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“Until she finds a way not to be. I wanted her to want to be here. With me.” Admission never felt so bitter. There wasn’t space for this kind of obsession in the mafia world. There wasn’t space for whatever I was feeling for her. “Fuck. But she’ll stay. I’ll make her stay, whatever the cost. I will not be Dad.”
“I don’t think Mom and Dad’s situation quite fits the bill, Matt. They married for love. And you are not Dad.”
“That’s not what I meant. I will not be weakened by a woman. I will not let her taint my image and color me weak with a divorce.”
“It took a whole lot of guts to go up against Grandpa, and you know it. I am not defending him, but I do think they are much better off alone than miserable together.”
“That will not be me.” My statement came out unwavering with a hint of anger at the thought of giving Francesca the out she’d been looking for since day one.
“You just don’t see it that way because Francesca means a whole lot more to you than you care to admit.”
“It’s about honor, Liam, and respect. I can’t have her thinking I’m a lying cheat,” I tried steering the conversation somewhere less exposing.
“No, it’s not, Matt. I know you. It’s about love.” Liam’s voice was as serious as mine, even though there was a slight smile on his face.
“It’s not, I… don’t. It can’t be.” I mumbled, not finding the right words to protest.
“Then let her go.” He dared, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance.
“Over my dead fucking body.”
“Why? Tell me straight to my face that you don’t love her.”
“I don’t love her.” Those words came out like acid, burning my throat on their way out.
“I never thought of you as a liar, Big Brother.”
“What the fuck do you want from me, Liam?”
“I want you to be truthful to yourself. There’s no need to set the record straight if you’re going to keep up with that act.” He scolded me as if he was the older one teaching his little brother a lesson.
“There’s no room for love in this world.”
“I beg to differ,” Liam said with an honest smile. He was talking about himself, and I couldn’t deny that he was in love with Jamie. I’d forced him to see it, after all, and now he was doing the same to me.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“Love hardly ever does,” he teased, his defying gaze never leaving mine as he walked closer. “Now,” he patted my shoulder and squeezed, “Tell me again you don’t love her. Make me believe you this time.”
Chapter 16
Francesca
“If you leave, I will wreak havoc in Detroit. I’ll make sure it's burned to the ground, resumed to ashes, nothing but the devil’s fucking playground. Am I making myself clear?”
Matt’s words rang in my ears over and over again until they were so loud I could almost scream. How could I have believed this could ever be more than a business deal? I was stupid and naive again.
And he fucking shot at me!
My anger bubbled up to the surface, and as much as I tried to suffocate and drown any feeling related to Matt, I just couldn’t control it.
I could deal with feeling nothing. Nothing meant he didn’t matter, that he couldn’t get to me. But this amount of loathing? It was dangerous. It told me he’d gotten under my skin so deeply that it would be hard to pull him out.
Matt thought he owned me. That because I cared for not having war erupt on my doorstep, that I wouldn’t fight back. He knew that ensuring peace between our families was why I accepted being nothing but a trading item between men, and he used that against me. He used it to control me, but I will make him wish he had just let me leave.
I’d stay. For now, until I came up with another plan. Meanwhile, I’d make it a mission to annoy the fuck out of him.
After a couple of hours, I figured I couldn’t just stay locked up in the room the whole time. I would have to face him sooner or later. But before I could deal with him again, I needed to think this through. So I decided to put that wedding gift of his to good use and go for a bike ride.
