding chapel in Vegas,” she muses, cracking a smile. “Think we can take your private jet over there for a day? I’m sure you have one.”