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“I’m not hiding anything. I don’t know why he was looking for me.” Her body trembles and that makes me rub up and down her spine again. I should want her to cower and bow down to me, but I don’t, and the reason is lost on me. “I swear.”
Her voice would put every sex phone operator out of employment. Every word out of her goddamn mouth is always seductive, whether she’s trying to sound that way or not, and she’s never attempted seduction. Not with me at least, nor do I see her ever trying.
Right now, she’s scared of me, and I hate the feeling it’s causing in the center of my chest, but I can’t stop what I’m doing either. I have to know if her marrying me was a set-up by her family instead of Dad’s pursuit of revenge.
I gave her the option to run, yet she’s still here. Why? No sane woman would marry me if she had a working brain. If she thinks she can handle what I have to offer, she’s wrong. So very fucking wrong.
“Domenico,” my sister says louder, using a berating tone that pisses me off. She doesn’t get to scold me. That’s Dad’s job, and I get it enough from him already. “I’ve already asked her. She doesn’t know. I believe her, Dom.”
“I don’t give a shit what you believe, Sienna. It only matters what I believe.”
Keeping my eyes on my soon-to-be wife or a soon-to-be-dead ex-fiancé, I watch her stunning green irises for any clues to tell me if she’s lying or being truthful. At the same time, I’m steadily pulling her closer to me until I’m embracing her against my torso.
For the first time in my nearly twenty-six years on this earth, the thought of taking a life sours my stomach. I don’t want to hurt her. I want to protect her.
That proves that if I don’t get my shit together where both K and Ciera are concerned, one or both of them will be my downfall. When they both have their hands on me simultaneously, it’s euphoric. It’s joy, freedom, and a sense of my chest being filled to the brim.
I’m unsure how I managed to fight for my control while they were working my dick over. God, how I wanted to just let go. I wanted everyone in the whole goddamn bar to know what they were doing to me.
Giving in would have been a dire mistake. My family wouldn’t use my feelings for either of them against me the way my enemies would, and I cannot allow that to happen. I can’t show my emotions. I won’t let history repeat itself, which is why I can’t fall for either of them, let alone both.
IfI marry Ciera tomorrow, it won’t be real. It’s an arranged marriage. It won’t mean anything. It’s a business deal. That’s all.
“Hey, dickhead,” Sienna spits out from behind me. “Dad believes her too, and since his opinion trumps yours, go fuck yourself.” She shoves me in the arm, but I don’t budge or release my hold on Ciera. “Come on, Ciera. You’re coming with me.”
Swinging my head to pin my sister with my dark stare, I firm my hold on Ciera, digging my fingers into her skin. At some point, my right hand slipped under her loose shirt and skimmed over her leggings, stopping along her ribcage. “Sorry, sister, but I don’t share my toys well. She’ll be leaving with me.”
“Funny.” K laughs, a poor attempt at breaking up the tension between our group. “You share them with me.”
“Shut the fuck up. We have a pet to interrogate.” Looking back down to Ciera and seeing eyes I know aren’t lying, I say, “We still have a conversation from this morning to finish.”
“Let us then,” Krishna says as he steps between Sienna and me, forcing her to back away.
I release her when I feel Ciera’s body tugging away from me. My eyes flick downward, seeing Krishna has joined his hand with hers and is pulling her along with him. In all honesty, I don’t think he’s realized what he’s doing yet. It’s out of character for him. Hell, she’s out of character for me too.
“We’re going to your place,” I tell him as I move to follow him toward the door.
“Dad isn’t going to be happy with you if you don’t bring her home,” Sienna says to the back of my head.
“Good thing I don’t give one fuck, little sister. Tell him I’ll see him at the shit show of a wedding he’s putting on.”
Dad doesn’t possess the same ruthless skills I do regarding the opposite sex. He’d put a bullet in a man’s head without hesitation if he thought he deserved it. He wouldn’t do the same to a woman even if her crimes were worse.
I may notwantto hurt Ciera, but if I find out she’s working against us, I’ll do what has to be done, even if that means condemning my soul to Hell.
No one will hurt my family and get away with it.
Not on my goddamn watch.
CHAPTER 21
ANTONIO
Squatting down, I place red roses on my wife’s grave. There’s morning dew sparkling where the sun shines against the gravestone.
“Morning, baby,” I greet her as my nose stings and a sharp, agonizing pain shoots through my chest.
My grief from losing Ariana hasn’t waned a day since I buried her. She was and to this day remains the love of my life, and I know my heart will not be whole again until the day I join my beloved wife in the afterlife. That is, if I’m gifted with the opportunity to be reunited with her despite all the shit I’ve done in my fifty years.
