Page 45 of Virtuous Lies

I step back. “He doesn’t,” I assure him, concern licking up my spine.

Tony looks at Vincent, then back at me, dipping his chin in reluctant acceptance.

Back in the car, my mind works a million miles an hour.

“You’re frowning,” Vincent observes.

I relax my face. “I didn’t realize.”

“What your brother said upset you.” A statement of fact, one he expects me to confirm.

What you said also upset me.

Vincent alluding to the fact that Tony was aware of my indiscretion hints that he knows more than I think he does. Myaffairwith Roberto was presented as illicit. Only Berto and I were involved, but my husband seems to think differently.

“He was very rude.”

Vincent shrugs. “It’s hard for soldiers at times. They’re kept out of certain...businessthey would like to be privy to. Some don’t cope well with that. He has to earn his place.”

Earn his place.

“With barbs of wire tattooed on his skin?”

His jaw ticks, the muscle in his cheek throbbing with irritation. “Why do you attack when you are not told what you want to hear?”

I huff. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Please, Bianca, don’t treat me as though I can’t read you.”

I flip him off. “Read that.”

He pulls over on the side of the road with a screech of wheels that has me grasping at the grab handles in the car. The car behind us beeps, flying past with the sound of the horn lost within seconds. “What the hell?”

“How long do you think it would take you to walk home?” Vincent doesn’t look at me. He stares through the windshield, chin tipped up in contemplation.

My eyes drop into slits. “You wouldn’t dare.”

He moves his gaze to me slowly. “On the contrary, wife, I very much would. I reward you when you’re good. You recall the ways I reward you, don’t you?”

My cheeks shade without my permission.

“So it makes sense that I’d punish you for bad behavior.”

“Bad behavior.” I roll my eyes.

“Dolcezza, your fiery little attitude I accept because it turns me on. Complete disrespect will not be tolerated.”

“I’m not a fucking child.”

His eyebrows raise. “No.”

“And I’m not a fucking pet.”

Pet.

Your pet is safe and sound. For now.

My brow furrows, and my thighs clench.