Page 50 of Ruthless Sinner
“You’ll pay with your life then.” She is mine. From the moment I saw her at that nightclub, she belonged to me. I tried to resist the pull she had on me, but I’m no fool. I know when I’m beaten. And despite my best efforts, Adalina has captured my heart.
“What about your fiancé?” Her eyes, usually bright and inviting, narrow into slits. “You can’t have two wives, Dante.”
I release her throat, but only for the purpose of grabbing her by the wrist and hauling her from the room. We step over the threshold, across the hallway, and to the room next door. “I can do whatever I want, Adalina. I could marry my betrothed and keep you down here as my fuck puppet for the rest of my life if I choose. Don’t test me.”
We are surrounded by comforts only slightly upgraded from the cells in the dungeon. The mattress on the floor is an old queen-sized that my father was getting rid of. There’s an actual toilet and sink. A dusty mirror hangs on the wall, and there is room to run laps. “You’ll stay down here until I decide what to do with you.”
I retreat to the entrance, pulling the bars closed behind me. Adalina stands in the middle of the room, her eyes pooling with tears. Her beautiful clothes are spattered in blood, and her bandaged wrist needs to be looked at. “You can’t do this, Dante.” Her voice cracks, and I almost feel bad.
“I can, and I will. Welcome to your new home, Adalina. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
This was not the intent of tonight, but I must, and will, have Adalina as my wife. I’ll find a way out of my impending marriage to Lucrezia. I’ll force Adalina to take her rightful place by my side.
I never wanted a wife or kids, but she changed my mind. Now, I want everything, and I want it with her. And if she won’t give it to me by choice, I’ll take it by force.
Chapter 52
Dante
“Y
ou dumb piece of shit,” Salvatore swears. “You can’t make her marry you.”
Morning dawns on a new day, and we’re all exhausted. After locking Adalina in the dungeon, my brothers, Enzo, and I returned downstairs to clean up our mess. Adalina took it upon herself to yell across the expanse and tell them everything that had happened. They were gracious enough to wait until we were back in my office, and the dungeon was closed and locked before they started scolding me.
Luciano flops down on the plush leather couch with a sigh of contentment. He lazily tosses his long legs up and stretches out like a cat, making himself completely at home. “Nah, go ahead, marry her,” he encourages me. “I can’t wait to see who tries to kill you first: Saverio, Lucrezia, or your wife.”
Enzo stays silent. I don’t think it’s out of respect; he’s gathering his thoughts.
“What happened to congratulations, I’m happy for you, when’s the big day?” I walk around the desk and take my place. My eyelids feel heavy from being awake all night, and a dull ache has started to form in my temples from the weight of their judgment.
“Hey, I said you should marry her,” Luciano reminds me. “She could murder you and then team up with Lucrezia to become black widow mafia princesses. How cool would that be? I mean, it’d be terrifying but also pretty cool.”
With a deep sigh, Salvatore pulls one of the vacant seats in front of my desk and slumps into it. His shoulders are tense, and his brow is furrowed with frustration, giving away his emotions before he even speaks a word. “It wouldn’t be cool,” he replies to Luciano, “it would be for nothing. There’s no reason for Dante to break his betrothal, and there’s no reason for Dante to marry Adalina. Problem solved. Let’s go to bed and pretend this night never happened. Also,” he turns to me, “let Adalina out of the dungeon.”
“No,” I reply defensively. “The Martinellis still owe the Terlizzis a quarter of a million dollars.”
“You’re not going to get that from Adalina. No offense,” Salvatore glares. “But marrying her just to get her father’s estate and whatever valuables he might have hidden isn’t cost-efficient in the long run. Not when it’s going to wind up with you crippled, maimed, or murdered.”
My brothers are good men, and working with them is a delight. They know how to do their jobs, and there is no one I trust more than the two of them. However, they could never be left in charge of the family. They don’t have the keen military minds to plan strategy years in the making. “Saverio isn’t going to do anything. We have too much money and power for him to lose us. I’ll have to persuade him to do something else with his sister,” I sigh, “but that’s for me to figure out.”
Luciano clucks his tongue. “You’re forgetting Adalina. You think Sav won’t kill you, and okay, maybe you can get away with breaking the betrothal by paying him out. And sure, maybe you figure out how to get rid of Lucrezia. But at the end of the day, you’re still going to have a pissed-off wife lying next to you every night who knows how to play the long game. We saw her stab her father in the chest; we know what she’s capable of.”
I hate to admit it, but he has a point. “I’ll figure that out, too.”
“If this is just to inherit everything, you’re wasting?—”
“It’s not,” I cut Salvatore off.
After what seems like an eternity spent gathering his thoughts, Enzo finally speaks up. “You love her, don’t you?” His words are carefully chosen and carry a hint of understanding. He leans against the wall, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
Luciano and Salvatore exchange a look of shock. They have known for years that my future didn’t include a wife. Though they were supportive of me marrying Lucrezia Castiglione because it’s what our father wanted, they were keenly aware that it wasn’t my choice. “This is like some Stockholm Syndrome shit,” Luciano’s expression remains impassive, his lips pressed into a firm line.
“I’m not the one being held captive,” I remind him.
“Same difference. You fell for a girl you’re holding captive. This isn’t real, Dante. You know that, right?”
My brothers know nothing. They’re foolish, single men who’ve never met a woman they sought to marry. They think with their dicks, and that’s why they don’t understand love. I get it because I was just like them. “Worry about yourself, Luc. Let me worry about whether or not this thing with Adalina is real or not. Which, by the way, it is. Not that I owe you an explanation.”