Chapter 16

16

Edward

"I’m here for Mira."

"Hmm." Gio purses her lips. "What are your intentions toward her."

I glance past her to where the other women look at me with varying expressions of displeasure and mistrust.

"Can I come in?" I hold up my hands. "I mean no harm."

"That’s debatable." She purses her lips, then finally, stands aside.

I stalk past her and into the center of the rom. "Ladies." I tilt my head. "I’m glad Mira has friends looking out for her."

"Can we say the same about you?" Summer asks in a serious tone.

Of everyone in this room, I’ve known her the longest. I attended her wedding to Sinclair. I’ve seen the bond between them grow. Sinclair loves her more than his own life, and she reciprocates their sentiment. She’s aware of my past. Of the incident that binds Sinclair and me and the rest of the Seven together. No one else in my family knows the true extent to which that incident scarred me. It’s a secret, known to us, and now the wives of the Seven.

I keep my arms loose at my sides and nod. "You can."

I hold her gaze, and she must read the sincerity in my eyes, for her shoulders relax.

"She’s my friend, Ed," Summer murmurs.

"I’m aware."

"Don’t hurt her."

"I won’t," I hear the vehemence in my tone. "I’ll do everything to protect her."

"Including from yourself?"

I blink. That's the plan. The problem is, when I’m around her, I don’t act in character. I tend to become unpredictable and unable to keep my gaze off of her. I’m also not able to stop my mind from wondering how it would be to have her under me, to bury myself in her softness, to have her scent wipe away the images from my past, to allow her voice to lead me out of the maze I am stuck in.

And I can’t allow that to happen. I can’t let myself fall for her. "I’ll do everything in my power to give her what she needs."

She frowns. "That doesn’t answer my question."

I square my shoulders. "Her happiness is important to me. I will ensure she is taken care of, that she wants for nothing, that all her wants are met?—"

"Including her emotional ones?"

I hesitate. "I will do everything in my capacity to give her what she needs."

Summer rises to her feet and walks over to stand in front of me. She scans my features. "I know you’ve been through a lot, Ed. You deserve a chance at happiness. Mira can be the catalyst to help you move forward with your life, if you’ll let her."

That’s what I’m afraid of. That’s what I have to guard myself against happening. I incline my head. "Do I have your blessings?"

She looks between my eyes, then nods slowly.

"If you do anything to upset her, you’ll have me to contend with," Gio snaps.

"And me." Penny stabs her forefinger and middle finger in the direction of her eyes, then at me.

"And me." Abby gives me a considering look from the couch.

I look between the women and nod. "You won’t need to because I’d punish myself if I did anything to make her unhappy. Now, can I go in and see my wife-to-be?"

Gio stalks past me, and raps on the bedroom door. "You ready to meet this asshat, honey?"

A few seconds pass, then the door opens. Mira stands in the doorway. She turns without meeting my eyes and walks away. I move past Gio, step inside the room, and shut the door behind me. I lean against it, cross my arms over my chest, and watch as she stands at the window with her back to me.

"I have a surprise for you."

She stiffens.

"Don’t you want to know what it is?"

She shakes her head.

I stalk toward her. She hears me approaching and stiffens but doesn’t turn to look at me. I pause behind her; then, because I can’t stop myself, I lean in and sniff her hair.

She turns and stares at me. "Did you sniff me?"

Busted. "Me? Do I look like the kind of man who’d sniff you?"

The skin between her eyebrows wrinkles. She looks uncertain, but at least, she’s looking at me.

"You said you have a surprise?"

I hold out my hand, palm face-up. She looks at it warily.

"I promise, I won’t bite." Yet.

She places her left palm in mine with reluctance. I slide my other hand into my pocket, pull out a ring, and slide it onto her ring finger.

"Oh, my god, is that… Is that a?—"

"Engagement ring."

She swallows, then slowly raises her hand. She tilts it this way and that. The light from the window bounces off the sapphire in the center. The diamonds surrounding it reflect the blue. Together they deepen the color of her eyes into a shade you’d only find in the depths of the Mediterranean.

"It’s gorgeous." Her chest rises and falls. "And it fits."

"Of course, it does."

She looks up at me. "How did you know my size?"

"You are mine. I know everything about you."

The skin at the corners of her eyes crinkles. She scrutinizes my features like she’s trying to solve a puzzle, then her forehead smoothens. "It’s because you need to convince your family our marriage is real."

It’s because I have this compelling need to know everything about you. What makes you smile; what makes you laugh? What makes you worried or scared? What you like; what you hate? Why you always manage to bring the sunshine with you wherever you go? "Can’t slip up. This is my one chance to make sure my grandfather confirms me as the CEO of the company."

"Is that so important to you?"

"Is that a question?"

She opens, then shuts her mouth. "Money isn’t everything. Nor power. There’s more to life than just trying to build your business empire."

"Been there, done that. All there is to life is money and power. It’s what allows you to control your future."

"You don’t believe that."

I incline my head.

She searches my features, then lowers her hand to her side. "Just because you had your heart broken once?—"

"That is not up for discussion," I growl.

Hurt flares in her eyes.

My heart stutters. I’m unable to guard myself against her responses. I want to draw her close and tell her everything, and then what? I’ll never break my vow to not allow anyone else in my life again. It’s not right to give her false hope when I intend to always keep that emotional distance between us. I firm my lips.

She takes in the expression on my face, then squares her shoulders. "I am going to be your wife?—"

"Fake wife."

"But real in front of everyone else."

"What’s your point?"

"I need to know enough about you so I can ensure no one, especially your family, can question our relationship." She thrusts out her lower lip in that expression I’m coming to recognize as stubbornness, and damn, if that doesn’t make me want to close my mouth over hers, dig my teeth into her lower lip and?—

I clamp down on my errant thoughts. "You’re right."

"I am?"

I nod. "It’s why you’re moving in with me."