Kaz shakes his hand and sends him off, while I continue pacing the room.
“He could have told me anything. I never questioned him. I never questioned any of them.” I bite down on my thumbnail as I keep pacing. “He could have taken Tommy back to Sicily, and I wouldn’t have stopped him. I would have just let him do it.”
“Hey. Hey.” Kaz gently grabs hold of me as I pass him and pulls me into his chest.
“I’m a complete idiot.” I yank away from him, shoving my hands into my hair. “I just went along because it was easier…it was safer.”
“Sienna.” His tone hardens, and I know what he wants.
He wants me to stand still, to obey, to be the quiet, docile bride he bought from my family.
Well. Fuck. That.
“No. I’m not doing that anymore. Fuck it. No one in my family follows the fucking law. Your family doesn’t. Why the fuck do I have to? No.” I shake my head. “I’m going to take Tommy away from here. Away from my family. I’ll get a job, I can support us.”
“Sienna, stop.”
“No. That’s it. I can do that. They won’t come after me; it’s you they want to fuck over. So fine. You and they can fight it out. Leave me out of it. Hasn’t there been enough collateral damage? You’ve lost your sister, for fuck’s sake!”
As soon as the words fall from my lips, they register in my mind.
I cover my mouth, wishing I could shove them back in, but I can’t. They’re out, floating around between us.
He drops his hands to his sides. His left lid twitches as he stands silently staring at me.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
“You’re not running away from home,” he says in a dead calm voice as he takes determined steps toward me. “You’re not taking your nephew and going into hiding.”
“I can’t risk keeping him here.” Panic swallows me alive.
He cups my chin, forcing me to look at him.
“You’re not leaving me.”
“You didn’t know about Tommy when you agreed to this insanity. And at this moment, I’m not sure the truce agreement even matters, right? You said Dante is opening those horrible houses, and that was against the agreement. You can be free of me, now.”
His fingers squeeze into my cheeks, and his voice is low and controlled when he replies.
“Whoever said I wanted to be free from you?”
He kisses me so hard I’m pushed back against the wall. His large hands sink into my hair, pinning me in place as he ravages me.
From deep inside his chest, a low rumble vibrates against me.
“Open for me,” he commands against my mouth, running his tongue along my bottom lip.
The part of me that knows I should sink my teeth into him and tell him to fuck off has apparently fallen into an aroused coma. Because the part of me that wants nothing more than to melt into him and take everything he offers parts my lips, giving him exactly what he wants.
My obedience.
And probably my soul.
He makes an approving sound, pressing himself against me. We’re connected from crotch to mouth, and I can feel every twitch of his muscles.
Every inch of his hard length.
He kisses me until my toes curl inside my shoes and my lungs start to fail. When he breaks the kiss, he presses his forehead against mine, sucking in air, because he’s as breathless as I am.
