Page 143 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not
“You,” I breathed.
His gaze shifted to the door, then returned to me.
“Sit down, daughter.”
I didn’t move.
“Go. To. Hell,” I snarled.
His jaw flexed. A small tell. A crack in the perfect armor he wore like a suit.
Then he sighed as if I were a problem he was trying to solve.
“If you want Atlas—and you want Goran out of the mess you’ve created—sit down.” He paused. “Please.”
He said that final plea as if it hurt him. It hung between us like a threat. It was the first time I remembered hearing it from him. That alone terrified me.
I stared at him, searching for the trap.
He stayed perfectly still, patient. He could sit here all night and watch me bleed out slowly without blinking.
Resistance was futile. He had us right where he wanted us, vulnerable. I walked to the chair across from him and sat down. I needed to hear what he had planned, and I wanted Goran out of here.
Dimitri watched me carefully, possibly wondering why I had acquiesced so easily. Then he glanced at my chest. My necklace. They hadn’t taken it, and it hung half hidden beneath the seam of my blouse. The gold band rested there just waiting to be discovered.
I didn’t dare touch it. If I did, he would know it was something special.
His gaze lingered on it a beat too long before he lifted his eyes back to mine.
“Do you love him?”
I said nothing. My silence was answer enough.
Father’s mouth thinned.
“I asked you a question.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
He didn’t flinch.
“Answer me.”
I held his gaze, refusing to give him what he wanted.
“Why. Are. You. Doing. This?”
His nostrils flared. He’d never liked being questioned.
Good.
Leaning back in the chair, I let my voice drop.
“You know what it feels like to have your heart ripped out.”
His expression turned to stone.
“And you know what it’s like to watch the person you love marry someone else.”
