Page 54 of Vices and Vows
It’s as if my confirmation zaps all the life out of him. He gets to his feet and walks over to me, his hand shaking as he slides his finger under my jaw to tip my head back. “What did you do?”
I jolt as if he’d slapped me. I reach back to open the door, but he presses his hand against it to stop me.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, why is he so angry at you?”
“I don’t know. Aldo’s angry at the world. And when you’re gone, he’ll burn what you built to the ground.”
He scrubs his hand over his face. “The other families will fight for supremacy when I’m gone, and the last thing I want is a Moretti stealing what I spent years building. Aldo is the only one strong enough to hold the throne.”
“No, he’s not. He’s not even the one with the crown. I am.”
“Women can’t?—”
“Rule? They can, and they do, but you and the families are too stuck in the old ways. I’m not even here to argue about that. I just want to know why you bothered making a deal with the devil to keep me safe, only to hand me over to a monster?”
“You think I want this? One man is better than dozens and dozens coming for you. If you think Aldo is bad, wait until our enemies come for you. You’ll be unprotected and unprepared. They will kill you.”
“So will Aldo. Only he’ll rape me first.”
“He’ll be your husband.”
I shake my head, wondering if this man ever loved me or if he even knows what love is. “And if he’s my husband, it can’t be rape, right?” Archaic patriarch bullshit.
“Just make him fall in love with you.”
“I’m glad my mother’s dead. I can’t imagine what she’d say if she could hear you right now.”
He slaps me, my already split lip splitting further. He stumbles back before walking back to his chair, looking exhausted. He says nothing, just looks at me when I smile, blood coating my teeth.
“And suddenly, everything becomes clear.”
I turn and grab the door handle.
“I’m moving the wedding up to the day after tomorrow. Once you’re his wife, he’ll be more careful.”
I chuckle. “Are those lies for my benefit or yours? Don’tworry, I won’t run. I know who I am more than you do. I’ll even wear my mother’s pearls like you wanted. I’m sure they’ll look pretty splattered with my blood.” I look over at him, memorizing his face. “After that, we’re done. You might have been my father once, but you were never my dad. And you never will be. All we can do now is wait to see whose funeral comes first, yours or mine.”
I yank the door open and slam it behind me, heading for the exit, when Gia walks down the stairs in a pair of ridiculously high heels and a skin-tight hot pink dress with those godforsaken pearls around her neck.
She looks at my bloody face and starts giggling. “Did he get a little rough when you blew him?” She struts over to me, looking so fucking happy, not realizing I’ve already reached my fucking limit today.
Donnell and an unfamiliar guard walk in from the back and stop when they see me and Gia talking. Both of them stare at my face, and both of them look pissed enough about it to rip someone’s head off.
“You’re a joke, Nova,” Gia cackles, using the same insult she usually does. I guess it’s hard to come up with new comebacks with only one brain cell. She leans in and whispers, “Aldo will enjoy taking you down a few pegs once we’re married.”
“Shut up, Gia. You talk so much shit your breath stinks.”
I turn to walk away, but she grabs my wrist and digs her nails in. “You little whore.”
Fuck it. I grab the pearls in my free hand and yank, snapping the strand and making them scatter all over the floor. When she shrieks, I pull back my arm and punch her in the face, feeling a huge amount of satisfaction when her nose cracks and bloodexplodes everywhere. “Pot, kettle, black.” I spin and head for the car before someone stops me.
I climb in and start the car when the passenger door opens, and the unfamiliar guard gets in.
“What the fuck?”
“Just drive. Vice has been trying to call you, and he’s pissed.”
My eyes bug out, and I pull away from the house. “My phone is broken,” I tell him as I drive to the main gates, using my pass to get out.