Page 59 of Vicious Kingdom

“He’s a mobster,” I choked out. Spit dripped from the corner of my mouth, and I dashed it away with the back of my hand.

Of course, he would lash out. Men like him didn’t fear the law. They were used to taking matters into their own hands, playing with hearts and knives with equal effectiveness.

“You’ll see how it’s done,” I vowed, pushing back onto my haunches. “I’ll have you, Leonardo Mancini. We’re meant to be together, and someday you’ll quit fighting it.”

To keep myself from crying in defeat, I snatched the chocolate torte, tore the plastic top off, and began to dig into it. The soothing flavors and velvety texture did little to quell the storm in my chest.

If I let it be over, if I let his word be the final say…no. Not that. I didn’t spend the last five years exiled in Germany with my late grandmother, trying and failing to mend my broken heart, just to quit.

To accept the future my parents would force on me.

To be alone…even when standing in the crowd.

A single tear trickled down my face. He cared for me once, was as obsessed with me as I was with him. It could be that way again.

I rubbed my chest. The truth was that my heart was too fragile to take another rejection. An admission of defeat would break me.

Chapter 21 – Leonardo

That was too much—too cruel. It was the last-ditch effort to purge her from my system. It almost worked. My hands tightened on the steering wheel. I tried to cut the cord that tethered us.

But…that look in her eye.

Mio dio, that look!

She was beautiful. Perfect.Mine.And I couldn’t push her away. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t.

I smacked the heel of my palm into the wheel. The engine roared, and the car shot forward. It careened around the curve, nearly running into the back of a minivan.

I jerked hard to the right, stopping abruptly on the shoulder.

I should never have left her.I should go back.

But….

No.

Not right now. I was a mess. There was no telling what I was capable of right now.

The other night, at the godforsaken society event, I realized something. Tonight, I gave the feelings a name. I admitted tomyself that she was bound to me. Letting Annaliese walk away—driving her out of the city—would never work. She would only find another lover.

Someone to have a happily ever after with.

While I would remain alone, ruling from atop my ivory tower.

My gaze flicked to the rearview mirror. No, the best way to punish her would be to trap her. Bring her close. Never let her escape to find a happily ever after with some knight on a valiant steed. I couldn’t send her away to the arms of another.

“So I’ll make her mine,” I whispered. Only then would my revenge be complete.

I might not be able to tear her from my mind—if only it were that simple! But to reach into my brain and claw every memory, each trace of her, all the feelings…. That wasn’t possible. But this way? At least I could make sure she paid for her sins.

It was a dark trail of thoughts. The kind only someone with a soul as black as mine could have.

Breathing hard, I debated once more going back for her. Was she still at the beach? Had she destroyed the picnic and left? I hadn’t seen her car pass, but there were other ways back to the city, and I’d been speeding.

She’ll never have me now.Not after the brutal display of dominance at the lake.

Fuck—the way she’d given in to me. Her eyes shimmered, that blue gaze hauntingly bright as she looked up at me.