Chapter Sixteen
Roselyn
I need a bottle of whiskey and a lot of patience to deal with Devious. The last two weeks he’s been getting on my last nerve, making me wait on him hand and foot. He hasn’t touched me either, and I don’t ask him why. But it’s odd because I can’t get the way he spanked me out of my mind. I wanted him to stick his dick inside of me while he fucks me good, and I shouldn’t want that from him. He treats me better than my father, but I still want to get away from him. He did keep his word and allowed me to have an iPad and the only thing I can do is draw on it, but that’s it. I tried to log into social media, but it’ll log me back out, so I can’t do anything, really. I should have known that he wasn’t going to allow me to have access to the outside world.
Most days, I barely speak a few words to him, and he locks himself up in his study. Some nights, he’ll wake up screaming at the top of his lungs, and it shakes me to the core, but I don’t ask him about it because I don’t want to be in his business, and I don’t think he will tell me. I told myself that I would try to get along with him, but sometimes, I find myself wondering what happened between him and his previous wife to make him so cold. I still hate him. I hate him for keeping me as his captive and forcing me to marry him in order to pay Father’s debt. Who goes around collecting people as payment for debt?
A few of his underbosses stroll into the manor at odd hours of the night. I’ve seen Papa here a few times, and he doesn’t bother saying anything to me, and I don’t either. As far as I’m concerned, he’s dead to me. Since I’ve married Devious, he has not checked in on my well-being, nor did he try to help me when I called him, but I shouldn’t expect much from him. I was a debt that needed to be paid. And he doesn’t care if Devious is abusing me, otherwise, he would have come to my rescue when I asked him. He’s glad to get rid of me anyways.
I sit on the lounge chair, sipping a Coke and reading a My Hero Academia manga. I’m bored, and there isn’t much I can do. I ran out of inspiration for painting. Binx lies on his bed, sleeping hard. I lean down and stroke his belly as he purrs.
Devious stands next to me with his shirt off, in a pair of workout shorts, studying me like I’m a lab rat. I try to keep my eyes off his chest, but I can’t help it. He smells like fresh soap, and his hair is damp. His eyes are intense, and they travel up my bare legs. Heat creeps up my neck.
Devious isn’t much of a talker. Sometimes, he’s so quiet that I don’t realize he’s even here at the manor. I fold my arms across my chest, wrinkling up my white shirt.
Curiosity gets the best of me, and I want to know more about the man who has a heart that’s as black as night. The man is worse than my worst nightmare.
“Did you grow up here in the States or Italy?”
He places his hand on my thigh, squeezing tight, and my whole body stiffens. “My great-grandfather was the first one to arrive here in America and started the Italian mafia.”
I pick at the dead skin around my finger. “Why don’t you ask anything about me? Are you planning on being a complete stranger to me?”
“I already know everything I need to know about you,” he says.
“You don’t know anything about me.”
Exhaling, he lifts my chin and my gaze locks on his. “You’re a sneaky, reckless, underhanded brat, but your heart is the size of the ocean, and you are nurturing. You’re a pain in my ass, and sometimes I want to fuck the shit out of you.”
Devious is observant but doesn’t let on. You think he’s not paying attention, but he is, and he doesn’t let you know what he knows, so it will put him a step ahead of you. I need to watch what I say in front of him, or else I’ll be digging my own grave.
I playfully punch him in the arm. “Gee, thanks for the compliment,” I say.
“You have a trait that makes you sexy.”
I cock my eyebrow. “Which is?”
“Bravery. No one is brave enough to try to kill me to protect themselves. It made you stupid, but it also makes me think you’re brave. You’re not scared of me, despite what I put you through. No one has tried to kill me, where I spared their life.”
“It’s a lie. I was afraid of you the night of our wedding.”
“Yet, you still went through your plan. Brave.”
I never thought of myself as brave. I thought of myself wanting to be free. I admire the garden with different colorful flowers. The air is humid, but smells sweet. Soldiers are speaking loud near the door located at the end of the manor.
I need to change the subject, so I ask, “What happened to your parents? Why don’t you talk about them?”
“I hate small talk.”
We need to have some kind of relationship so I can earn his trust and try to escape him.
“If we want to make this marriage work, we might as well get to know each other. I’m stuck with you for the rest of my life. The least you can do is answer my questions,” I snap.
He tilts his head to the side, and the wind blows through his perfect hair. I keep my hand in my lap to keep from fixing it.
“This marriage is not real. You’re a business transaction.”
The feeling is mutual. I’ll never fall in love with someone as cold-hearted as him.
“My parents were a piece of shit, and I’m glad there are dead. They didn’t treat Aiden and me well.”
“Is that why you have scars all over your back?”
He nods. “He used to beat me until I was black and blue. Sometimes, I used to wish I would die.”
The sorrow in his eyes breaks my heart and I grab his hand, and squeeze. We’re quiet for a moment and for a split second, I forget why I’m here in the first place. We have something in common, that we were hurt by our parents, me more so by my papa than my mother. My mother used to neglect me sometimes and I still ended up taking care of her. I study his face like a map and he looks like a broken boy who wants a hug. This is too intimate for my liking, so I pull my fingers from his. I hadn’t expected him to tell me the truth.
“My papa slapped me across the face on our wedding day.”
Devious grits his teeth, and his face turns red with anger. “He did what?”
I swallow thickly before responding. “He slapped me and told me to not give you trouble.”
I feel like a little kid telling on a bully.
“He would never hit me when Mother was alive, but ever since she passed away last year, he’s been taking his anger out on me. I thought you were going to do the same thing, like beat me. That I—I would turn out like my mother and be married to a man who beat me to the point it would drive me to suicide.” Tears sting my eyes, and I use the back of my hand to wipe them away.
Devious strokes my cheek. “I would never beat you.” He kisses the top of my forehead, and I freeze like a statue. “I want you to be comfortable here.”
I hadn’t expected Devious to be gentle with me, or these butterflies to swarm in the pit of my stomach.
He stares into my eyes. “I have to deal with Lex for putting his hands on you. “
“What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry about it, Roselyn.”
Silence falls between us, and I hope I didn’t sentence Papa to death.
“Please, don’t kill him,” I blurt out, but Devious only frowns. “Don’t hurt him, please.”
He crouches down, his shorts riding up his thighs. He grips my chin. Sometimes he stares at me like he’s longing for me.
“Don’t ever tell me what to do when it comes to protecting you. I’ll kill anyone who tries to harm you. I’ll burn down this city if it means keeping you safe.”