“I could take her now,” Vincenzo continues, almost conversational. “Right here. Right now. With you watching.” His fingers trace my jaw, deliberate and claiming. “But I’d like to savor your family’s humiliation. I want what I was promised. Everything that comes with wedding and bedding a Montoni bride.” His smile is sharp and cruel. “You’re going to give her to me properly. In front of all of Malus. With your blessing.”
Dad’s face goes white, then red.
“I’ll be waiting for you to set the date, Don Agnello,” Vincenzo says. “Don’t make me wait too long. I get mean when I’m impatient.”
Suddenly, he releases me.
The loss of his warmth is immediate and shocking. I stumble slightly, wrapping my arms around myself, trying desperately to cover my nakedness. My whole body starts trembling with cold and shame, and with the weight of my father’s murderous stare.
I can feel Dad’s eyes on me like brands. Judging. Disgusted.
I’ve never felt so exposed in my life.
Something warm and heavy settles around my shoulders. Vincenzo’s leather jacket. He’s taken it off and wrapped it around me. The shearling lining is still warm from his body heat, and I burrow into it gratefully, pulling it closed around my naked body. The trembling eases.
The jacket smells like him. Leather, gunpowder, and something darker.
Vincenzo heads for the balcony. Cold wind is blowing through the broken glass doors.
He’s leaving.
Something sharp and painful twists inside me. He’s going to leave me here with my father. After killing Pietro, after those kisses, after he demanded to marry me, he’s just going toleave.
I should be grateful he’s going. He’s dangerous and no doubt going to use me as a weapon against my father.
But all I feel is a crushing sense of abandonment.
I press my lips together and say nothing. I can’t show weakness. Not in front of Dad.
Vincenzo pauses at the window, one foot already on the balcony. He turns back to look at my father, his eyes cold and deadly.
“I found her half dead tonight. If anyone lays a finger on her or hurts her in any way, I’ll cut their fucking heart out.”
The threat hangs in the air. Then he’s gone, disappearing into the night like a ghost.
I clutch his jacket tighter around myself, my heart sinking as I realize I’m alone with Dad now. Pietro’s corpse is on the ground, and there’s blood everywhere.
I should be relieved Vincenzo is gone, but the ache in my chest says otherwise.
“Adora,” Dad says, his voice deadly quiet. “Come here.”
It’s not a request. It’s never a request with him.
My legs feel like they might give out, but I force myself to walk toward him. Each step feels like walking to my own execution. I clutch Vincenzo’s jacket tighter, the leather warm against my bare skin, and I see Dad’s eyes track the movement.
When I’m within reach, his hand shoots out and grips my jaw, hard enough to make me gasp.
“This happened because you ran away,” he says, his voice flat and cold. “Pietro’s dead because of you. That Vici bastard is making demands because of you. Every problem I now have to fix is because of you.”
“I didn’t—”
His grip tightens, cutting off my words. “I’m going to have to fix your mess, Adora. And you’re going to help me do it.”
“How?”
“It’s not your place to ask questions,” he snarls, and releases me with a shove. “That man will marry you over my dead body.” He looks at me with cold calculation. “Go to bed. You look terrible, and you smell like that Vici bastard. I can’t stand the sight of you.”
I clutch the jacket tighter and turn toward the door on trembling legs.
