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“Falynn,” I say slowly, in a warning tone. “Agree you will obey and I will uncuff you.”
Nothing. Not a word.
“You make this more fucking difficult than it has to be!” I snarl suddenly.
She flinches and turns her head away from me again. I drop the ice pack and step back, my temper wearing thin. If I explode right now, it’ll only cause her to further retreat from me. It will prove the misconception that I’m trying to do her harm is correct.
I excuse myself from the room so I can cool off. Falynn tests my patience in moments like these, where she refuses to give in like everyone else around me does—I’m a King and everybody accepts it. They obey and bow down. Why does she always have to refuse?
I need to figure out how to get around this. What can I do to get her to listen? There has to be a way without hurting her.
Carlotta crosses my mind. I already know what she’d say—my wife isn’t supposed to be treated the same as my employees. I shouldn’t try so hard to control her. She will listen on her own if she deems me worthy enough to obey.
The point used to be valid. Once upon a time, Falynnusedto listen to me. If I told her to stay put, or asked something of her, she’d usually do it. Her stubbornness still showed itself on occasion, but she undeniably followed my lead.
I cave and seek Carlotta out in the villa. I find her in the kitchen, helping the staff prepare dinner. She eyes me much in the same manner Falynn had minutes ago—with open wariness.
“A word, Carlotta,” I say.
She follows, tossing aside a kitchen towel. We go to my office. She ignores the bloodstains on the floor left over from me punishing Dante. Decades working as a caretaker for Mafia bosses have made her immune to such violent decor.
“What is it this time?” she asks, sighing. “You want me to tell you how right you are to do what you’re doing? I refuse.”
“I want you to tell me how to get through to her.”
“I already told you. You didn’t listen.”
“I did listen,” I snap. “I dedicated time to us. That didn’t work out.”
“Because of your work. Which I told you to set aside if you are to make things better.”
Irritation prickles the nape of my neck. “I’ve told you that’s not feasible! I run the largest crime family in the world—there is no putting the work aside! The moment I do, the moment shit like what happened with Luca Lovato happens! Do you not understand this? You’ve been working with men like me all your life, Carlotta. You know better.”
“I knew your father, and I know he destroyed your mother.”
My eyes roll. “Don’t fucking start comparing me again. If this is the only advice you have, then you are useless and you can go!”
Carlotta’s cheekbones become more pronounced as she bites down hard and rises up as tall as she can. Considering how short she is in stature, it’s not much, but her confidence pulls through. Eyes thinned into slits, she stomps forward and jabs me hard in the chest.
“You are herhusband. Not her boss. Not her master. You want to know how to fix things? Then act like her husband and not some tyrant!” she scolds. “You have hunted her down. Your men have manhandled her and now tied her to a bed. And you really wonder what you’re doing wrong?Mi stai prendendo in giro, vero?!”
“Don’t take this tone with me, Carlotta. I let you get away with a lot, but you won’t speak to me like I’m a fucking child.”
“I’ll speak to you like the brute you are! Just like your father!”
The insult is one too many. I’m nothing like my deceased father and yet she won’t let it go. She continues to disrespect me by insisting I am.
My gaze darkens and I bark out, “Enough! You’re fired! I don’t need your services anymore. Get out.”
Carlotta returns my glare, not an ounce of fear on her weathered face. “Fine!” she huffs. “I’ll go! But not without saying goodbye todolcezza. You will look back on this moment, Giovanni, and you will weep you didn’t listen!Segna le pie parole.”
When she marches out of the room, I release a howl like a feral animal and smash all possessions within reach. I grab a porcelain vase off a mantle and toss it against the wall. Other ornaments meet the same fate. They wind up broken fragments on the floor. I stop only when I run out of things to break, my chest heaving, breath ragged.
Why the fuck does everybody keep testing me lately?
Nobody seems to understand.
Least of all Falynn. She hasn’t a clue the kind of pressure I’m under every moment. The burden of wearing the crown I do, holding the position as the most powerful Mafia boss in theworld.
