Marco POV
Lucille is on me before I can even stand properly. A swirl of silk and authority. She glares at me and all I see is a dozen accusations folded into two perfect eyebrows.
“Why didn’t you do what you promised?” she demands.
She's close enough that I can see the fine lines around her eyes, the way her nostrils flare when she’s angered.
“The time isn't right.”
“You said you’d reject Viktoria publicly. Do you want us to lose everything we’ve labored for?” she demands.
The underlying threat is unmistakable.
‘Lose everything.’
And this is precisely why it's difficult for me to do it: the reasons are so ignoble that I regret this marriage arrangement. I'm losing myself slowly without knowing it.
“I will do it,” I repeat. “But at the right time. Now is the worst possible mo
