“What sort of instructions,” he demands before I can keep talking.
“If you’ll just be patient?—”
“I didn’t come home and throw your piece of shit cousin out when Sergei texted me, that was me being patient. Now tell me. Everything.”
After another slow breath, I dive into the events of yesterday afternoon.
“I assume this is what your uncle wanted, too?” He cuts me off again. “When you said he didn’t want anything during your last conversation with him, you were lying.”
“He didn’t ask for anything. He said the same thing as Dante, to remember who my family is. I didn’t argue with him, butI didn’t agree with him, either, which is probably why he sent Dante.” If one threat doesn’t work, there’s always another he can trigger.
But in the end, they’re all the same. Hurt something I love.
“What exactly does Dante want from you?”
“He wants me to spy on you. He wants me to find out exactly what you know about what he’s doing, and if you’re planning any moves against him.”
His jaw clenches again.
“I told him I wouldn’t. That’s when he threatened Tommy.”
“And that threat was?”
“He just said if I didn’t give him what he wanted in a week, he’d be visiting Tommy. He doesn’t need to spell it out for me, Kaz.” I uncurl my fingers from the armrest. “So, I went over there and had Melody pack him a bag and brought them both here.”
“And when were you going to tell me that Tony’s son was going to be living with me?”
“When you bothered to come home or have a conversation that was longer than a three-word text message.” I shoot at him, all the frustration from the past week bubbles to the surface.
He’s quiet. The ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of the room gets louder as the seconds pass.
“I’m not the enemy you think I am,” I say softly. “I made it a point to stay out of my family’s business. I kept away from my brothers as much as I could. I don’t have any information that could ever help you. And I don’t want any information from you that could help them. I want nothing to do with any of this.”
I shove out of the chair, grabbing it before it falls back onto the carpet.
“I understand you not wanting Tony’s son here. I do. But he’s my nephew, and I won’t let anyone hurt him.” I curl my fingers into my palms.
“You realize you’ve kidnapped him,” Kaz says after another moment passes with thick silence.
“I did not.”
“That’s what your uncle will say to the police when he realizes Tommy’s here. He’ll say you kidnapped him because you don’t have custody.”
I blink.
I hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“I won’t let them hurt him because of me. I married you to keep him safe.”
His expression softens. “Then why not give them what they want now? You’ve already sacrificed your life, why not try to get the information that they want?”
“I’m not the enemy.” I say again.
“Why? You could ask me what I know. Maybe I’d tell you.”
“You already think I’m like them. You think I’ll betray you first chance I get. There’s no way out of this marriage for either of us. I know that. I get that. But I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with a man who thinks I’m out to get him.”
He gets out of his chair, stalks around the mammoth of a desk, and stands in front of me. Leaning his ass back against the edge of the desk, he folds his arms over his chest.
