CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
“Because you dying while you carry my name is an insult to me and my capabilities.” Her expression faltered for half a second. I leaned closer, lowering my voice. “I don’t want anyone questioning whether I’m weak or whether I couldn’t protect my own wife. I’m a man with a reputation, Serafina.”
Her mouth twisted bitterly. “I thought you didn’t care about your reputation, Reaper.”
“It matters when it comes to you.”
“How cute, husband,” she drawled, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I almost believed you truly cared for my well-being."
“Keeping you alive is business. I’m merely keeping my end of the bargain.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I knew they weren’t even close to the truth. It was complete bullshit. Because ‘business’ didn’t explain why I’d crossed borders for her in the first place. It didn’t explain why the thought of finding her dead made the blood in my veins go cold.
My lungs clenched at the image of her, eyes open, staring into nothing, a pool of blood under her cold body.
Fuck me, this woman was driving me utterly insane.
I had enough of this goddamn back and forth.
Serafina wasn’t as untouchable as she believed herself to be. I was a whole foot taller than her. Twice her size. Much stronger than her in all the ways it mattered.
If I wanted to, I could throw her over my shoulders, carry her out of this supermarket, put her in a car, and have her back home before she could even protest.
I’d keep her locked in our room, where she would be safe. Where she belonged.
In my bed. Waiting for me like a good fucking girl she was going to be.
The thought sent dark, primal pleasure through my veins, my blood heating.
“There we go,” she said, watching me with a bitter smile. “The goading truth. I’ve always been just a pawn to you and our families.”
“Serafina—”
She took a step closer before I could finish and pointed at me.
“That was in the past,” she said, lips curling with fury and hatred.
She jabbed her finger in my chest and held it there.
“I won’t let you use me.” Another jab. “I won’t be a pawn to our families, and I’m not a broodmare.
I’m meant to do a lot more with my life, and you won’t stand in my way. ”
I looked down at her finger pressed into my chest and then back at her. Her eyes burned into mine. “And what exactly is it you want to do with your life?”
“I have a list.”
I raised an eyebrow in question. “A list?”
“Of people I need to kill.” She lifted her chin in a haughty way, trying to make herself look calm and composed. In control.
“And I’m the first on it.”
Her lips curved with a smile. The sweetest smile she could muster, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Yet, here you are.” She pulled her hand away. “Trust me, husband… I’m working on it.”
“So what, Serafina?” My voice lowered as I brought my face closer to hers, my breath fanning against her cheek. “The daughter of Santino Morelli, the wife of Adrian Salvatore, is a killer now? What could you possibly know about killing people?”
“You’re right, I don’t know anything about killing people, but I do know that those who have wronged me deserve to die, and I will find a way to end them.”
One way or another… I heard the words she didn’t utter.
I studied the woman standing in front of me.
My wife.
The daughter of a powerful man.
She was brought up to be docile. Obedient and compliant. A woman who knew her place and never questioned what was asked of her.
But Serafina was becoming something else.
Something far more dangerous than the frightened, broken girl I had once thought I understood.
I married a ticking time bomb.
I was going to have my hands full keeping my reckless wife alive.
“Ah, you believe yourself to be the deliverer of justice,” I murmured.
“Your condescending attitude is not attractive, Adrian.”
“None of that matters now, Serafina. I was giving you space before, but space is a luxury neither of us can afford anymore. You need to come back home. We need to go back.” I straightened, letting my gaze sweep briefly over the supermarket around us.
People moved through the aisles. Families shopped.
Children whined. A cashier laughed somewhere near the front.
None of them were the man hunting my wife. “Your world trip is over, Princess.”
Her expression immediately darkened, and she shook her head. “Here is the thing that you’re finding hard to understand. You don’t control what I do anymore. And my world trip is over when I say it’s over.”
She pushed her cart forward, and I stepped in her way. She paused and stared at me blankly, waiting for me to move, but I didn’t. Her hands tightened around the handle, and she shoved the cart hard. It slammed into my shin.
Pain shot up my leg, and I hissed under my breath.
Serafina didn’t even bother pretending to be sorry. She rolled her eyes and pushed the cart past me. “Get out of my way, Adrian.”
I watched her walk away, with the arrogant tilt of her chin and the gentle sway of her hips. Only Serafina could simply dismiss me and continue shopping while an assassin stalked her through Lisbon.
My wife was stubborn.
That was fine.
I knew how to deal with a stubborn, scorned woman.
I watched her disappear around the next aisle.
A slow smile pulled at my mouth—challenge accepted