“Lorenzo,” she moaned, and he looked at her face, but she wasn’t staring at him. She was looking at me, trying to prove some kind of point that I wasn’t even aware of. Why would he do this? I didn’t understand.
Lorenzo turned, and I took another step back. It was on the tip of my tongue to apologize, but that disappeared as soon as his gaze met mine. He didn’t stop. He carried on pounding away at her.
My hand drifted to my mouth, my eyes welling up. We were married. Not in the traditional sense, but we’d made vows, and he was breaking those vows for everyone to hear. It wasn’t a real relationship—that was being made crystal clear.
But this?
This was disrespectful on every level.
And I’d be damned if I was going to let him see it was affecting me. So, I pushed my shoulders back, moved my hand from over my mouth, took one final look at them, then spun around. My feet carried me to my bedroom, slow and steady, my heart thrumming so loud I could hear it pounding in my ears.
I just had to make it to my room, then I could let it all out. I could allow the tears to fall. I could mourn the loss of a fake relationship that was never there. I could make peace with the fact that this would be my life now.
My shaking hand turned the door handle, and slowly I stepped inside, too scared to make any sudden movements in fear I would fall apart. My life had been turned upside down in the last month. Everything had changed, and it was all because of him.
I’d let him control how I was feeling. I’d taken everything he’d given me and not questioned it. I’d been meek. I’d been the good Italian girl. But that wasn’t who I was—or who I wanted to be. I didn’t deserve this. I didn’t deserve any of it.
The sight of my brand-new dress hanging on the back of my door had a lone tear streaming down my face. He expected me to be the good wife, attending functions with him and not having an opinion of my own. But he was mistaken.
I promised myself I wasn’t going to take this. I wasn’t going to be the good girl he thought he was getting. I wasn’t going to be silent. I wasn’t going to take his bullshit anymore.
He’d drawn the battle lines. But he had no idea who he was messing with.
CHAPTER 9
LORENZO
I paced the foyer, cursing as I stared at my watch for the tenth time in the last minute. We were going to be late, and I didn’t do well with being late when it wasn’t my choice.
“Where is she?” I ground out at Ma, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching me with caution.
“I don’t know,” she answered, concern evident on her face. “She knows it’s tonight, right?”
I nodded. She did know it was tonight because I’d sent Mrs. Larson up to remind her after Veev had left. “Yes, she knows.” My nostrils flared as I paced back and forth again. I was going to lose my damn patience with her. “If she’s not down here in two minutes, I’m going without her.”
“Give her time,” Ma said, her tone soft and pleading. “She needs time to adjust.”
I snorted, the sound so unlike me, but I was on edge, needing to get to this damn function so I could lay the groundwork for a deal in the city—a legitimate deal surrounded with illegal activity that I would carefully veil. But without attending this function, the deal would be off.
I stared at the stairs, and without thinking about it, I darted for them. Ma held her hand out, trying to stop me. “Let me go,” she said, staring up at me. “Let me go, son.”
I gritted my teeth. “Fine.” I took one step back, watching as Ma shuffled up the stairs, but I couldn’t stand here doing nothing, so I followed her.
My anger built the closer to her room we got, and I felt like I was going to blow by the time Ma stopped in front of Aida’s door. She knocked twice with no answer, but when she called, “Aida, it’s Ma,” she finally got a response and opened up the door. “Lorenzo is waiting for you,” she said softly, stepping into the room, and it took everything in me not to go closer and haul her ass out.
“I’m not feeling well,” Aida groaned. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go when I feel like I’m going to spew.”
I pulled in a breath, trying to calm myself. She was fine. I knew that, and so did she. This was her protesting after what she’d seen. I’d put her back in her place, reminded her of who I was and what I did, and now she was throwing a tantrum.
“Oh, no.” Ma walked farther into her room, but I wasn’t going to stand here and listen to this bullshit.
I spun around, walking away from her and her lies. She was trying to save face, but she’d soon learn she couldn’t do that with me. I wasn’t going to stand for her insolence. I’d teach her the right way to behave as a Mafia boss’s wife, but not right now. Right now, I had somewhere I needed to be.
I gripped my cell in the palm of my hand as I rushed out of the house and into the back of the SUV, then shot off a message to Veev, telling her to be at the house when I got home. If Aida wanted to play these game
s, I’d make sure she wouldn’t win. She had no idea who she was up against. She may have won this battle, but I would always win the damn war.
AIDA