CHAPTER 10
Viola looks like she’s ready to go to war when she steps into the living room which has my cock thickening as my heart thumps in my chest. What the fuck is up with the reaction I have to her? Secretly, I was hoping that the longer I spent away from her would mean I would stop having such a visceral reaction to her.
It hasn’t helped.
Looking at her now, my reaction makes me feel like I’m out of control. I hate it because I pride myself on having everything handled.
I have a vision for the future of our family.
I know how we can get there, and I’ve taken steps to make it happen. Including having an eye on the Guidice princess.
Now she comes into the room, and it feels like all the air is sucked out of it.
What the fuck does this all mean?
“I need to speak with you,” Viola practically spits the words and I bristle.
I narrow my eyes at her and bark, “Speak.”
Instead of cowering, like most people would do, she squares her fucking shoulders. I glance over at Massimo to find a look of worry on his face. Marco sits up a little straighter from where he was lounging just moments ago.
I’m not sure if Marco is preparing to jump into whatever is going on here to defend me or Viola. Not knowing is doing something wild to my head. Would he choose a woman, one we don’t really know and the sister of our enemy, over me?
From the devotion in his eyes as he looks at Viola, I think he would.
It pisses me off and makes me want to lash out at him, at Viola, and at Massimo for good measure. Our youngest brother hasn’t hidden how much the woman in front of me, who looks like she is about to spit fire, means to him.
Could I lose everything I’ve been working toward because of a woman?
It wouldn’t be the first time that some pussy has led to destruction.
Viola’s words cut like ice before they sear through my mind, “Did you sell guns to Juan Martinez?”
I take a step toward the woman who has the audacity to question me and my business, my fists clenching at my sides. I’m fucking furious and the way I snarl the words makes it very clear, “Who the fuck do you think you are to come into my home and question me?”
“Martinez is scum,” she’s practically seething.
If her attitude wasn’t directed at me, I might think it’s sexy as fuck, but since it is, it only makes the rage inside of me grow. But she’s not done.
“I knew you wanted to make a name for yourself in the city, but do you really think getting into bed with Martinez is the way?” She shakes her head with her words as if she’s disappointed in me.
“Really? We already got in bed with you, princess,” I grit out through my teeth.
Viola’s eyes widen and her breath hitches before her cheeks turn pink. Massimo moves to take a step toward her, but she glares at him over her shoulder, and I throw him a look full of warning. He doesn’t move, but I can see the struggle in his eyes.
“Yes, you did,” Viola’s voice is sickly sweet, and it has alarm bells going off in my head. “But we’re not talking about our little tryst,” she sneers. “We’re talking about doing business with a man who has no morality and who doesn’t understand there are lines you don’t cross and business you don’t do.” She narrows her eyes, the challenge clear. “Is that the kind of man you are? Is that the kind of business you want to do?”
I throw the words at her, “What would you know about the kind of business being done in this city?”
“I know more than you, apparently,” disgust rolls off her words, “want to give me credit for.” She tosses her dark, luxurious hair over her shoulder. “I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve been looked down on my entire life because I’m a woman. You shouldn’t underestimate a Guidice, regardless of their gender.”
I arch an eyebrow at her and try to cool the unmitigated rage inside of me. I hate that she’s standing here, in my home, questioning me as if she has a right to do so. I might have buried my cock in her, and I might not be able to get her out of my head, but this sure as fuck isn’t her place.
The smile I feel stretch across my face is sinister as I take a step forward to close the distance between us. “You’re just a little girl who thinks you should be able to play with the big boys, but you’ve been sheltered your entire life, Viola,” I say her name with hatred.
It gives me little satisfaction when she flinches, but the small bit it does give me is what I latch onto.
“Mr. Martinez’s money is just as good as anyone else’s,” I try and justify my actions. The tone of my voice is almost believable even though Viola is picking apart the reasons for my own uncertainty over business with Martinez. “How the fuck did you even hear about the deal?”
Viola shakes her head at me and swallows hard. “I know because Dante knows and he’s increasing my security because of your little deal. Arming a man like Martinez is bad business, no matter how much money he has. He will do bad things with the goods you’ve sold him. He won’t care where those guns end up. He won’t care what they are used to further. He is the worst of the criminal underworld.” She tilts her head to the side as she studies me. “But you already knew that. Didn’t you?”
“I did,” I intone.
“You just didn’t care. Or you were so blinded by your own need for power and misplaced vengeance to find a different buyer?”
I throw my head back and laugh, the sound sinister and inky as it fills up the room around us. Viola flinches back as I take another step forward. I both hate and love the fear which flashes in her eyes. She should be scared of me.
She thinks she means more to me than she does. I’ll make sure to clear up any confusion.
“You think you can come into my home and question me about my business?” I curl my lip in disgust as I look her up and down. While I’m thinking about how beautiful she was naked and writhing on my cock, she’ll be assuming that I’m looking at her like a whore. Maybe I am. “You were always just a means to an end, Miss Guidice. Having you in our pocket gives us power and an in to the family that has kept ours down for far too long. Not just my family either. The Guidice family has been at the top in this city, but how long do you really think you can keep hold of that power?”
When I look into Viola’s dark eyes, they glisten with unshed tears and a tear rips through my soul.
“Just a means to an end,” she echoes.
Marco jumps up but I cut him a look that has him freezing. Massimo makes a pained sound, but I don’t think Viola hears it at all as she stares at me.
“You were always just going to be used by us. You showing up in Club Sin when you did only changed how we did it.” I smirk at her. “How do you think your brother would react to know our cum has bathed your womb?”
Viola rears back as if I’ve slapped her before she takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Her lips part, but she closes her mouth and they thin. I can see the anger and hurt in her eyes.
I don’t like it, but it also feeds something dark inside of me.
“You were just a little whore to be played with,” the words sound cool, but they feel like fire on my tongue. I look her over again. “A pretty little whore, but still,” I let the rest of my words trail off.
Not because I can’t say them again, but because I don’t need to.
I saw every single syllable land like daggers to her heart.
Viola stands a little taller as she stares into my eyes for a heartbeat before her gaze shifts over to Marco. When she turns on her heels, there’s a moment when she looks at Massimo. His hands twitch as if he wants to reach for her, but I know he won’t. Not after what I’ve just said and the way I implied they were all in on the plan.
They were, to an extent, but that doesn’t mean they agreed with it.
Viola glides out of our home with grace and dignity which I can’t help but admire. She doesn’t look back. She doesn’t even slam the door.
When she’s gone, my shoulders slump. Before I can react to it, Massimo steps up to me and he punches my jaw. I stumble back a step, my eyes going wide.
It feels like I’ve woken up from some sort of rage haze as the world comes into full focus around me again. I even have a moment when I look at the spot where Viola was just standing expecting her to still be there.
My youngest brother’s voice is full of barely contained violence, “How fucking dare you, Mateo. How could you do that? To her? To us?”
The last few minutes rush back into my consciousness, but it almost feels like it was a dream. “She had to know,” the words sound and taste like a lie.
“No, she didn’t,” Marco’s voice is sad, and I turn slightly to look at him. “Our plans could have changed.” He stares into my eyes, and I almost want to take a step back from the betrayal I see there. “You could have changed,” he challenges.
“The Guidice family is not the only people who will have the same opinion of us because we did business with Martinez. You knew it and you still did it,” Massimo sounds resigned.
Our youngest brother has always been the glue holding us together. He has always been our conscience and our heart. Right now, he looks shattered and I’m not sure how to put him back together again.
Well, I do, but I’ve always been too proud to apologize, especially when I know I’ve done wrong. I can spin almost anything to my advantage.
But can I spin this?
Can I make this okay?
Where would I even start?
The memory of Viola’s eyes and the pain deep inside of her brown depths make me think it’ll be impossible to change the course I just put us on.
Marco bumps my shoulder with his as he moves past me. The look he shoots me is vacant and without the humor I normally see there. It’s a look which has me swallowing hard.
“I didn’t like her coming into our home and challenging me on my business decisions,” my excuse sounds weak, even to my ears.
“You should have given her more credit. She’s not some stupid woman who doesn’t know the first thing about this life. If doing the deal with Martinez has her questioning who we are, she won’t be the only one.” Massimo sighs and then sits down on the couch as if his legs are no longer strong enough to hold himself up.
I call out to Marco as he reaches the door, “Where are you going?”
“To find our heart,” he calls over his shoulder right before the door slams shut.
His words ring in my ears and the depth of what I’ve just done makes me feel like I’m drowning at the bottom of an endless cavern. Our heart.
That’s exactly what she is, and I just flayed her open. I don’t even have a good reason other than not wanting to be questioned.
What kind of man have I become? Is there any hope for me in this life?
Will she ever forgive me, and do I even have the strength to ask?