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"Sex is not consent to dating. It isn't consent to marriage, and you didn't even let me make a choice about that either. You just steamroll your way through me and what I want, and for whatever fucking reason I tolerate it," I snapped, running a hand through my wet hair as I shoved it back from my face. "I've forgiven you for everything you've done to me, but this is where I draw the line."
His chest rumbled with the threat of a growl. "He was a shitty father."
"He was," I agreed. "A shitty father and a shitty husband. But he was still their father, Ryker. You cannot change that, no matter how many papers you try to make me sign. If you want them to move forward knowing that you love them and that you are the only father they need, then you will give them time to come to that on their own terms. Not yours."
"I want all of you bound to me in every way. I won't let you cling to his memory when you're my wife. You sleep in my bed. You take my cock every night—"
"You just can't stop pushing, can you? I give a little and you just want to keep taking more and more!" I snapped. "When will it ever be enough?"
"When you're mine in every way."
"I'm already your wife, Ryker! For fuck's sake. This is not about me or you or even Chad. It is about you doing right by those kids. You want to be their damn father? Then act like one and put their needs first. That is what a real father does. Not throwing a tantrum because he can't shove adoption papers at his wife's kids to make him feel like the ready-made family he inherited is really his."
Ryker glared at me for a moment before he gathered the folders off the bed. "Fine, Calla. You want to let Axel come to me when he's ready for me to adopt him?"
I nodded, staring at him like he might snap. He was so close to the edge, balancing just before it felt like he might dive off the cliff.
He returned the nod, going for the bedroom door before he turned to stare back at me with a cruel smirk on his face. "Then I hope you're ready to deal with the alternative."
I swallowed. "What alternative?"
"You'll find out soon enough," he grunted ominously, stepping out of the bedroom and closing the door behind him. I stared at it for a moment before I crawled into bed, feeling like I'd cursed myself by admitting I loved him—even if it was only in my head.
Love gave people power over you, and the last thing Ryker Fiore needed was more control.
Forty-Five
Ryker
I slammed the car door behind me, making my way into Murphy's. I knew the guys had my back, knew they'd cover my ass, but they kept their distance. Letting it look like I walked in alone.
Like I wasn't ready to throttle Antonio for being so fucking stupid that he got caught tailing Murphy's side piece.
I'd taught the goddamn idiot better than that.
The Maserati beeped behind me as the doors locked, and the front door to the pub opened when one of Murphy's men shoved it open for me. He was quick to get out of my way as I thundered through.
What the presence of Matteo and his men didn't soothe of my questionable ability to walk out, the twin guns strapped to my chest inside my shirt made up for it. I hated guns. They were the way lazy men killed, but I couldn't fight my way out of Murphy's without them if it came to that.
If Murphy hadn't requested me specifically, if he hadn't used Antonio's phone to call me directly, I might have feared for my life more. But he wanted something from me. He'd fixated on Matteo's famed Executioner at our meeting with him the week before.
He sat in the same place he always sat, staring up at me with a satisfied smirk on his face. In the corner of the room, Antonio sat in a chair with Sean's gun pressed to his head. He'd clearly been beaten and looked worse for wear, but he was a tough kid, des
pite being only twenty-two. He'd heal up and get back to work, I didn't doubt that.
"I am not a fan of having my woman stalked," Murphy said, pressing his hands to the table as he stood. His security looked uncomfortable with him getting closer to me as he walked around the edge of the table and stood directly in front of me. "Especially by a lackey at that. You could have at least done it personally."
I shrugged, keeping my face impassive as I stared back at him. "I was too busy keeping tabs on you to stalk your piece of ass."
Sean grunted from the corner, his face twisting in a grimace. I knew I walked the line, knew that one wrong move meant Murphy would order his men to put a bullet in my brain. But I wasn't a sheep, and I refused to act like one for anyone.
I'd learned a long time ago that the best way to survive in this world was to command respect wherever I went.
Murphy didn't glare, just stared at me in shock before his slimy face twisted into a smile and he slapped his leg as he laughed. "You've got balls. I'll give you that."
I scoffed, listening to the sound of Calla calling me Meatball on repeat in my head. Thanks to my Sunshine, I couldn’t hear the word ball without thinking of her antics.
"There's no point in pretending we don't monitor our city. You live in Matteo's turf. You operate in it. That makes you his business, and he protects his interests in business," I said, staring him down. I hated having such a slime ball so close to me, knowing that he would take part in sex trafficking soon enough, if he didn't already. I'd wanted to kill him even before that, just because he coerced women into his bed through paying off their debts.
