Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
My collar felt too tight, pressing into my still tender burn scars at my neck. Burn dressing covered the skin on my back. It had started healing, but I hadn’t been as “gentle” with myself as my mother had begged me to be. I could only hope I didn’t ruin my white shirt.
Sara’s gaze briefly lingered on the dressing on my neck before she turned to the front.
I almost told her how beautiful she looked, but I kept the words to myself.
“You may kiss the bride,” the pastor said.
Maximus frowned down at me. My belly twisted. If we didn’t kiss, the gossip would be even worse. Why was he hesitating? “Kiss me,” I pressed out.
He bent down and pressed a short, passionless kiss to my lips. I knew our bond was built on a very shaky foundation, but I’d hoped he’d pretend in public. I’d given up my dreams of a romantic first kiss a long time ago.
After our kiss, we headed out of church for the obligatory congratulations. I’d experienced many awkward ceremonies, but this was worse. The people who knew what had happened sent me looks of compassion or pity, and the people who based their judgment on the gossip that had spread like wildfire since Maximus and I had announced our engagement sent me looks of condemnation. The latter speculated I was pregnant because of an affair with Maximus, and that was the reason for the quick wedding—and groom exchange.
Maximus’s expression remained hard and unperturbed throughout it all. His face almost always harbored a certain air of hardness and threat. The only time it hadn’t been like that had been during our short captivity and when he’d visited my parents. I knew there was more to him than he let on and more than I’d thought in the past, but I wasn’t sure I had the strength to find out. Maybe one day.
Maximus was careful not to touch me, but when it was time for our first dance, we couldn’t avoid it anymore.
“Are you ready for the dance?” he murmured as the band waited for us to enter the dance floor. I nodded with a forced smile and took his extended hand. He held my hand loosely in his, giving me the feeling that I could pull away anytime.
With everyone’s eyes, I wouldn’t, and it wasn’t as if Maximus scared me. The demons of our shared past did. People watched our every move, and they continued to do so for a while. They wanted a huge scandal. The last one—Marcella marrying a biker—was getting to be old news, and they were hungry for fresh meat.
When we arrived on the dance floor, Maximus gave me a questioning look. I nodded, and he pulled me against him. I put my hand on his shoulder, and he put one hand on my back, not too far up and not too low. Our gazes met, and that felt more intimate than our closeness. It was almost as if I could see the guilt burning in his eyes and thus the reminder of what happened. I lowered my gaze to his nose, not wanting to remember. My eyes registered the dressing over his neck once more. He was moving a little stiffly as if his neck wasn’t his only injury.
The music began. Only now did I realize that Maximus and I had never danced together before. I had never even gotten the chance to rehearse the dance with Paolo. Maximus didn’t look like a man who could dance, at least not any standard dances. The dance clubs he and Amo had frequented didn’t require that sort of thing.
Maximus took the lead without any prompting and surprised me with his dancing skills.
“I asked my mother to teach me how to dance. I knew it would be required today, and I didn’t want to embarrass you in front of all these people,” he murmured. His voice was naturally low and very deep. It was a voice that exuded manliness but also a subtle danger.
I gave a small nod. I doubted anything could ever be more embarrassing than knowing that half of the people in this room had probably seen the video of Maximus and me. It was a thought I rarely entertained, and whenever I did, I wanted to crawl into a hole and never emerge. I couldn’t escape the cruel gossiping of our world unless I left, something I’d never even consider.
“You’re doing good,” I said simply. Maximus was much taller than me, so it wasn’t easy to find a flow, but his efforts shone through, and I didn’t feel as uncomfortable in his proximity as I’d thought. I was glad when we were out of the spotlight and returned to the table, though even without the lights directed at us, we were of course still the center of attention.