I pursed my lips in frustration. Jerry hadn’t even called to cancel, to apologize, to postpone, or anything at all. He didn’t even acknowledge our anniversary dinner.
“Val?” Dante muttered softly, watching me carefully. “Are you okay?”
The frustration and the pain were so much that I found myself pouring out everything to him. How Jerry kept prioritizing Nancy over me, his mate. Dante listened with an intense expression on his face.
When I was done, his jaw tightened, and his eyes darkened slightly.
“That’s unacceptable,” he said firmly, “You deserve to be cherished, Valerie, not cast off and made to feel unwanted.”
I blinked in surprise by the intensity in his voice. He sounded genuinely upset for me, as if he really cared. I flushed.
“It’s complicated,” I said softly. “He’s not a bad person. I think… I think he loves me in his own way, but… but I can’t help but feel that he doesn’t really prioritize or respect me.” I admitted.
For a moment, Dante didn’t say anything. He just kept watching me with an intense look in his eyes that made me wonder what was going through his mind.
“Marry me,” he blurted out, leaning forward.
My heart skipped a beat. “What?”