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“You’re right, I do love you,” I snapped. “When the hellthathappened, I have no idea. But I hate you for it, god damn it. I don’t want to love you, Brute—you or anyone. I’m not ready to settle down and play anyone’s ‘little woman’, and I sure as hell have no interest in giving up the life I’ve been living.”
He shook his head while the muscles in his jaw danced. “If you keep doing stupid shit like this, you won’t be having to worry about living much longer. Dangling yourself out there like bait? You know what can go wrong, God damn it. And if Gabe isn’t aware of the shit that can happen, then maybe it’s time to let him know—”
“Don’t you dare,” I hissed, standing up taller. My hands were shaking. If I was a lesser person, I would have taken a swing at him in that moment. “That’s my choice, Brute. Don’t you dare take it away from me,” I warned him.
He glared back at me, arms crossed, jaw muscles twitching. “Tornadoes and volcanoes,”he’d said, and it appeared he was right. It felt like we were chaos at its finest, waiting to wreak havoc across the earth.
He nodded once.Have it your way,the gesture said loud and clear. Then he stormed out. Out of the office, out of the house. The front door slammed solidly shut behind him, and the roar of his motorcycle engine filled the silence a moment later.
“Looks like the mighty Greta tree has been felled,” Raven said, sticking her dark-haired head into the room, wearing a smirk that really didn’t suit her.
I glared at her, then sighed. “You’re lucky I love you or else I’d kick your ass.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Brute
Usually, when I was pissed off, there was someone around to hit or something fun to set on fire. Somehow, none of that held any appeal at the moment.
I drove around aimlessly, continuing the argument with the woman in my head. The crazy, stubborn woman. It didn’t matter that the plan was precisely the one I would have concocted on my own. It didn’t matter that she was probably right about Domínguez not wanting her dead, at least not right away. What mattered was I—
Oh hell.
What mattered was I wasn’t sure how my world could make sense without her in it, which made absolutely no sense since I’d managed my world just fine for thirty-five years without her.
At some point, I’d turned in the direction of the Luca estate. I pulled up to it now, still not sure what the hell I was planning.
I cut the engine, climbed the stairs, and knocked on the door.
“Is Leo around?” I asked when Rome—one of the Lucas’ men—opened the door.
“Is everything all right,Signor?”he asked, eyeing me a little strangely.
It wasn’t the first time I’d dropped by the Luca estate on my own. It was the first time I’d stopped by at what-the-fuck A.M.
“Everything’s fine, my friend.”
Rome nodded and invited me to wait inside, but I turned down the offer and waited on the front porch while he went in search of Leo.
It was a few minutes before Leo came out, buttoning up his shirt. “Buongiorno, amico,” he said, eyeing the barely-there light on the horizon like he wasn’t quite sure he could call this “daytime” yet.
“We’re going fishing,” I announced.
Leo looked at my bike, then back at me. “Don’t you need fishing gear to go fishing?”
“Not today.”
Leo nodded slowly while barely managing to stifle a grin.
“Are you ready or not?” I asked impatiently. I wasn’t used to feeling this shit, really had no idea what to do with it.
“Why don’t we take my car,” he suggested.
I wasn’t really in the mood for a cage around me, but neither was I in the mood to get up close and cozy with Leo on the back of my bike. “Fine.”
Leo’s brow furrowed, but he grabbed his keys from inside and came back out. Ella was following on his heels this time, eyeing us both curiously.
I reined in my own shit and put on a smile. “I’ll have him back shortly, pretty girl,” I told her.
