“Do you not see the fucking irony—” My throat tightens so hard it hurts. “You fucking kidnapped me.”
“I saved you.”
“You’re delusional. Lorenzo is my husband. You didn’t save me from shit.”
Nico’s eyes flick toward my bound hands, then away. “He doesn’t get to keep you.”
“Grant does?” The sarcasm drips from my words.
Nico’s nostrils flare. “At least Grant loves you.”
I bark a laugh. “You really are stupid. Grant doesn’t love me. He loves the idea of me. Grant loves ownership. Grant loves what my last name buys him.”
Nico’s fingers flex at his side. “He’s better than Lorenzo.”
I stare at him, and something inside me goes cold. “By tying my hands and keeping me here?” I lift my bound wrists as high as I can. “This is protection to you?”
His throat bobs. “It’s temporary.”
“Everything is temporary,” I whisper, the words shaking. “So is breathing, if you make the wrong choice.”
Silence stretches.
I twist again, trying to work the tie until it breaks.
Nico notices the movement and steps forward. “Stop.”
“Or what?” I glare up at him. “You’ll tighten them?”
“I don’t want to hurt you.” His lips press together.
“You already are.” I grit my teeth and keep sawing at the tie.
Nico makes a frustrated sound and crouches in front of me, voice dropping. “Victoria . . . listen. You don’t understand.”
“I understand I’m tangled in a situation with two men who think they know what’s best for me,” I snap. “Spoiler alert: you don’t. I want to be with Lorenzo. I love him. Always have. Always will.”
“You want to go back to him?” Nico’s voice turns rough.
“I want to gohome.”
Nico flinches like the word home hits him in the chest. “That isn’t your home.”
“You’re right, it isn’t. He’s myhome,” I whisper.
Nico’s jaw tightens. “He’ll destroy you.”
I stare at him. “He already tried, and somehow in doing that, he put me back together.”
Nico’s eyes narrow. “That’s not normal.”
“And this is?”
“You’re defending him.”
“I’m defending myself.” I swallow hard.
Nico’s shoulders stiffen.
