“She’s got no clue what happened back then,” I say through clenched teeth. “Kira’s going to be my wife. The council will accept it. Spin it as an act of mercy.”
“Nobody gives a fuck about mercy. Not for traitors. She should be dead after what he did.”
I reach out fast as lightning and grab Matteo’s wrist with my right hand and snatch his ring finger with my left. He grunts in shock as I wrench the finger back, twisting it hard.
He yelps in pain but catches himself before he can make a scene.
“Talk about her like that again and I will kill you.” I wrench harder until I feel a satisfying pop as the finger dislocates. “Understand?”
“Yes, Stellan,” he moans, sweating profusely from the effort it takes to keep himself from screaming in pain.
I release him. Matteo cradles his hand against his chest, gasping for air.
“Do your job. Tell the council everything we talked about today. If they have a problem with my wife, feel free to send them over to have a conversation with me directly. Otherwise, I will be shown respect and fealty and proclaimed the Don the day after my wedding is official. If they try to stop me—” I slide out from the booth and stand. “I’ll leave a trail of corpses until there’s nothing left in my way.”
Matteo stares at me, pale and waxy. All he can do is nod before I walk away.
The place smells like dog.Which shouldn’t be a surprise, since it’s a grooming shop. But still, it’s almost comical.
I find Kira set up in a booth in the corner of the main washing room. I get some stares but nobody stops me as I walk over to her. They probably think I’m the owner of the little white fluffy rat she’s cleaning. How anyone thinks that thing is a dog remains beyond me.
I lean against the wall and watch her blow-dry the little yappy animal. It squirms and twists, but she’s surprisingly gentle and patient. Even when the little shit tries to nip at her fingers. I’dprobably throw the bastard off a cliff if it did that to me. But I’m not a nice guy.
She notices me once the dryer’s turned off. Her eyes go wide in surprise, and she looks around hurriedly, as if she’s afraid I might have been noticed. I step into her booth, arms crossed, trying not to let her see how amused I find all this.
“You’re covered in hair,” I tell her.
She looks down at herself, her face turning red. “I wash dogs. It’s kind of hard to keep the hair off me. What are you doing here?”
“Just checking you out. I’ve never seen you at this job before.”
“I’m shocked you haven’t stalked me here before now.”
I don’t mention that I have; I’ve just never come inside. “Where’s the ring?”
She grimaces and looks away. “I told you. It’s too expensive.”
“And I told you, I want you to wear it.”
“I will, okay?” She tugs a thin gold chain out from the inside of her shirt. The ring dangles at the end. “It’s right here in case you were wondering.”
“Keeping it next to your heart?”
“More like keeping it close in case I need to pawn it for quick cash.”
I can’t help but grin. This girl has a mouth on her. She’s got a sharp wit, and I have a feeling she’s going to get herself in trouble one of these days. But for now, I like it.
“Now that you’re mine, there are going to be changes. You’ll move into my house. You won’t have to work here anymore. No more dog hair. We can buy you all new clothes?—”
“Slow down,” she says, holding up both her hands. “Move in with you? Buy me new clothes? This is going pretty fast.”
“What did you expect? Separate bedrooms?”
“For a start.”
“That’s not the marriage I want.”
“We don’t have a real marriage,” she mutters, glaring at me. “Look, I told you, I need to talk to Gem before we do anything.”
