AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The softball game.” I smile at her reaction, the way she stiffens like someone punched her in the mouth. Oh, yes, she’s been thinking about that all these years. “Even if I hadn’t knocked you down, I would’ve been safe.”
“What is wrong with you?” she asks, her breath a whisper. “Why would you bring that up? I haven’t seen you inseven yearsand the first thing you do is remind me about that stupid game?”
“I’ve thought about it a lot since then.”
“I haven’t.”
“Liar.” I laugh, genuinely excited. This is much better than I expected. She’s angry, defiant, and so scared. “I bet nobody’s ever spoken to you like that in your entire life. I bet nobody’s done it since either. I bet men tip-toe around you, afraid to touch you, afraid to hurt you, like you’re some lovely glass statue in a very nice museum. I bet you’ve been treated like you’re a porcelain doll since the day you were born.” I lean closer, heart racing. “I bet you liked it when I hurt you and shoved your face in the dirt and talked to you like you’re just another girl.”
Her face twists into disgust. “Is that how you talk to women, Carmine?”
“Only when they earn it.”
“I don’t think Iearnedany of that, much less deserved it. You embarrassed me. You hurt me for absolutely no reason. No—” She talks over me before I can reply. “You did it because you hate that I come from a family like this. Tell me it isn’t true. And now you want to marry me to gain access to that exact same family because, like everyone else from your little world, you’re a hypocrite.”
I lean back, amused. “I don’t hate you at all. I’ve barely thought about you until your father got arrested and I saw an opportunity.”
“Then why in the world would youeverwant to marry me? If you really don’t care—then why bother? Take the company, but why me?”
The question hangs in the air. Her hands rub at her knees and she’s doing everything in her power to maintain control.
I want to see her break.
Brice waltzes through the world like everything is sugar and fairies, and she’s probably treated like a princess.
I want her to taste what life is like for everyone else.
For us peasants down here on the ground, toiling in the mud.
The world isn’t anything like this room: comfortable, light, airy, expensive, perfectly tailored to meet her every need.
The world isn’t beautiful and soft and gentle.
I figured this out at a very young age, too damn young.
The world is hard and mean and disgusting.
The world is grimy and gross.
The world is pain and suffering.
Brice doesn’t know a damn thing about any of that, but I want to teach her.
I say softly, “In my line of work, family is everything. I think you can understand that.” She doesn’t contradict me and I continue. “When my father passed and I took control of my organization, I was the youngest to ever grab onto power. But there’s no heir anymore. There’s nobody but a bunch of squabbling uncles and power-hungry cousins. I need a wife and I need children if I’m going to hold onto control, especially as I start to transition into new investment opportunities.”
“And one of those opportunities is Rowe Oil?”
“Among others, yes. The world is changing, but oil isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In the meantime, I plan on making the Scavo family powerful on the embers of a dying industry, and I’m going to use your company as the first step in that direction. But more than that, I need access to people and places I never could reach on my own. That’s why I need to marry you, Brice. I don’twantanything to do with your family, but I need it anyway.”
“You need my name.”
“And your body. And your children.” I smile when she flinches. “Don’t act like it’ll be so unpleasant.”
“I know what sort of man you are and can imagine what you might enjoy, and I don’t think I’ll like it.”
I lean forward, staring into her eyes. “You don’t have any clue what you’ll like,filthy girl.”
That finally gets to her. She stands abruptly, nearly knocking over the tea set, and walks away from the couches. “I can’t do this.”
