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“He’s a dead man. He knew and said nothing.”
“You said yourself not even an hour ago that you expected yourconsigliereto follow your orders, no matter what. And I’m guessing Vigo was the same. Do you think Alessio would have wanted this? Being forced to hand over his daughter? I understand you’re mad, but you won’t take him from Nova. I’ll offer him sanctuary if I need to.”
I know Vice is only playing the game, so all these men see him as the more stable one, but his words help temper my anger. If only they could stop the hurt.
“You won’t get away with this, Vice.”
“That sounds like a threat, Aldo. Do not threaten me, or I’ll take it as a declaration of war.”
Vice slides his fingers between mine and walks me toward the door, his men letting go of Aldo to flank us. As we pass Aldo’s chair, Vice reaches over and grabs the bloody sheet from the back of it, tossing it to Conner.
I keep my eyes forward and shut out everyone around me. Maybe then I can pretend this was all just a fucked-up dream.
I don’t remember getting in the car or the ride home. I’m aware enough to know I’m going through the motions, but I’m numb and have no desire to snap out of it. Because when I do, I’ll have to deal with Vice, and I’m not ready. Not yet.
I walk into the house, aware that I’m being watched, and it pisses me off enough to drag me out of my current state. I feel Vice’s eyes burning my skin as he walks behind me. Two guys I don’t know look from me to him and frown.
“How’d it go?”
“As expected,” Vice answers, and I barely fight back a snort. Yeah, he had this all planned out, but the silly woman that I am didn’t realize he would keep me in the dark. So much for a partnership.
“Can I get you anything?” Turner asks as he steps into the room, his gaze drifting over me before landing on Vice.
The guy might do his job and do it well, but he’s not my biggest fan. He hides it, but I see how he fights the sneer on his face whenever I’m around. He doesn’t think I’m good enough for his boss—the crazy whack job who just shared intimate details about me to a room full of men like it meant nothing. Shit, what does it say about me if I’m not good enough for a psycho?
I keep walking, heading toward the stairs.
“Nova,” Vice calls.
“I’m going to take a shower. For some reason, I feel really fucking dirty.”
He sighs, calling my name again, softer this time.
I whirl around when I reach the bottom of the stairs, everyone watching me now, and Vice freezes, most likely seeing the fire blazing in my eyes.
“Itwas necessary.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? I was blindsided in there.”
“I needed your reaction to be genuine.”
I stare into his eyes, his face blank. “I hope it was worth it.”
I turn and continue up the stairs. I’m halfway up when he barks my name again.
“What?” I spin around and look down at him.
“You’re overreacting.”
Isaac winces, and Conner drops his head.
“Overreacting? Wow, tell me you’ve never had a girlfriend without telling me you’ve never had a girlfriend.” Without turning, I take another step up, keeping my eyes on his. “You killed Vigo without discussing it with me. It didn’t matter if I had questions or things left to say. You did what you wanted, and I stood by you. You told me you wouldn’t touch Aldo until after the wedding, and yet the bruises he was sporting in church were in identical places to mine. You omit the truth and lie when you see fit, despite the fact we made each other promises.”
He takes a step toward me, but I hold up my hand. “Our wedding night was fucked up. The things you did…” I shake my head. “The fact that you killed a man for looking at me, as messed up as that was, made me feel like more than your whore. Until today. Today, you shared parts of me that were not yours to share. Today, you made me feel like less than a whore. You’re not the man I thought you were.”
He growls at me, but I let him see the disappointment on my face before I grab the hem of my dress and yank it up over my head and throw it at him. He still has my panties from earlier, so I’m bare from my waist down. I remove my strapless bra and drop it to the floor, leaving myself naked and exposed in front of Viceand his men.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he snarls, tossing the dress as he heads toward me.
