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Thing is, it was Mom and Kevin in that car wreck, but it could have so easily been all three of us. Or me and Mom. I’m just a body. Nothing.
I glance at the one, then the other, suffocating. On one hand I have the man who claims to love and care for me, my dad, the only family I have left, for twenty-four years the center of my life. On the other hand, I have the man who says things like I’ll tear the world down to find you, and then goes and does just that. It makes me want to wrap myself around him and cling for dear life. But he's also the man who probably killed my mom and brother, and who’s forced me into a loveless marriage for more revenge.
Matteo steps into the office, fury radiating off him. “Kitten.”
His tone gives away every layer of his anger, but I just can’t deal. I rush past him, pressing him away as he reaches for me, and make a beeline for the stairs. I ignore every guard and make it to my room where I kick the door closed, lock it, and fling myself onto my bed.
Voices sound from the rest of the house. Angry. Steps. Up the stairs. They die out on the soft carpet on the landing. I’m holding my breath as tears seep into my pillow.
The doorknob twists.
“Tasha.” Matteo sounds calm, patient, but I can visualize him bracing the door jamb with his hands, resting his forehead against the door as he breathes to control his anger. “Kitten, open up or I break the door down.”
I don’t move. Let him break this house down. See if I care.
A minute later there’s a loud bash, followed by another that comes with the crack of wood. A third try splinters the doorframe and I flinch where I’ve buried my face in the bedding. I can’t see him, but I feel him. His presence fills the room.
When he touches my hair, I startle. He sneaked up on me. I roll over and squirm away from him, back against the headboard, legs up and hugging them close, making myself as small as I can.
Matteo just stands there, all suited and sexy, jaw twitching as he looks at me. Not a word, just silence.
“Tell me the truth,” I say when I can’t take his eyes on me any longer. “This two-for-one thing Il Consiglio has going: did you kill my mom and brother in a car accident? As revenge for Alex’s death?”
He sighs. “No, I didn’t.” For a second, I’m relieved. Matteo isn’t the monster here. “I was incapacitated with two bullet wounds that nearly killed me.” He looks away, and although there’s hope, it drains out of me like everything else. “The Don did.”
I’m trembling, fear and hate and disgust pulsing through my veins, mixed with the wretched knowledge that Mom and Kevin died for nothing. “God. You are so fucking evil.” I wipe at my face, but it doesn’t help. I’m a quivering mess. “Tell me, husband, would you have done the same?”
He doesn’t hesitate. “At the time, yes.”
“My brother was a kid!” I bawl out, sobs ripping through my chest.
“So was mine!” His voice trembles but he inhales and hisses the breath out. “To be honest, we both were.” He turns his back on me as he walks to my bedroom window, which overlooks the garden. “It was our first gig for Il Consiglio. Our baptism. It should have been clean and easy. In the end we lost six men. We only got out because we had an extra escape route that we didn’t share with your dad. Just in case.”
Just in case my dad couldn’t be trusted. My dad was the domino that triggered everything, but I still can’t bring myself to see him on the same level of evil as Matteo and his kin.
Matteo turns to face me. “I never pretended to be a good man who sticks to the rules, kitten. You got to know me exactly as I am.”
Yes. And even worse: I got to fall in love with him exactly as he is. I bite down on my lip, wondering what it would take to kill every last feeling I have for him.
“Now be a good girl and pack the stuff you want from here so we can go home.”
“What?” Home? With him?
“You heard me the first time, Tasha. We’re leaving in five minutes, whether you’re ready or not.”
“Fuck you,” I scream, tossing a teddy bear at him, but he only catches it and flings it into the corner.
“That type of shit stays. You’re no longer a little girl.”
“I refuse to go with you, back to that apartment,” I hiss.
“You do? You’re my wife.” He lets this statement hang a moment. “I’m not leaving you with your evil creep of a dad. In fact, you’re never to see him again, understand?”
“No! Understand that you won’t fucking stop me from seeing him.”
“I’ll do what the fuck I want. You are my wife, and I will protect you in every way I deem fit. Trust me, kitten, it will be for your own safety. Now…” He quirks a brow at me. “I’ve carried you out of this house before, and I’ll do so again. This time, I’ll be less gentle. Your choice.”
He doesn’t wait for a response but turns to my closet and goes through my clothes. I never knew hate and love could intertwine so tightly together, one a parasite to the other, and it’s just a matter of time to see who kills whom.
