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“I have a place in town-”
“Of course, you do,” she laughed darkly. “I mean, it’s not like you’d be the first Made Man to have a secret fuck pad that his wife doesn’t know about.”
“Since you keep bringing up my past, I’ll have you know that no other woman has ever stepped foot in any of my homes,” I informed her, my voice hard, mypatience running thin. “I have enough money to afford any hotel room in the city if the lady in question prefers privacy.” I eyed her angrily. “However, you’d be surprised by how many women are okay with flipping their skirts up by an alley dumpster when they think that they can get something out of it.”
“Spoken like a true misogynist,” she replied evenly.
“Make up your mind, Kasen,” I bit out. “Either I love women so much that I’m fucking them all, or else I hate women enough not to give a fuck about them; which is it?”
Instead of answering the question, she said, “I’m tired. I need to take a shower, then get some sleep. Are we done here?”
“No, we’re not,” I answered honestly. “However, I’m very aware that you have court tomorrow, so we can finish this discussion another time.”
“How magnanimous of you,” shedeadpanned, and it was clear that this couldn’t continue for much longer.
“Do whatever you have to in order to clear your calendar for this weekend, because you and I are going to come to an understanding about this marriage once and for all,” I ordered.
Herchin came up another fraction. “Whatever you say, Mr. Sartori.”
“My name is Nero,” I snapped. “Use it.”
“As soon as you stop calling me that other thing, I will,” she retorted, clearly lying again.
“That’s not going to happen,il mio cuore.”
Chapter 18
Kasen~
It was finally Friday, and while I had no desire to fight with Nero all weekend, I was finally glad that court was over, my client had been found innocent, and the senior partners atMilton had another reason not to fire me. Yeah, I had my trust fund, but that wasn’t the route that I wanted to use in life.
So, after leaving the office early, instead of going home to have dinner with Nero, I was at my parents’ house, having dinner withthem. Rafael was dutifully waiting outside in the car, and if I were a better person, I would have invited him inside to join us. However, I was still trying to take a stand against what had happened to me, so my behavior was still rude and bratty, something that I knew couldn’t go on forever. In fact, I didn’twantit to go on forever. I didn’t want a miserable life. I knew what it felt like to be happy, and Nero could have no idea how right he’d been when he had asked me if my attitude was exhausting.
After lying through the skin of my teeth, my father said, “Well, I’m glad to hear that you are doing well, Kasen. While Nero is a man of his word, I have to admit to being…concerned that he might be taking his displeasure out on you.”
“Everything’s fine, Papa,” I lied. “Honestly, we both work so much that I’ve hardly seen him all week. I had court, and Nero…well, Nero has a lot on his plate.”
Papa nodded. “Indeed, he does.”
“You know, I thought you would have come to check on your sister way before now, Kasen,” my mother sniffed, and I felt overwhelmed by how much anger I had in me. Everyone was treating me like I was in the wrong somehow, and that had me extremely flummoxed.
“Really?” I asked, setting my fork down. “Because I don’t have any missed callsor messages from her, askingmehowI’mdoing after what happened.”
Mammi bristled. “You’re not the one that lost someone dear to them.”
“No, you’re right,” I replied, not disguising the snark in my voice. “I’mjust the person that was put in the horrible position of having to marry a total stranger to save my family.”
“I didn’trealize that helping your family was such a sacrifice-”
“Enough,” Papa snapped, glaring at my mother. “Kasen is not to blame for Fia’s theatrics.” My mother immediately looked back down at her plate. “I will hear no more of it, Sonya.”
Not wanting to be inthe middle of their favoritism, I asked, “Where is Fia? I think now is a good time to go check on her.”
“She’s hiding up in her room,” Papa grumbled. “She’s been sulking up there all week.”
Standing up from the table, most of my food untouched, I excusedmyself from this uncomfortable situation. “Dinner was wonderful as always,” I semi-lied. “Thank you.” I looked between my parents. “I’m going to go check on Fia.”
Not waiting for permission, I headed upstairs to go check on my sister. Where it was true that Fia also hadn’t bothered to check on me, I wanted to be the better person here. Even though Fia and I had both been witnesses to Papa’s fury, I hadn’t been the one in love with Mano. I hadn’t lost the man that I’d wanted to marry. I also wasn’t the one pregnant by him.
