that? Are you sure it isn’t you who is more worried about Dove being married? After the initial shock wore off, she hasn’t voiced a single concern or complained again. Truthfully, I think the only problem is you. And we both know what must be done with problems.”
Dread consumes me. I know right then and there, what has to be done and it’s going to kill me. It’s going to rip me to pieces, but it’s the only way I can save Zane and myself. The only way I can ensure that we have even a sliver of a chance at a future together.
“Kill me, but it won’t change a thing. In fact, it will only make Dove hate you more.”
“I don’t think so,” my father says, and I’m sickened by the sureness in his voice. He doesn’t know me at all, but he thinks he does, and that’s my advantage in all of this. I’m playing him, and he doesn’t even know it.
“By the time this is all over, you’ll have made an enemy out of her.” The disgust in Zane’s voice can’t be missed.
“We’ll see,” my father says.
Turning, I rush down the hall and up the stairs to our bedroom before either of them can hear or spot me. By the time I reach the room, my heart is racing out of my chest, and there are tears in my eyes. What I have to do is going to kill me, but it has to happen if my plan is going to work.
38
My blood boils in my veins, burning me from the inside out like acid. Putting on the uncomfortable suit Matteo is making me wear, I wonder how I’m going to make it through the night without killing someone. I can’t fucking believe I agreed to this. Going to this event as Dove’s bodyguard. Of course, it’s not like I have a choice. Fuck.
After I slip into my shoes and clip on the tie, I leave the room and head downstairs. Dove is getting ready in one of the guest rooms on the other side of the house. Matteo had a whole crew of stylists coming to get her ready. As if she needs a spec of makeup to be the most beautiful creature at this event.
Taking a seat in the foyer, I wait for Dove and Matteo to be ready.
An involuntary growl slips out when Matteo comes down first, his hair slicked back, an Armani three-piece suit covering his body.
“Down, boy.” He chuckles, only infuriating me further.
Lucky for him, I’m distracted the next second when I catch sight of Dove at the top of the stairs. I’m pretty sure my heart skips a beat. No, she doesn’t need an ounce of makeup to be beautiful, but it does accentuate her beauty. She starts walking down the stairs, and as cheesy as it sounds, I feel like she is an angel descending from heaven. I stand without thinking and greet her at the bottom of the stairs.
I don’t care if her father sees how awestruck I am by her. She’s my one and only true weakness in life.
“You look beautiful,” I say as I place a kiss on her cheek. The stylist must really know what they’re doing because her makeup looks perfect, and the cream-colored dress she’s wearing makes her seem virginal and pure. At this rate, I know for sure now that I’ll end up killing someone tonight. Not being able to go to this stupid event as her date is going to be torture at its finest, but way better than being stuck in this mansion all night without her. With heels on, her head reaches the bottom of my chin, and I kinda like her being a little taller.
Her glossy pink lips tilt up into a smile. “Thank you, and you look rather handsome yourself.” She wraps her arms around my neck and leans into me. The dress she’s wearing isn’t form-fitting, thank god, but it’s short enough to tempt those wanting to take a peek.
“It’s going to take a serious amount of effort not to strangle every motherfucker that looks at you tonight,” I whisper into the shell of her ear.
“Hate to break up the lovefest, but we’re on a schedule,” Matteo interrupts, “also, there will be none of this at the event. You’re her bodyguard. Nothing more than that.”
Turning, I pin him with an icy glare. There’s a glint in his dark gaze, and he’s lucky, so fucking lucky, that I