AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I rushed up the stairs. God, I hated that he’d touch her with the same hands he touched me with, hated how he made me feel. I hated myself because I hated that I still wanted his hands on me. I wanted the weight of his body between my thighs, wanted to feel him inside me. Even knowing he wanted her, I still wanted him.
I dashed into my room, slammed the door, and leaned against it. Tears slipped onto my cheek. I hated that I’d fallen in love with him.
A breeze blew through the open balcony doors. I wiped my cheeks and crossed the room. Romi had taken over the duties of house manager. I hadn’t been consulted on the young girl making my bed earlier. Scents filled the kitchen, a delicious lunch I assumed was cooked by a chef I’d never met.
I’d been in the house twenty-four hours, and Marco had made it clear I would have no authority in my home. The splinter in my soul cracked, splitting me in two. He’d wanted me broken. By bringing his mistress to my wedding, he’d done it.
Crawling onto the bed, I curled into a ball. The only way I’d survive marriage to Marco was turning off my feelings. The hatred in his eyes gutted me. A dark swirling vortex of regrets sucked me under.
I just wanted to sleep forever and spend the rest of my life blissfully ignorant.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. A knock softly rapped against the door. “Ally?”
I blinked sleep from my eyes. “Tim?”
He quietly closed the door. “We need to talk.”
I slid my legs over the side of the bed. “I don’t need another lecture. Don’t ask me about secret friendships, and please don’t tell me that it’s dangerous to cross Marco Bruno.” Silent tears slipped onto my cheek. “I’m fucked, Tim.”
Mafia men take what they want.Marco was willing to take me. He didn’t want me, but he wasn’t going to let anyone else have me either.
Tim squatted on the floor next to the bed. He didn’t touch me, but I found comfort in the silent understanding in his eyes.
“You won’t tell Marco the name of your friend? Fuck, Ally, whoever he is, he’s a prick. He lied to you. I know you. You’d never knowingly run with Irish mafia, so why the fuck are you protecting him?”
“You don’t know me, Tim. We’re friends, and I trust you to protect me and to protect Dee.”
He sighed, braced on his haunches. “I can’t protect you unless I know who the enemy is.”
“I am.” Because there was no one else to blame. Marco needed a target. I was the only one available. “You can’t protect me from myself, and I can’t make Marco trust me.”
And I was done trying. Freedom had an expiration date. This was mine.
Tim stood and slid his hands into his pockets. “I trust you, Ally. I trust you to tell me if you’re in trouble.”
Other than being engaged to a man who made stalkers and serial killers look like playground friends.
“They’re sitting down to lunch. Marco requests you to join them on the patio. I have a job to do.”
I stood and smoothed my hands over the soft pink boho style dress. I should change. Giada and Francesca were stunningly perfect.
“You need to hurry,” he said to me.
“Whatever.” Why did I care? It’s not like Marco would be coming to my bed. He had Francesca. If I was going to fall, I might as well go down in flames.
We strode down the hall. With a hand to my arm, he slowed our descent on the stairs. “You won’t have any allies in this house.” The left side of his mouth quirked. “Except me and Romi. She asked if you’d be hungry. I put in an order for a burger with extra pickles and French fries with ranch.”
Our gazes met. “Don’t get in trouble for me.”
“I have a job to do. I’ll be harsh. I have to follow orders, but you need to know, you have me. You’re the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met. You’re beautiful, determined, and you’re fearless. Don’t let them intimidate you. Don’t let them break you. Not Marco or the two women who would do anything to be you right now.”
Including fuck my husband.
Marco
Stefano sat to my right, he twirled the cherry of his cigarette in the glass ashtray. “Cirillo is putting pressure on Valentino. He found out Lazaro met with a woman in Greece.”
I forced my gaze away from the open doors, waiting for Allegra to appear with Timoteo. “Who?”
