Page 54 of Vows of Blood

"I told you she couldn’t handle our life. Women like that, they like the idea of danger, the romance of it, the excitement, the money. But when it comes to reality?" He shook his head slowly. "They run."

With my jaw wired shut, all I could do was glare through my good eye, hatred and heartbreak warring inside me.

"Forget about her." He’d patted my hand, the comforting gesture obscene given what he'd done to me, torturing me to teach me a lesson about loyalty and family. "Focus on learning the business. You'll have plenty of women, Luca. Beautiful women. Uncomplicated women. Someday, you'll thank me for not letting you tie yourself to someone who could never handle our world."

I wanted to murder him then almost as much as I want to murder him now.

Mindlessly, I stare at the blood on my knuckles, flexing my fingers to make sure nothing’s fractured, watching it well up from the split skin.

All that suffering. Years of darkness and depression, then anger, convincing myself I was better off, that she'd done me a favor by showing her true colors before I threw everything away for her.

And it was all a lie.

He threatened to kill her. My Sienna.

And when that didn’t work, recognizing she was braver than he thought, he threatened to kill me, knowing she would never put me in danger.

The rage builds again, white-hot and consuming, and I have to keep moving before I put my fist through another wall. Or get in my car, drive to my father's house, and beat the shit out of him.

Instead of locking myself away in my office, I wander, eventually finding myself drifting toward her room, now certain the plan that’s been percolating in the back of my mind is the best way forward.

Her door is slightly ajar, light spilling into the dark hallway. I should leave her alone, but I can't. Not after what she’s just told me.

I stop in the doorway, and the sight before me makes my chest ache.

Sienna is face down on the bed, fully clothed. A frustrated scream tears from her throat, swallowed by the pillow. She thumps the bed like it's personally responsible for everything that's happened, then sinks into the mattress.

She doesn't know I'm here.

"Sienna."

Slowly, she turns her head, hair wild and messy, yet still guarded. "What do you want?"

I step into the room and close the door behind me.

She sits up, wiping at her face even though there are no tears, just exhaustion written in every line of her body.

"I have a proposition for you."

She chuckles, not a happy sound but bitter and hollow. "I’m already helping you, mixed up with the Calvano’s, again, against my better judgment. What more can I do for you?"

I ignore the jab and move closer, stopping at the foot of the bed.

"Your debts. I'll pay them off. All of them." And there are quite a few.

Her lips thin. "Feeling guilty? I never wanted your money, Luca. And I don't need it now."

“Yes, you fucking do,” I snap before I can stop myself, wanting her to admit that she needs help, needs me, instead of being so relentlessly independent and determined to do it all on her own.

“Well, fine, maybe I do. But I don’t want it. Or your pity.” She makes everything so fucking hard.

I mentally curse myself for getting into this situation, where my plan relies on breaking the will of the most spectacularly defiant person I know.

"College then. I'll pay for you to finish your degree. Wherever you want. Best program in the country."

She glares at me, not even listening to the offer I’m making, just dismissing it instantly. Pulling her legs up underneath her, she faces me, kneeling on the mattress now, pouty lips stubbornly pressed together.

"I said no." The words are spoken slowly but firmly, however Sienna doesn’t yet realize there’s no saying no. Sienna is the last piece of the puzzle, in a plan I’ve already set in motion, and now that I know she should have been mine all along?