Page 9 of Prideful Union

But I also want to slam my door in his face when he comes crawling back, asking for my hand in marriage. He doesn’t get to marry me after he rejected me. I want to reject him.

I also want to marry him.

God, I’m messed up.

I hear the doorbell ring but ignore it. Someone else will answer.

A few moments later, my mom knocks on my door. “Lucia? Santino is here to see you.”

I jolt up in bed. What the fuck? I rip open my door. “He’s here?”

“Yes.”

“What for?”

“He didn’t say.”

I brush past my mom. “You should have found out.”

“That’s for you to do, not me,” Mom says sweetly.

I hurry downstairs …

And there he is, standing in my foyer.

Kiss him or slap him? Which will it be?

I approach him, readying myself for one of the options when … my foot slips on the last step, and I fall backward.

My entire life flashes before my eyes. I haven’t had the chance to do enough. Like, I never got Botox, and I always wanted to.

Then, Santino grabs my hand and stops me from falling.

And before I can stop myself, I slap him across the face.

CHAPTER 3

Santino

Getting slapped across the face is not how I imagined this meeting with Lucia going.

After leaving the party yesterday, Antonio found me and convinced me to marry Lucia, saying she’d make a good bride. I disagree. I think Lucia will make a horrible bride.

But I don’t back down from a challenge, and Lucia is exactly that. She exasperates me. She annoys me. She confuses me.

She’s beauty wrapped in a chaotic package.

I did lie yesterday when I said she wasn’t pretty. She’s one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. But I can’t stand arrogance in women. And Lucia is full of it.

After giving Antonio’s argument some more thought, I changed my mind. I want Lucia as my bride just so I can teach her a lesson.

Which is why I’m here now to tell her that.

But before I even get the chance, she’s slapping me across the face. Even after I saved her from getting hurt, she has the audacity to do that.

She’s staring me down, breathing heavily. I can’t help but notice the way her chest rises and falls. The way it accentuates her breasts.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, drawing my attention to her face.