Fuck this bullshit. “Why did you say, ‘Thank you, Daddy,’ when you came?”
Haunted, she stared at me. “Unchain me, Dom. Please.”
“Not before you answer me.”
“Just fucking get me out of here!”
“Why did you say, ‘Thank you, Daddy,’ when you came?!”
“Why did they call you Berry when you were a kid?!”
The question fell on me like a sledgehammer. I just stood there, blinking at her like an idiota, for long moments. “Who the fuck told you about that name?”
“It doesn’t matter who told me.”
There were very few people left alive that knew that name. She had access to two of them. Enzio and Tino. It wasn’t hard to guess who sang to her.
Brutto stronzo. I thought we had a fucking deal. A promise that shouldn’t have been broken. “It matters to me, but I already know the answer. Tino fucking Bellomo.”
“Why are you so upset? He wasn’t supposed to let the cat out of the bag?”
Rage blazed inside me as I tightened my eyes at her. “What did he tell you?”
“I’m not a rat. Isn’t that what you call it? A rat? A snitch? What is that other thing they say? Snitches get stitches?”
I smelled one of her games cooking. “Si, si. But snitches get more than stitches with the Lanzas. They get a one-wayred tripwith Il Coyote.”
A gleam I knew too well flashed in her stare. A huntress that knew exactly where to pounce to get her kill. “Red trip, huh? Is that what you call it? Your one-on-one torturing sessions?” She took a pensive look around the room. “Do you do it here?”
“No. I don’t mix business with pleasure. I have another room for that.” I stepped forward and pulled her hair so hard it undid her bun. “And if you don’t want to end up in there, you’d better start talking.”
Defiance filled her gaze. Somehow she was no longer afraid of what I might do to her. “Why don’t you just tell me your story? If you really want me to trust you, don’t you think I should listen to it straight from you?”
What are you doing, little kitten?“Ditto. And, one day, I am going to tell my story to my wife, when she’s in my arms, knowing that I can trust her, too.”
“You can trust me, Dom,” she said softly, deceivingly. “I am your wife after all. I can deny it all I want, call myself a captive, but in the end, it doesn’t change the truth. I signed those papers and said my vows, and you, sooner or later, are going to claim me and never let me go. It was stupid of me to think I can change or stop any of it. I might as well accept my destiny…in your arms, my husband, my Dom.”
Merda. I shook my head and closed my eyes. That little devious kitten. She was hitting hard. “You don’t know how much I wanted to hear you say this.” I rubbed my cheek against hers and reveled in her scent, the one I hoped one day would be strong enough to erase the one I couldn’t forget. Then I cupped her left breast, feeling her heartbeat in my palm. “God, Nicky. I wish it was true.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “But—”
“But it’s just another game, a rather desperate one.” I yanked hard at her hair and twisted her nipple until she screamed. “Why the fuck do you keep repeating the same mistake? When will you learn that I’m not someone you can fuck with?”
“I’m not fucking with you. How else could I’ve known that name if not from Tino?”
“I don’t know, but Tino told you shit. If he had, you’d have never done this.” I grabbed the fucking vibrator and shut it down. I was so enraged I couldn’t even stand the sound. “I wonder why you’re playing me this time. Is it because you’re too scared to talk about what that piece of shit Baldi did to you? For your sake, I hope it is. Because if it’s the other reason I have in mind… Fuck, Nicky, you can’t be that stupid.”
“Tell me something, Dom. You care about honor, loyalty, respect, but above all family. What would you do if someone threatens that family?”
“You know what I’d do.”
“And if that someone is part of your family, someone you’re supposed to respect, honor and be loyal to, like Enzio?”
“Enzio is Capo. He’d never threaten la famiglia.”
“Indulge me, Dom. Hypothetically, what would you do if he suddenly decided he wanted your wife for himself? You’d obey and bow because he’s your boss? Because you’re fucking loyal and owe him obedience and respect?”
Oh, Nicky, don’t go there.The idea alone would make me leave a river of blood. She was mine. I’d torture and kill to keep her that way. No matter who was trying to take her from me. “Again, Enzio would never do that. We have rules, and they’re all about honor. Stealing wives is a crime we punish.Ihave punished dirty fuckers for it before.”
