Vow to Protect

“Now that I have your attention, we’re going to talk.”

He swallows loud enough for me to hear it. “Ab-About what?”

“You may be a slimy asshole, but I don’t think you’re stupid. You know I’m here to talk about Valentina. My wife.”

I watch his face shift as he takes in my words, and his fear turns to rage. “She was mine first. She belongs to me.”

“I think Valentina would have something to say about that. She agreed to marry me in exchange for me killing you. And as you know, I never go back on my word.”

His beady eyes narrow, and a lock of dirty hair falls across his forehead. “We can make a new deal. You keep her, don’t kill me, and I’ll find another wife. We can call it even. I lost something. You gained something…”

This fucker is actually trying to bargain with Valentina’s life as if he has any say in it. The air around me sizzles, red-hot rage pumping deep in my veins. I shift in the chair, stand, and then slam my fist into his gut as hard as I can.

He wheezes out a breath and hunches over. I take my seat again, crossing my legs, and wait until he sits back up again. I let my rage fester, swallowing it down. I’m going to take my time and drag things out. It takes several minutes, but I have all day and night even to get this done.

“Tell me something, Sal. Once you had her tied down naked to her own bed, why didn’t you finish it like you did with her cousin? Did you expect to be able to come back to the house and resume your engagement like nothing happened?”

He’s shaking now, and a wet spot grows on his jeans. Good. He knows it’s the end for him, and maybe he’s finally accepting it. Still, for someone so brave to hurt Rose and Val the way he did, you would think he wouldn’t piss his pants in front of danger. Then again, a man like myself standing in front of you is like placing a gun against your head and pulling the trigger.

“It wasn’t…I didn’t plan it. It was just…I had too much to drink, and I got jealous when I found her gone, and it happened. That’s all. What does it matter? She survived.”

Red coats my vision as I look at him. I want to shove his chair sideways and stomp on his skull until it gives a satisfying crack.

“She might have survived, but she’ll never be the same. Because of you.”

He breathes heavily now, barely able to keep his back up in the chair as I study him. Why on earth did her father think this man would make a suitable husband? Fucking anyone else would have been a better choice. Anyone. There are so many families in the society, some of them barely functional for lack of connections.

But it doesn’t matter. None of it does because she belongs to me now, and there’s nothing any of them can do to take her from me.

I shift forward once more, and he flinches away, knowing more pain is coming. The knife feels featherlight in my hand as I bring it across his face in a diagonal motion, cutting through the other side of his face so smoothly, like slicing silk. An ear-piercing scream fills the air, followed by a begging plea.

“Please, don’t do this. We can work something out. I told you that you can have the bitch. I don’t want her anyway. She’s frigid and hated whenever I touched her.”

I dig the blade in deep enough that it hits bone, leaving a hole in his cheek now. “You should watch what you say when I have this deep under your skin…I might get angry and slip.”

He cries out as I sit back once more, my anger rolling in my gut, snapping the control I usually keep a tight hold on.

“You don’t get a say about her life anymore. One more word indicating that, and I’ll take a lot longer than I planned with you. I’ll start with your toes and slice you up bit by bit until you change your fucking tune.”

God, I fucking hate him so much. I’m shaking with it. I haven’t felt this much unbalanced rage since I faced my father that night, the same knife in my hand.

“Let’s get this straight, shall we? I’m going to kill you. It’ll be painful because I want to please my wife. However, every word you say can determine how fast or slow this will go. As I said, I can slice you up bit by bit, or I can gut you in one quick stroke and leave you to bleed out.”

His eyes go wide, and he starts shaking again. Fucking coward can’t even face the death he’s earned in the end. “What if I have information? Something you would want to know in exchange for my life?”