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“Are you doing . . . better?”
“Yeah,” she said brightly. “I definitely make fewer mistakes when I don’t drink. It’s not forever, but what happened to you, well, it was a wake-up call.”
“Good,” I said, pulling her in for a hug. “It’s not your fault, you know.”
“It was, but I would never hurt you. I was just being stupid and selfish.”
I squeezed her again. Knowing she had thought about me, and worried about me so much, made my heart melt a little.
She pushed me away with a laugh, wiping away a couple of tears that stained her cheeks.
“Now, try the dress on!”
A little while later, I was putting my clothes neatly into my backpack, along with a few other things the ‘movers’ had missed. I had a strong feeling the movers had been large Italian guys, but I refrained from asking. Either way, I knew my husband had taken care of it. My stuff was somewhere in the mansion. Someday, I was sure he would let me go through it.
“Want to go to a mixer? There’s one happening just off campus.”
“A frat party? No, thank you,” I said as I crinkled my nose. “I need to be getting back, anyway.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want my husband to worry.”
“Don’t want your husband to worry? It’s not even dark out!”
That’s when the knocking started. Loud, slow knocking. I looked at Sara. She looked at me.
“I’ll get it,” she said nervously as she stood.
I shouldn’t have been surprised to see my very handsome, very angry husband standing in the doorway.
I stood up slowly, staring at him with a look of horror.
“Nice dress,” he said dryly.
I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder as if nothing was wrong. But something was. Something was very, very wrong.
“What are you doing here, Tony?”
He gave me an incredulous look and smiled at Sara, saying in a mild tone, “We had dinner plans. Don’t you remember, sweetheart?”
He bent down to kiss my ear and I shivered.
“Oh, well if you had plans,” Sara said gleefully. She was clearly believing the adoring husband act. And Tony was adoring. He was also furious.
“You deliberately lost Tiny.” He gave me a faint look of admiration once we were out of the dorm and walking through campus. He’d already taken my backpack, carrying it for me. Chivalrous or controlling? I though unkindly. “That’s not easy to do.”
“I just didn’t want Sara to see him. She would have asked a million questions.”
“Okay.” He nodded. "That’s smart. But you will have security.”
“Maybe if they didn’t stick to me like glue?” I offered, still worried about how mad my husband seemed to be. He was totally in control of his temper, but I could feel it bubbling below the surface.
“All right. It’s all up for discussion” —he gave me a meaningful look— “after dinner.”
I nodded, realizing that we were keeping our dinner plans with Michael and his family, but after that, I was going to get an earful. There was a chance that he might even revoke some of my privileges. As cushy as my cage was, it was still a cage. Even if he let me out sometimes, I was still my husband’s captive.
I felt my heart sink, realizing I had really screwed up.
Chapter 41
Antonio
I drove slowly and carefully, trying not to let my anger rise to the surface. My recalcitrant wife sat beside me, pretty as a picture in her borrowed red dress. It irked me that with all I had provided, she would still take a dress from the so-called-friend who had abandoned her.
She’s just a girl, I reminded myself. Evie is still so young.
And young girls need to be disciplined, a darker voice answered.
“She apologized,” Evie said quietly. “For leaving me that night.”
Sometimes, it felt like she could read my mind.
“Good.”
“She’s taking a break from drinking and partying. I think she’s really changed.”
“I’m glad. But I don’t want you going over there anymore.”
“What? Why?”
“She’s a bad influence.”
Evie let out an unladylike snort. She wasn’t afraid of me. It was almost funny how brazen she was becoming.
My tiny little wife had balls of steel, that was certain.
I wanted to ask how her class had gone. I wanted to pick her up and kiss her senseless. I wanted to tell her how proud I was of her.
But I was too angry. She’d lost her tail. She’d openly defied me.
So I didn’t.
We drove in silence toward the quiet suburban neighborhood Mikey and his siblings had grown up in. Evie was ignoring the anger vibrating off me. I was ignoring her stubborn bravery. Neither of us was going to give in easily, I could tell.
I was about to break the stalemate when the phone rang.
“Speak.”
“Are you alone?” My brother’s voice sounded harsh. Something was wrong.
“We’re in the car. Evie is with me.”
“When will you be home?”
