Page 55 of Vow of Hate

“Sienna’s fine,” I say with a dismissive wave of my hand. “In fact, she’s better than fine. I just fucked her brains out. Finally took her virginity.”

Gabriel’s jaw clenches. “You just admitted to me that you raped her?”

“I didn’t rape her. She begged me for it.”

“Right. Because a good girl like Sienna Lanza would beg you to touch her.”

I look down at my nails as I respond. “I detect sarcasm in your voice.”

“Was it obvious? I hoped it was.”

“Trust me, Gabriel. Sienna wanted it. Besides, you wanted me to marry her. What if she didn’t want that? What if I had performed my husbandly duty and claimed her? Would you have considered that rape then?”

Gabriel’s eyes narrow. “Semantics. I wanted you to marry Sienna for peace. I never said rape her.”

“You act all high and mighty but you’re no better than me. You wanted to use Sienna for your own gains. To control me. Not because you care for her. So don’t sit there and act like you’re worried. You’re only worried about what I’ll do because of how I’ll act. But if you truly cared for Sienna, you would be fighting harder to get her back.”

“I am fighting hard. We’ve been trying to find out where you live but you’ve done a frustratingly good job at hiding it. We’re fighting for Sienna. Her mom will not give up until her daughter returns to her.”

“Ah,” I say, leaning back in the seat. “Henrietta. She’s a force to be reckoned with. I see where Sienna gets her fighting spirit. I like Henrietta.”

“So why did you shoot her then?”

I shrug. “She was in my way and I wanted Sienna. It wasn’t personal.”

“And it’s personal now?”

I make a point of grabbing the paperweight off his desk and passing it back and forth between my hands. “You don’t know anything about me, Gabriel.”

“So why are you here? Did you come to mock me? Gloat? What is it?”

“I came here to talk. Can’t a man do that?”

“Not you, Dante. Not when you’re fucking insane.”

I sigh and set the paperweight back onto the desk. “What would you think if I said I was tired of always being chaotic all the time?”

“I’d say you were lying.” He narrows his eyes. “Unless something has changed.”

“Nothing has changed,” I say in a clip voice. “But just for fun, let me ask you a question. If I married Sienna now, what would happen?”

“You want to marry her now?”

“No. Just a theoretical. Answer.”

He sighs, tapping his fingers together. They look so clean but I know Gabriel has a lot of blood on his hands. Just like I do. “I would still like peace. If you married her and worked with me, we could possibly have it. But the problem is: I don’t trust you at all. So I’m not sure any of that would be possible.”

“So, you’re just waiting to kill me the second you find Sienna? Is that it?”

“Pretty much.”

I nod once. “Good to know.”

“Why even ask me that question?”

“Because I’m crazy? I don’t know. I just did.”

Gabriel looks me over like I just walked out of an insane asylum. I guess in a way I did. It feels like Sienna is driving me more crazy than I’ve ever actually been. Before her, my chaotic nature was controlled. I let lose but I still was in charge.