With Everything I Am (The Three #2)(119)

“I’m glad you’re home, Regan,” Sonia smiled at her mother-in-law then turned her smile to Ryon. “And you too Ryon. Glad to see you safe.”

“It’s good to be safe, Sonny,” Ryon smiled back.

“Oh!” Regan cried suddenly. Sonia jumped and looked to see her mother-in-law was digging in her purse. “Things were… well, we didn’t get much time and I was just so happy everyone was okay and then I was worried about getting Sonny ready.” She pulled her wallet out of her purse and zipped it open. “So, I forgot, but…” Her arm extended toward Callum and she announced, “Here!”

The wedding band Sonia gave to Callum was gleaming between her thumb and forefinger.

Sonia stared at it and felt every muscle in her body grow so rigid, she feared if she moved she’d break into a million pieces.

She watched as, casually, Callum reached out and took the band from his mother, murmuring his thanks. And, just as casually, he reached across Sonia’s rigid body and slid it on the finger that was curled around her shoulder.

They said that people had their limits, their breaking points.

That was Sonia’s.

Something came over her. Something she’d never felt in her life. Something she didn’t understand, for a moment.

Then she realized it was fury. It was a fury so mammoth, she could think of nothing else but it.

She looked up at Callum not noticing the air in the room had gone dense as all of its inhabitants sensed her rage.

“I need a word,” she declared before yanking out of his arm and practically running to their bedroom.

In the seconds before Callum followed her in and shut the door, Sonia realized that the time had come.

She was going to do this.

Now.

She lifted her hand out, palm up and demanded, “Give me my ring.”

Callum was watching her carefully, arms crossed on his chest as he asked, “Sorry?”

She wriggled her fingers. “My ring. Give it to me.”

He wasn’t watching her carefully anymore. He realized what she was talking about and his jaw clenched.

Then he asked, “Why?”

“It doesn’t mean anything to you. And, when I bought it, I wasn’t certain it meant anything to me.” She watched the muscle leap warningly in his jaw at these words but she was too enraged to care. “But then it did. It meant something. And it isn’t right, if it means something to the giver, for the receiver to wear it if it means nothing to them.”

He paused for a moment before he spoke.

Then he said in a tone that was as much of a threat as the muscle jerking in his jaw, “Can I ask why in the f**k you think it means nothing to me?”

Sonia ignored his tone too.

She dropped her hand and snapped, “It doesn’t matter how I know, I just know. Now give me my ring!”

She watched his body grow taut before he stated, “You’ve got about two seconds, baby doll, to tell me what the f**k you’re on about.”

Something broke inside her and the pain was excruciating.

Because of that she leaned forward and hissed, “Don’t call me baby doll.”

And the second the words were out of her mouth, she saw it, clear as if she was an inch away.

His eyes instantly turned golden.

And he started toward her.

Sonia was alert enough to retreat.

“Two seconds are up,” he growled as he stalked her.

She was still throwing caution to the wind in the frightening face of his mirrored fury. She might have been alert enough to retreat but she was definitely not going to back down.

“I didn’t know your kind existed,” she threw at him. “But you knew about humans. You knew what wedding rings were.”

“And?” he clipped.

She stopped retreating, braced and shouted, “So I had an excuse when I started to take off my claiming chain! I didn’t know what it was!” She jabbed her finger at him as he stilled his progress and stared at her. “But you knew what a wedding ring was and you took it off just the same!”

His head jerked slightly, his face cleared of his fury and he murmured, “Honey.”

“Don’t call me that either,” Sonia snapped. “This charade is over. You don’t like blondes? Great. Fine. Whatever. Consider your duty served, Callum. In public, if your people want me, I’ll be their queen. My parents wanted that. It’s my destiny. Even I feel it, though I don’t want to. But in private, it’s over. I’m done. If you aren’t okay with that, that’s good too. I’ll just go home.”

Sonia thought that was pretty good. However, when she focused on Callum and not what she was saying she saw he was grinning.

Yes, grinning.

He was such an arrogant bastard!

Then he asked calmly, “What makes you say I don’t like blondes?”

Sonia gaped at him.

Was he mad?

“That crazy woman said it before you sequestered her!” Sonia cried.

He started toward her again, not stalking in the same way but definitely still stalking.

“Baby doll,” he said with humor threading his tone, “She’s crazy.”

Sonia started retreating again in exactly the same way as before.

“Do you like blondes?” she queried with a bite in her tone.