Page 157 of Savage Throne
For a few seconds, she just stared at me with her chest rising and falling rapidly.
Each second stretched into an eternity and my nerves frayed further.
Two fireflies flowed around us, and I wanted to shout, to demand an answer, but instead, I stayed still, my hands gripping the small box so tightly my knuckles ached.
And then, finally, her eyes shimmered with tears.
I tensed.
One tear slipped down her cheek, and she let out a shaky breath. “Yes. . .”
I swallowed. “Yes?”
She nervously nodded. “Yes, baby. Of course.”
Relief crashed over me like a tidal wave, dragging the breath from my lungs. “What the fuck took you so long?”
She chuckled. “Would you calm down?”
“I thought I was going to have to force this ring on your finger.”
“Lei. . .” She wiped the tears from her cheek. “You had me speechless. . .”
“And you had me terrified.” My hands trembled as I pulled the ring from the box. “Goddamn it.”
More tears spilled from her eyes, but there was a smile on her face—a soft, beautiful smile that I wanted to burn into my memory forever.
“Sorry,” she said, wiping at her cheek with the back of her hand. “I wasn’t expecting you to propose tonight.”
Then, she extended her hand, and that’s when I saw it.
What the fuck!
A ring was already on her finger.
Not thering finger, but there it was nonetheless—a gleaming band of silver with a huge sapphire set at its center.
My relief turned to ice, freezing my veins.
Are you fucking kidding me!
I’d seen that ring before.
It had belonged to my mother.
Rage pounded through my body, swift and unrelenting. I forced myself to rise off the ground slowly, careful not to scare Moni, but inside, the fury was a living thing, roaring and snapping at its cage.
How dare he? How fucking dare he?
My father’s audacity knew no bounds and now he was marking her—my woman—with something so personal, so intimate.
“Lei?” Moni’s voice was soft, pulling me back to her. “What’s wrong?”
I didn’t answer right away.
My gaze locked on the ring like it was a venomous snake, coiled and ready to strike.
Slowly, I reached for her hand. “When did my father give you this?”
