30. Victoria
30
VICTORIA
Wednesday, September 18, 10:30 PM
Everything is a blur. I don’t know how to start bringing the world back into focus.
Liam scared the shit out of me tonight. His vile words, his horrific promises of what he planned to do to me still ring in my ears, underscored by the throbbing headache behind my eyes.
He’s pissed.
Pissed I didn’t marry him.
Pissed he lost his golden ticket.
Pissed I married his uncle instead.
When you list it out like that, it definitely sounds shitty. Except that I broke up with Liam before I realized how much Liam was depending on my money. It’s not my fault Liam couldn’t read the room or accept my no. Not that I would have stuck by him just to bail him out of his dad’s debt.
Needless to say, his frenzied effort to lay hands on me tonight only confirms that he’s desperate and more than ready to do something unforgiveable. I’m terrified. Tonight felt like a scene out of The Shining and I have no idea what Liam will try next. School isn’t safe anymore, even though it’s always been my refuge. A way to escape my parents and build my own life. Thronewood University represented hope to me, the chance to achieve something for myself that I could be proud of.
Liam doesn’t trust his uncle, and it’s clear he still sees my trust fund as the answer to his little mob problem.
I’m the key to all the money he needs.
“Sit down, princess,” Dante orders, ushering me into a small apartment. I don’t really know where we are. I’ve been numb ever since Dante picked me up at the campus gate, following each of his instructions mindlessly. I got lucky—Ellie picked up on the first ring, even though she was mid-kiss fest with Billy, the star linebacker she’d dragged me to see play…God, that game feels like a lifetime ago. Billy gets my gold-star of approval since he didn’t hesitate to storm my building, Ellie on his heels, to chase Liam away. He even walked me out to meet my husband, assuring Dante that Liam didn’t get a chance to touch me.
I owe Billy more than a murmured thanks. And I owe Ellie more answers. No more secrets.
I’ll tell her everything the first chance I get.
Whenever that will be.
Finding a small gray sectional tucked in a corner, I slowly plop down and watch Dante move through the space.
I have no idea what he’s doing or why. I’m not sure whose place this is or why we didn’t just go to another hotel. But as long as Dante stays close, I think I have a shot at relaxing enough to get my shaking body under control.
I slowly become aware of Dante looming over me before he drops to his haunches, bringing us eye-to-eye. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
My brows furrow a bit because it’s not his fault. I don’t blame him. “It’s okay?—”
“What did he say? Has he been harassing you?”
Kinda.
“He—um, sent me some messages about how I fucked everything up. That he was going to take care of me.”
“He was not going to take care of you, Victoria,” Dante argues, as if I don’t already know that. “He’s a damn?—”
“I don’t want to talk about him. Can I stay here tonight? I’ll go back to campus tomorrow?—”
“You’re staying here with me,” he replies simply, frowning. “You’re not going back to that dorm room, not to live. You can still go to classes—maybe—but we’re not giving him the chance to pull that kind of shit again.”
My eyes scan the room, finding nothing on the walls but off-white paint. The only piece of furniture beyond the couch I’m sitting on is a large flat-screen TV directly across from me.
No other chairs, no coat rack, no coffee table, nothing. As if he just moved in yesterday.
“I can’t stay here.”
“You’re staying here,” Dante retorts, rising to his feet to stand to his full height. “And we’re done having this conversation.”
I know I don’t have my mother to answer to anymore, but I still have Ellie. “But, Ellie… She’s my best friend, my roommate. I can’t just disap?—”
“She’s packing your shit up right now. She’ll bring it by soon.”
“Is this…” I swallow under his intense stare, already feeling like a burden and a chore. “Um, I can sleep on the couch. I don’t want to get in your way.”
Dante’s frown deepens. “You’re my wife.”
So?
If I was his real wife, if he actually loved me, he wouldn’t have been ignoring me for the better part of a week.
“I can cook,” I offer up quickly. It’ll be one less thing for him to do, something he may come to need me for. “I can also clean.”
“The princess can cook and clean?” He quirks a brow, and I scowl at him before he chuckles. “Okay then, Cinderella, sounds good.” Dante holds his hand out to me, and I take it without hesitation as he pulls me to stand in front of him. I expect him to let go once I’m upright, but he doesn’t, holding on and keeping me close so that I have to lean my head back to meet his eyes. “You’ll need to tell me what he said.”
I don’t want to.
But I understand that Dante needs all the information if he’s going to protect me on top of dealing with Angelo.
“Okay.”
Dante nods and leads me toward the hallway before coming to an abrupt stop. I nearly bump into him, but he spins to face me and catches me by my elbows before I can really lose my balance.
“Did he hurt you? Do you need me to take you to the doctor or?—”
“I’m okay, I swear. Billy already told you.”
“You look like a beautiful wreck, princess. I can see it in your eyes.”
I feel like a wreck. But when Dante says it, all soft and throaty, I don’t feel like a puffy-eyed train accident.
“He scared me.”
“I know.” His eyes glimmer with what might be regret, and I reach out to stroke his hip in reassurance.
“I promise, I’m alright. Just a bit shaken up. It’ll pass.”
“I don’t want you to be scared to go to school.”
It would be a lie to deny it, but I refuse to let Liam mess with my education. And I’m not about to drop out after Dante paid for my semester at Thronewood. Although I could shift focus, putting all my energy into my culinary classes at Graham, maybe pick up some business classes there, and never worry about running into Liam again. It’s a little too tempting.
But I don’t want Liam to win.
“I’ve dodged him before,” I quip. “I can keep?—”
“What do you mean ‘before’?” he growls. “Has he been following you? Why didn’t you tell me?—”
“I didn’t want to bother you—” Dante’s grip on me tightens and I gasp at the intense look on his face.
“You’re my responsibility, Victoria.”
“It’s Vee.”
“Victoria,” he grinds out. Maybe he thinks my nickname is too childish, or maybe he just doesn’t want to use the same name for me his nephew did. “You’re dropping out.”
My whole face twists in a scowl because, again, I refuse to let Liam affect my life just because he can’t accept that he lost. “No. I won’t give up?—”
“You’re enrolled in a different school for your culinary classes, yes?”
“Yes, but?—”
“Then it’s done.”
I rip myself out of his grip and glare daggers at him. “I said no. I agreed to be your wife so you could help me get out of this mess. Not so you could boss me around.”
“Consider yourself bossed,” Dante quips. “Because I need you safe. And my fucking nephew?—”
“Is an entitled prick, but I’m not trying to waste your money. Dropping out of Thronewood will just put me behind.”
“You’re not going to graduate from Thronewood, princess. Or Graham, for that matter. When I take down Angelo, we’re leaving the States.”
“I—”
“Don’t worry about it,” he dismisses, waving a hand as if to erase the words from the air. “Go take a shower. I’ll make you a sandwich while we wait for Ellie to swing by.”
“No, we’re going to talk about this now.”
He lifts a brow. “Only if you’re ready to tell me what Liam said to you.”
“That’s not the same. I won’t be safe without you. Going after Angelo is too risky. You can’t run off to do crazy shit and keep me in the dark. I deserve to know what’s happening.”
“I’m not new to this, Victoria. I’ve got some experience being a mobster.”
“But you had a mob behind you. You’ve never done this as a solo act.”
Dante’s jaw clenches and he breaks my stare. “Go clean up.”
Another order.
Yeah, this whole moving-in with him thing is going to be a blast.