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“I’m not suggesting that I turn myself into them. What I’m suggesting is that I let them think they’ve been clever enough to find me.”
“And then what?” Gioele asks, sounding intrigued.
“Then, we make them suffer by taking what really matters to them.” Opening my top drawer, I pull out the photograph of Brax Marshall’s girlfriend.
“That sounds awfully like starting a war to me,” Gioele points out.
“Hire the men. We will leave a trail for their tech girl to follow. And while they are making their move, we will take the Souls’ women. Love is a weapon, Gioele. The threat of losing it can make the most ruthless of men weak.”
“I’ll see what I can do and get back to you by the end of the day.” Gioele cuts the call, and I almost crush the damn thing in my hand when I think about the Souls’ persistent attempts to ruin me.
Maybe I’m as much to blame for Danato’s death as they are. I sent him to Pueblo, knowing that they were a danger. Who sends a kid to do a man’s work? I set my own flesh and blood an impossible task because I was too blindsided by my fear of losing Riley. Little did I know then that I’d lost her anyway.
I sit and think through the details of my plan. It takes a few hours and a lot of phone calls, but eventually, I have something in place. And then when I receive an unexpected phone call I realize that fate, for once, is on my side.
After setting things up with Gioele, I make my way out of my office and head toward the wine cellar. Stefano is on guard by the door, and it’s obvious the guy spends far too much time on his appearance. That and the fact he never makes proper eye contact with me all contribute to me not trusting him. I don’t like the way he looks at Riley. I also don’t like being able to read the thoughts in the sick fucker’s head when he looks at her. But as Gioele keeps reminding me, good men are hard to come by.
Stefano nods courteously as he opens the door for me, and I descend the narrow staircase, preparing myself to see her again.
Riley is sitting at the table in the center of the room with her head in her hands, and she looks up when she hears me approaching. Seeing her look so broken is like taking a knife to the fucking chest, and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to forgive her for putting us through this.
She stands up from the table and takes a step back. She’s wearing the clean shirt that I ordered Sylvia to bring down, with a bowl of water so she could wash this morning. And I can smell the lingering of her vanilla soap in the musky air surrounding us.
“Why are you doing this to me? I could hear Gabriel playing out there earlier.” She wipes the tears from her eyes as she takes another defensive step away from me.
“You say you love me, Rafe. If that’s true, why would you want to hurt me like this?”
“You ruined our family, Riley.” I make up the distance between us.
“I discovered the truth, and I got scared. I’m sorry.” There’s honesty in her voice, and those big blue eyes of hers glisten with tears, begging me to trust what she says.
God, I want to believe her.
“Would you still be sorry if you had gotten away from me?” I tilt my head and search for the slightest trace of a lie.
“I love you, despite all your secrets. I know that now, Rafe. Let me prove it to you,” she begs
“You love me?” I laugh her words back at her.
“Yes, Raphael. I love you so much that I want to see past all you’ve done. If you truly mean what you say and you are giving all this up, we can make this work. We can be happy again.”
I shake my head slowly. Riley doesn’t know half of the secrets that burden me. If she thinks soliciting women and killing a man who deserved death is the worst thing I’ve ever done, she’s wrong. And if I’ve learned anything just lately, it’s that the truth always finds a way of coming out.
If I tell Riley everything and she still wants to try to get back to being us, we might stand a chance. If my real sins cause her to hate me, then I guess we’ll have to figure something out.
Riley Hayes will never be free of me, but she gets to choose if I’m her lover or her tormentor.
“Do you really mean that, Riley?” Pressing my body into hers, I force her back against the empty wine rack.
“Yes.” Her soft voice sparks a surge of energy through my body that screams for release. Her shackles still hang above us, and I’m surprised she doesn’t fight me when I take one of her wrists, raise it above her head and detain it. Instead, she wets her lips with her tongue, and I feel her hot breath flit against my jaw when I can’t hold back temptation any longer, and I touch my lips to her cheek. I’ve deprived myself of her for far too long. I need to be inside her one more time before I open up old wounds and reveal to her what a monster I really am.
Cuffing her other wrist, I let the arch of my hand travel down her stretched-out arm and then cup her pert little tit through her shirt in my palm. As I squeeze her tight in my fist, her chest pushes out at me, her body writhing for more. She is the product of my own destruction. My very own little monster. It gives me a little hope that she might be able to handle what I have in store for her.
“I need for you to see the worst version of me before I can believe that,” I whisper in her ear. My hand travels lower, so my fingertips brush over her ribs and then skim across her stomach.
“Stefano,” I call out to my guard. The one who’s been eye-fucking my girl since the moment he stepped into my home. What I have planned will be a testing lesson for both of them.
He comes down the stairs eagerly and does his best not to stare at the position Riley’s in. Pulling myself away from her body, I take my knife from my belt and tear it through Riley’s cotton shirt, ripping it open and revealing her beautiful tight body to a lustful-looking Stefano.
