Chapter 7
“Red, get the fuck in here,” I ordered as he hurried back into the office, trying to hide his smile the best he could. “Translate what my wife just said to me.”
“Well, for starters, she told you to go play in traffic, you fucking asshole.” I narrowed my eyes at him as he held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, her words, not mine.”
“Next thing.”
“I'll make you choke on that ring,” he translated.
“I’m going to need you to teach me some Russian, Red.” I smiled, always ready to get one up on my new, pain-in-the-ass wife.
“Gladly.” He patted my shoulder with a look I wasn’t quite sure of. “She’s keeping you on your toes, isn’t she?”
“She’s something, that’s for sure.”
“I’m sure you don’t give two shits about my opinion, but I’m going to give it to you anyway.” He lit a cigarette before continuing. “I think she’s good for you, and honestly, I think she’s exactly what you need.”
“You’re right. I don’t give two shits.” I scoffed. “But I think I’ll keep her after I kill her father. It’ll be fun.”
“You think you’ll break her by taking him out, but I think it’ll be the opposite. She’ll set out her own plan. One that involves making you pay. She won’t be a sobbing, broken mess. You and I both know it.”
“You know how much I love a challenge, Red.”
I was about to call the team back into the office when Finn barged in, looking a little dishevelled.
“Boss, I just thought you should know…” He paused, taking in my appearance. “You know you’re bleeding, right?” I looked over my shoulder, noticing the blood that seeped through my shirt, the blood Anastacia had drawn during our heated moment.
“Spit it out, Finn,” I ordered, not caring about how my shirt looked.
“There’s some guy parked at the front gate. He said he’s here for Anastacia,” he responded, pissing me off.
“What guy?!”
Finn clenched his jaw, his eyes narrowing with irritation. "He said his name's Chad," he muttered, his voice tinged with frustration as he matched my own simmering anger.
Chad.
The same fucking Chad that said the house wouldn’t be the same without Anastacia.
Oh, yeah, I found the note he’d written to Ana, in what I bet was his best damn handwriting.
Not that I was snooping or anything when I came across that piece of paper.
It was just sitting there on top of one of her unpacked bags when I had the lock removed earlier.
And now that bastard was here to see her?
Who the hell did he think he was to turn up uninvited and unannounced at my house? !
“The lot of you stay here. We still have shit to deal with.” That wasn’t a request. It was an order.
As I rounded the corner to the foyer area, I saw her heading towards the front door.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” I bellowed as her body stilled at the sound of my voice.
“Out. What’s it to you?” She didn’t turn to look at me. She didn’t hold that much respect for me.
Yet, anyway.
“I’m going to ask you again. Where do you think you’re going?!” I was beyond irritated. She was truly testing my patience.
“I told you—out.” She breathed, remaining calmer than expected.
“Red will take you where you need to go. You don’t go out alone or without one of my men anymore,” I ordered, gaining her attention as she turned around to face me.
“I don’t need a damn chaperone, Lorenzo. I’m a grown ass woman!” she bit back. And there she was. She couldn’t keep that anger hidden for long.
“That wasn’t a request, Anastacia.” I closed the distance between us, pushing her dainty body against the door behind her, the metal biting into her back.
She peeked up through her lashes, challenging me yet again.
“You can send Chad on his merry fucking way and take Red where you need to go.” The way her lips parted and eyes darkened made my cock ache with need.
How was it possible to want to murder her, yet devour her in the space of a couple of seconds?
A soft giggle left her bare lips as I cocked my head to the side, trying to work out what the hell she was laughing at.
“It seems my wife finds something funny. Care to enlighten me?” I whispered, forcing her face closer to my own and causing her to rise up onto her tiptoes.
“Sure, I just think it’s laughable that you think you hold any authority over who my friends are.” She smirked.
“I don’t give a shit, Anastacia. Let him find his own wife to have fun with because it won’t be mine.”
“Is someone jealous?” She questioned, her face one of pure delight and amusement.
“Don’t test me. I’m not in the mood for your games today.” I pressed my hand against the door beside her head. “Take Red where you need to go and tell Chad to fuck off back home.”
“Ask me nicely.”
“I’m not about to stand here and say please so you do as you’re told.” I declared, my voice still tinged with frustration. Although I had managed to steady my breathing a little, the tension in my shoulders revealed I was far from fully composed.
“Then, no, I won’t be asking Red to take me.” Why was she being so damn difficult?!
“You are not going with Charlie,” I snapped, pulling her body into mine as she fit perfectly.
“You mean Chad?” She asked, arching her brow.
“I don’t care if his name’s Tom, Dick, or Harry. You’re not going with him.”
“I am. So either you remove your hands yourself or I’ll remove them in a way I see fit, and it won’t be friendly,” she threatened.
“Ana—”
“No, Lorenzo. I will do as I like. You cannot lock me up in here until I choose to obey. It’ll never work.” Her voice softened as she spoke calmly, trying to get through to me.
I could hear the sound of the engine running outside before the dick who was driving sounded his horn to signal her to hurry up.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned, my voice nowhere near as calm as hers. “I’ve already told you not to test me.”
“Or, what? What are you going to do about it?” She turned her back to me, her ass pressing against me. She knew exactly what she was doing whether she meant to or not.
“Fuck you right here. And let everyone hear you scream the name of the man you belong to.” I watched her face closely as she glanced up at me over her shoulder.
Her pupils dilated a minuscule amount as her lips parted and she swallowed hard.
“Is that what you want, Ana?” I growled against her ear as her breath hitched in her throat, something she tried to hide.
“I have somewhere I need to be.” She sighed.
“Then let someone I trust take you.” I whispered, trying my best to relax.
“I’m not going to keep repeating the same part of this argument.” She groaned with irritation as she pushed my body away from her with her ass. “Goodbye, Lorenzo,” she whispered, ignoring everything I just said as she yanked the door open with force.
“Anastacia, I don’t trust that man,” I roared as she descended the outside steps.
“I don’t need you to trust him,” she shouted back, not caring what I said or thought.
She opened the car door as I screamed her name, only to be ignored. She exchanged a few words with that smug cunt in the front seat before he revved the engine.
“Red!” I shouted, my voice echoing through the hallway
“Want me to follow them?” he asked.
“Yes, do it now. Don’t lose them, and let me know exactly where my troublesome wife needed to go.”
“Already on it.” He nodded before heading to the garage to his car.
After calling the front gate to stall them for just long enough so Red could catch up without being seen, I called her phone a ridiculous number of times.
Voicemail, brilliant.
She really was intending to test my patience, wasn’t she?
“Gino, cancel the meetings outside the house for the day or move them here. I want to be here when she decides to return,” I snapped, sparking up a cigarette.
“Mate, I think you should maybe give her some space when she returns. I’d rather not clean up a bloodbath between you both tonight.”
“With all due respect, Gino, she went against me today. She ignored my word, and you know my word is final,” I seethed. “The only blood you’ll be cleaning up tonight will be hers if she doesn’t start to fucking listen.”
“Lorenzo, you wouldn’t hurt her.” He sounded so sure of himself.
“You have no idea of the things that woman would drive me to.” I sighed.
Of course, I wouldn’t hurt her, but that woman had been here one damn day. She was already driving me to the edge.
“Drink?” He rapidly changed the subject. Good man.
“Drink.” I confirmed as we headed back to the office.
“Things are new and unusual for the both of you right now. You need to try and refrain from losing your shit when she doesn’t do what you want. I know that’ll be hard for you, though,” he teased.
“No, I know that, but she makes it so hard. Why is she so difficult?!”
“Why are you?” He laughed, pouring me a triple whiskey.
He got me there. I was a difficult bastard. I never claimed I wasn’t, but Ana was a whole new kind of difficult. I genuinely thought I had nothing on her.
“Finn, continue calling my wife’s number, would you? She’s clearly ignoring me.”
“About that… She actually left her phone on the side table by the door.” He handed it to me. “My guess is that she wanted to piss you off even more than she already did.”
“Thanks for pointing that out, I wouldn’t have realised that otherwise.” I slammed her phone against my desk, the screen shattering beneath my palm.
“My bad. Sorry, Boss.” Finn smiled sheepishly. He was the youngest of the team, and honestly, he was a good kid. He just needed to think before he spoke.
“It’s alright. Just keep me updated on when she returns.”
I would be waiting for her, ready to show her exactly what happened when she didn’t listen.