He can silence anyone with just one look.
Especially me.
But maybe it’s because I know he’s drunk and not as tense as he usually is, but I let my lips continue to move, continue to push me into dangerous territory. “Don’t act like you’re fucking concerned about me or that you’re pissed because I fucked up, when that’s not the truth. You’re pissed because you fucked up!” My voice ends up going a couple of octaves higher than I intend and my chest moves rapidly with deep breaths.
It’s my turn to ball my hands up now, pressing my knuckles against the pages of my book. There’s no give to the pages.
I stare at his beautiful face and my anger continues to rise. I don’t find myself alone with him often anymore. Typically there’s someone else in the room, Vito or Enzo. So I haven’t allowed myself to focus my full anger at him over his order for my mom to be killed.
Which is still unconfirmed.
But fuck, it makes too much sense to not be true. Giovanni brought me here for a reason, made it clear that I wouldn’t be leaving until he got what he wants.
Which must be to use me against Dox, since my mom was his friend. It sounds half cocked and I know I have to be missing pieces of the puzzle, but the few pieces that I do have give me a clear enough picture.
“That’s right, you fucked up-” My cheek stings as a smack rings through the room. I bring my hand up to my face, my lips parting in shock.
Its not the first time that one of the Costas has physically hurt me, but its been a while since the last time. My cheek burns, but I know that Giovanni didn’t use full force. I’ve seen what him using full force looks like on his brother and his cousin.
If he really hit me, I’d be unconscious right now.
No, this little lick was to get my attention and to remind me that he’s running things here, that I can’t talk to him the way I want to just because he’s drunk.
But you know what? Fuck him.
I’m not the same girl that he brought here in the beginning, the one who will put up with his bullshit without a fight. If I can be brave in the face of Maximo Costa, then Giovanni doesn’t scare me.
I pull my hand up, my fists still balled. He sees it coming, even with the fact that his face is right in front of mine, his eyes level with mine. But he sees my fist before it hits him, its in the way his eyes flash, widening just a bit.
He has time to move.
But he doesn’t.
It fills good when my knuckles connect with flesh, even as pain shoots down my arm from the force.
My hand drops back to my lap and I tilt my chin up as my gaze locks with his, daring him.
There’s silence for a few beats.
One.
Two.
His hand wraps around my throat, tight and strong. I gasp, my hands coming up to try to pry at his grip, but he’s unmovable.
He squeezes hard enough that I think he’s going to crush my trachea. I thrash, wildly, still trying to get free.
His hand finally releases me but in the next moment he’s yanking me up by my arm and tossing me to the ground. My head smacks against the floor, the thump so loud that I’m surprised no one comes running to find out what the fuck is going on up here.
I blink, placing a hand to the sore spot. My vision swirls and the throbbing continues. I use my free hand to prop myself up against the cool floorboard, looking up at Giovanni.
That relaxed state is gone, replaced by a caged coolness that threatens to break free. “We’ve been over this before, Winter,” he says, his gaze hot on me. “You can try to grow a backbone, try to be strong-willed, independent, tough, whatever the fuck you want to call it. But at the end of the day, I’ll break your spirit. Every. Single. Time.”
The day that he made me orgasm with brutal force flashes through my mind. I’d fought him that day too and in the end he’d won, throwing me out of his office on the ground like discarded trash.
My jaw tightens and I keep my gaze level as I meet his eyes. I’m done being the little lamb. “Fucking try.”
Slack enters his jaw and he gives a minute shake of his head. When his hands move up to his tie, slowly loosening it, apprehension mixes with anticipation. He pulls the tie free, taking even steps toward me.