Chapter 7 #3
“I know why,” he mutters, almost to himself. “Carlo knows about Carmen’s dirty little secret too.”
I’m so desperate that I don’t even ask what he means. “Please, let me go now.”
He ignores my plea completely. “One last question, the most important one. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
What am I supposed to say? That I’m still madly in love with you? That I protected you even if it meant my own death?
“Answer me, Lucia. You didn’t know Carlo wouldn’t touch you. Why didn’t you speak up? Why didn’t you turn me in?”
I press my lips together, my mind failing to come up with anything coherent. His exasperated sigh fills the room as his hand moves to his belt. He unbuckles the metal clasp and, in one move, pulls the leather strap free.
The sound of his belt sliding free sends pure panic surging through me.
“I was terrified he’d kill me,” I blurt out.
As his hand stills on the button of his pants, he gives me a suspicious look.
I do my best to sound convincing. “I didn’t think he’d believe me. I thought he’d kill me before even asking for an explanation.”
“But by the end of the night, he would’ve figured out someone had already pierced you,” he says bluntly. God, I just want to vanish into thin air.
My flushing in silence doesn’t sit well with him. “Ten seconds,” he warns. “Give me a real answer or I take my pants off. And I won’t leave until I’ve had you. Understand?”
I swallow my shame and try to sell him the excuse I just made up.
“It…it doesn’t always bleed much. I thought… maybe he wouldn’t notice.”
I can’t bring myself to meet his gaze—partly from shame, partly from fear that he’ll see through the lie I just told. A lie that he seems to believe. He unties my wrists. The second I’m free, I scramble up and clutch the blanket around me.
He walks over to his jacket, pulls out a cigarette, and lights it with a practiced flick.
The scent of tobacco fills the room as he takes a deep drag, then rubs his chin thoughtfully.
I remain curled in the corner of the bed, clutching the blanket around me, waiting for this confrontation to be over.
I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Tony Bruni is here, smoking a cigarette in my room while he’s bare-chested.
He smokes the cigarette down to the filter, then crushes it into the metal candleholder on my desk. Turning back, he comes to sit beside me on the bed, keeping a calculated distance, leaning against the headboard. His long legs stretch out across the purple sheets like he’s completely at ease.
I don’t dare look at him. My damp eyes stay fixed on the blanket, but still, his presence gets to me.
“You’re a fool if you think you can get away with this,” he says flatly. “Carlo would never buy that excuse. Do you understand?”
I still don’t look at him. “There’s nothing I can do except hope.”
“There’s no hope, you naive girl. You wouldn’t have survived that night. No blood means no explanation. Do you get it?”
The mere thought makes my skin crawl. A tear escapes and trails down my cheek. When his warm hand lands gently on my arm, I jerk away, but he pulls me back with surprising softness.
“Come here,” he murmurs softly.
The spell of his voice eases my taut muscles as he gently pulls me closer, resting my head against his chest. The heat of his body against my cheek only makes me tense up again, and I pull the blanket even higher. He grabs a strand of my hair, brings it to his nose, and inhales its scent.
“You were promised to me when your mother was pregnant with you. Did you know that?”
“No,” I breathe, my voice barely audible.
“You were. But your father went back on his word. He claimed the agreement with my father was that his daughter would marry the next capo.” His voice turns bitter. “That greedy bastard.”
He starts to caress my shoulder blade with the tips of his fingers.
His touch is warm, but it sends a chill through me.
“Before your engagement was announced, you didn’t even cross my mind.
You didn’t exist for me. But after that.
.. after Carlo took yet another thing that should’ve been mine, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. That’s why that night happened.”
He pauses for a brief second, his voice becoming firm again. “I can’t claim that being sober would’ve stopped me. I know that even sober, if I’d found you in that state, I would’ve taken you. I would’ve made you mine, just to grind Carlo’s pride into the dirt.”
My entire body snaps to high alert. I shiver as a cold mix of fear and dread crawls over my skin. His hand glides down my back, caressing me with a gentleness that drives me insane, while his voice stays deadly.
“Yeah, that’s the kind of man I am. And unfortunately for you, the only thing on my mind right now is finishing what I started.”
I jolt upright, trying to scramble away. Before I can move, he slams me back down onto the bed. His hands trap my wrists against the sheets as he leans over me, his voice a menacing growl,
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, Lucia. Whether you want it or not, it’s happening.”
A sob rips from me.
“Why?” I choke through my tears. “Why do you want to make me even more miserable than I already am?”
He presses his forehead to mine, breath ragged, eyes wild with something dark. “Because I’ve thought about you so much, you’ve become an obsession. A goal I need to conquer. A summit I have to claim.”
He lifts his head slightly. “This isn’t about Carlo anymore. It’s about me. I need to have you completely, so I can finally get you out of my system.”
“What do you think I am? A prostitute?” I scream, voice cracking. “You talk about me like I’m nothing!”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” he murmurs, freshly shaven cheek brushing mine. “This has nothing to do with you or Carlo. It’s all about me.”
I turn my face away from him, protesting through tears. “But I don’t want this!”
He holds my jaw, fixing his evil gaze on me once more. “Doesn’t matter.”
“He’ll kill me! Don’t you get it?”
“You’re as good as dead anyway. Might as well have a little thrill before you go.”
I pull my chin free. “I won’t betray my husband. He trusts me.”
“He doesn’t trust you. He’s abandoned you, left you to rot.
He couldn’t care less what happens to you.
Even if someone finds you tomorrow with your throat slit in bed, he won’t bother looking for your killer, let alone punishing them.
All you’d be is another headstone in the graveyard of his dead wives.
Face it, girl—you mean nothing to anyone. ”
Damn it. Damn it. Even though I already know this, hearing it from him is a dagger to the heart.
“You’ll never have me. Not willingly,” I say it straight to his arrogant face, unafraid of the consequences.
He nuzzles my cheek, his voice a soft murmur. “The hard way or the easy way, you’ll be mine in the end.”
Heat pours off his body, burning me. Lust has completely taken over his eyes. He’s like a starving lion, focused only on his prey.
His grip on my wrists loosens, and his hand glides down the length of my forearm. Lowering his head, he buries his face in the curve of my neck, pressing a soft kiss against my skin. When his touch trails past my collarbone and down to my chest, a broken whimper escapes me.
“How can you do this to me again?” My voice breaks. “Do you even realize how much pain you caused me last time?”
In an instant, everything he was doing stops. His head snaps up from my neck like he’s been shocked, and he looks at me.
“Did I hurt you that badly?” There is honest concern in his voice.
I nod. “It wasn’t just the physical pain. You took me as if I were some worthless woman.”
He squeezes his eyes shut. “I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. I didn’t even realize it was you.”
“Exactly. You thought I was just one of the women who throw themselves at you. That’s how you took me. You made me feel disgusting.”
I can’t read anything from his expression, but I hope he’ll back down. Turns out it’s a foolish hope.
His hand brushes through my hair in a soothing gesture, as if to comfort me. “This time, everything will be different.”
He rises from my body and steps off the bed, crossing the room. The lights go out, plunging us into near darkness, but then he switches on a small bedside lamp, casting the room in an eerie red glow. Of course. He even planned the lighting beforehand.
Tears spill down my cheeks again. There’s no escape.
He stands at the side of the bed, slipping a hand into his pocket. He pulls something out, clutching it in his fist, then removes his pants, leaving him in just his boxers.
As he climbs back onto the bed and looms over me, I yank the blanket up higher. “Don’t do this, Tony. Please…”
My eyes are shut when I hear his low whisper beside my ear. “Shh, shh. Don’t be scared. We’ll do this my way, and if you don’t want me, I’ll leave. I’ll go back to where I came from. Okay?”
My lungs loosen, and the air flows in and out more easily. I see a glimmer of light in this darkness. Does he mean it? If I don’t want him, will this torment finally end? Will he leave my life forever?
I look into his eyes, gleaming under the soft red glow of the lamp.
“Do you promise?” I ask.
“I promise.”
“If I don’t want you, you’ll leave?” I check again.
He nods, his voice steady and assured. “I’ll leave immediately.”
I watch him for a moment, then slowly nod my head.
He takes my left hand, slides the diamond wedding ring off my finger, and tosses it carelessly onto the floor.
His arm snakes around my waist, and in a blink, he lifts me off the bed as if I weigh nothing, then sets me down gently on my feet.
After that, he walks toward the wardrobe and returns with a silk robe in a striking shade of fuchsia, holding it out to me like an offering.