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“He told me that I belong to him. He didn’t do anything for me. He did it all for himself. He did it so he could get even more power than he already has. What will I get out of this?” I cross my legs and then smooth out the dress, realizing it’s the same color as my eyes. “Did he give you this dress to give to me?”
“Yes. And to answer your other question, you get to live is what you get out of this. You get to live a life others would love to have. You’ll live in a mansion. You will drive only the best cars. You’ll travel in chauffeur-driven limousines, on yachts, and in private jets. You’ll eat foods others can only imagine getting to eat. You’ll drink the finest wines and liquors and wear designer clothing. Anything you want, you will get. Get it now?”
The frightening thing is that she really seems to think that’s what every woman would want. “Sounds like I’ll be kept like a prize poodle. I mean, sure, I’ll have all that. But only when my keeper, who is my husband, wants me to have it.”
“Not at all. You have free will and freedom.”
I honestly can’t believe she’s so brainwashed. “As far as free will goes, I don’t have that. You say I have free will, yet here we sit, locked in a room. I told Carlo to give me to my father. I don’t want anyone else to die because of me.”
“He can’t do that.” She waves her hand and rolls her eyes at me. “Do you have any idea what that would do to him?”
I would think she would jump at the chance to have me sacrifice myself so others in her family wouldn’t die. “Make him look weak?”
“Well, yes, it would make him look weak.” Picking up the glass, she takes another drink before adding, “But mostly, losing you would destroy him. If you haven’t noticed, he’s grown quite fond of you.”
“He’s fond of his bright and shiny new toy, is all.” I know I mean no more to him than any other object. Men like him have no real connection to anyone. They can’t feel love for anyone or anything because they fear it will be used against them. Hence the reason he married me—merely to get to my father.
“You know nothing about my son. He’s never acted the way he has since meeting you. I think he actually loves you, Isabella. And if you could stop being a bitch, you might find that you love him too.” She smiles at me like a cat who ate the canary.
“Are you enjoying calling me a bitch?”
“Not really,” she says with a frown and actually looks like she means it. “I would much rather call you sweet names. From what I saw of you before you found out your life has been a lie, you seemed very sweet and accommodating. It’s like a switch went off that turned you from good to evil in an instant. Just because your asshole father’s blood flows through your veins doesn’t mean you have to be as negative as he is. You had a mother too. And she was caring and selfless.”
Astounded that she brought up my real mother, I have to ask, “You knew my mother? My real mother?”
“She came here to see my husband. She came to her husband’s enemies to get help for you. You were about two then. Cute as a button too. Your mother knew what would happen to her, and she came anyway. She knew you were better off with us than you were with your own father.”
“Why didn’t you and your husband take me?”
“That would be way too obvious. We’re in the spotlight. He was once the boss that our son is now. So, we gave you to one of my husband’s trusted associates, the Conti couple. No one had any idea of the Contis’ dealings with the organization. Plus, you would have been considered Carlo’s sister. That wouldn’t have worked out at all.”
“I was two. There couldn’t have been any idea of him marrying me back then.”
Tipping the wineglass, she took a drink and then said, “There was some idea of it. You were a Mafia princess, after all, and very valuable. And at that time, Carlo was a Mafia prince.”
“That’s disgusting.” Shuddering, I realize I have no idea what goes on in the Mafia world. “I hate this whole fucked-up situation.”
“You weren’t thinking that way last night, were you?” She smiles knowingly at me and wiggles her dark eyebrows. “When you let my son screw your brains out all over the ballroom?”
Holy fuck! Was she watching us?
Chapter 11
Carlo
Once the mansion was cleared, I had my wife taken to my bedroom. Locked away and under guard is the only way to keep her safe. Her anger at me is probably at an all-time high, so I prepare myself for the onslaught that surely awaits me on the other side of this door.
I see the guard smirking. Squaring my shoulders, I turn to him. “This funny to you?”
The smirk vanishes as he shakes his head. “No, sir. You should know she’s been banging on the door and shouting that she wants to see her husband.”
With a nod, I open the door and step inside my bedroom suite. The living area is a little messy. Pillows have been tossed around the room, and a couple of pictures hang oddly on the wall, having been hit in the midst of her fit.
An empty bottle of wine lies on the threshold that separates the living area from the bedroom. It gives me a glimmer of hope that she’s gotten herself drunk and the alcohol has lessened her anger.
Night fell hours ago, and the room is dark. A beam of light from the attached bathroom flows over something blue on the bed. Going to the bed, I find her face down. “Are you awake?”
Muffled words come, but they’re unintelligible. She turns over, her face blotchy and her eyes red-rimmed from all the crying she’s done. For a short moment, there’s a softness in her expression, but it morphs into fury at lightning speed. “You locked me up!”
