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She opens her mouth to speak, then shuts it again before looking away. I can feel that she’s disappointed in me and it hurts. A lot.
“Okay, both of you calm down,” Sabrina speaks up. “Aurora, your sister’s right—she’s allowed to sleep with whoever she wants to. She’s grown and it’s her body. She can make her own choices.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, relieved that she’s seeing my side.
“At the same time, what you did was wrong, Lucia. I understand being shocked when he first arrived, demanding to marry you. But you had chances to tell your sister who he was and you didn’t,” she points out.
“I know, and I feel awful about it. I’m sorry, Rory. I should have told you as soon as I realized who he was.”
Aurora doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t even look at me, her arms crossed over her chest. Sabrina pokes her side but she doesn’t even budge. She sighs before turning to me.
“So what’s going on now? This man, Ivan Volkov, I’m guessing he developed an interest in you after sleeping with you?”
“Yeah, something like that,” I reply.
“And now he wants to marry you. What about you, Lucia? Do you like him?”
“Well… I—” I don’t know how to answer the question.
“Oh god,” Aurora says, looking at me with wide eyes. “He’s Stockholm-syndromed you.”
For some reason, that makes me laugh. Sabrina laughs as well.
“What? I’m being serious. She has feelings for a guy who’s forcing her into a marriage,” she states on a frown.
“Well, actually, he tried to give me an out. Ivan said I could say no if I wanted to. I’m choosing to stay with him. Because despite everything, I think I do kind of like him,” I tell her. “He’smuch better than you give him credit for, Rory. I promise. He’s a decent man and he’s been nothing but kind to me.”
“He’s also good-looking,” Sabrina says with a smile. “Your sister showed me pictures, and damn. I don’t blame you one bit for sleeping with him. I would, too.”
I grin. I love Sabrina so much.
“Who cares if he looks good? The man is obviously psychotic,” Aurora mutters.
“As opposed to your husband?” Sabrina counters smoothly. “Plus, if I’m remembering correctly, didn’t Nico also force you into marrying him? This situation isn’t much different than that.”
I made the right decision by involving her in this conversation. Thank God she’s here. Aurora doesn’t seem to have anything to say in reply to that.
“He really treats me well, Rory,” I say to my sister.
“So what? You’re going to marry him?”
That gives me pause. I’m still not a hundred percent sure I’m ready to get married. To Ivan, to anyone. I don’t even love the man—how can I marry him?
“I’m not sure yet,” I answer.
There’s also the issue of Adrian and his request. I don’t want to marry Ivan without knowing if he was responsible. I decide not to mention it, though. It feels personal and if Aurora knew Adrian asked me to go ahead with the marriage, she’d be even more angry.
Like I summoned him with my thoughts, Adrian himself appears in the doorway. His walks into the room with a charming smile.
“Hello, ladies,” he says smoothly. I stand up to give him a hug. I kind of missed him over the past two weeks. We’ve barely texted. “Hey, chipmunk. How’ve you been?”
“I’ve been good.”
“How did you know she was here?” Aurora asks, her eyes narrowed.
“I know everything, Rory,” he says, releasing me to look down at the two women still seated. His expression becomes flirty when his eyes land on Sabrina, who’s doing a good job of pretending he didn’t even walk in. “Hey, shortcake. How’s it going?”
I slap his shoulder. “Would you quit it with the terrible nicknames? They’re not cute.”
