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Working at the Morgan Library would be a dream come true but I never told him that. Has he been stalking my social media? Did I mention it on there at some point? Hard to remember everything I’ve ever written.
Listen,I type out, knowing this might be the last ever message I send him.I wasn’t sure I could marry a man who intimidates people this much. How you spoke to me just now confirms it. This can’t work. Not after what happened outside Belucci’s bar. And FYI stalking my Facebook isn’t romantic, it’s creepy. I’m turning down your deal. I’ll make my own way in the world and you’ll have to find some other poor sap to marry.
My finger hovers over the send button. Am I thinking this through? I’m still sleepy. My body is still working through the repercussions of the dream I just had. Do I want to cut him off this way?
But to intimidate the library into giving me a job? That’s not romantic. Nor is telling me I’ve got no choice about marrying him.
Who even is he? I barely know him. Sure, he might make me want to strip naked and kneel before him but that’s not exactly the basis for a long term successful relationship. Nor is it the grounds for making a rational decision.
I could wake up Cathy and ask her opinion but I know what she’ll say. Take the money and run. Enjoy the month together. It’s only sex. Don’t make such a big deal of it.
She doesn’t know he’s a killer and I can’t tell her. I don’t want to put her in danger.
Am I in danger? Can he really keep me safe? Am I not better off out of it before it goes too far?
What if I fall in love with him? What if I already have? I’d have one month and then my heart would get ripped into pieces when that month was up.
No, this is for the best. I’m better off away from him. I can wean myself off him mentally. Put it behind me. Find someone sensible if I ever want a boyfriend.
But I don’t want one. I’ve never wanted any man.
Until him.
He offered to make all my choices for me. Take away this kind of doubt. Can I dare to let that happen? To give control of my life up? To willingly hand it over to another person and just do whatever I’m told? Do I want that?
Fuck it, I think, hitting send. Decision made. It’s over.
Like the last time I finished a tub of cookie dough ice cream in one sitting, I regret my decision immediately.
Twenty-Eight
Vincenzo
She clearly has no idea who she’s dealing with.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m impressed she has the stones to stand up to me. Who else has ever done that? I’ve killed for far less than turning down a deal like this. I’ve had men killed simply for the insult of turning down a meeting with my famiglia.
But this? This is something very different. This is my life we’re talking about. My destiny. I’m supposed to take over this family, prevent it crumbling into nothing. All the history, all the years spent getting this far, all of it will vanish if I don’t take over.
I cannot let her walk away. She doesn’t get to decide when this is over. I’ve already told her that I’m in charge of her. She’s been in the basement of the country house. She’s walked into the dark, accepted the deal. I warned her not to go down the stairs if she didn’t want this to go any further.
It’s too late for her to walk away. Far too late.
We are getting married. That is a fact. She will give me a child. That is another fact.
I reread her message while I’m on the airplane. I swallow down my anger. It’s lucky I’m going to be in Italy for a few days. If I was back home, I’d be picking her up, carrying her into the punishment room, making her pay for what she’s doing.
Defying me? She thinks she can do that and I will simply accept it?
I cannot let a woman like her simply walk away. She is perfect. She will help me achieve my goals. I will take over.
After my father’s speech, I had a lot to think about. Firstly, how to resist shooting him in the head and simply taking over. If it wasn’t for the commission watching our every move, I would have done it.
He has never loved his family. I had that figured out long before his speech. All he ever loved was being in charge. Now he’s dying. His reign is ending.
I know why he’s doing this. He saw the look in my eyes. He knows I have feelings for her and he’s jealous. He has no warmth in his soul and he hates the fact I feel anything for Ophelia. Wants me to fuck things up.
He thinks by giving me that whole spiel about power and walking on people that I’ll just use her to get what I want.
