He says nothing. He doesn't even have the decency to look at me.
"I wanted—" My voice breaks. "I wanted to matter. I wanted to be more than just a baby making machine. More than a bargaining chip."
"So, you betrayed everyone who ever loved you because you wanted power."
He spits the word out like it's dirty, and it makes me fucking hate him even more. What the hell does he know? Where the hell does he get off. He's done worse for power. So has Saint.
I struggle to my feet. Legs shaking because I'm not going to lay at his feet. He wants to punish me; he can do it while I remind him of his own bullshit.
"No one has ever loved me!" The words rip out of my chest. I point at him. "Bianca used me! You sold me! Saint—" I laugh. "Saint fucked me until I was raw and bleeding just to give his uncle a fucking kid. I'm just a thing to all of you. A thing to be traded and used and thrown away when I'm not convenient anymore!"
By the end, I'm screaming. I'm angry. I'm deflated.
Adrian stares at me for a long moment, and I wonder if my words actually penetrated his thick skull.
Does he feel guilty?
Then his hand connects with my face.
Nope.
The slap snaps my head to the side. Pain explodes across my cheek. I collapse to the floor.
I hear Saint move—a sharp intake of breath, a step forward.
But he stops. Doesn't intervene. Just watches.
Adrian had never hit me before. Ever. We were always in this together. He took care of me when our father died.
Protected me.
Apparently, that's over now.
"You think you're the only one who's had to sacrifice for this family?" His voice is low. Dangerous. "You think Sera wantedthis life? You think I wanted to be in Bianca's fucking shadow for years, controlled like a child? We all do what we have to do."
I spit blood at his feet.
"Fuck you," I say. "You don't know shit about sacrifice." How could he? He's a man. Even when he's thought he was powerless, he wasn't.
He grabs my arm, hauls me up. "You're lucky I don't put a bullet in your head right now."
"Do it." The words come out before I can stop them. "If I'm such a traitor, if I'm so disposable, then do it. Pull the trigger. I don't care anymore."
His eyes narrow. "Don't tempt me."
"Adrian." Luc's voice from the doorway. I didn't hear him come in. "That's enough."
"Stay out of this, Luciano."
"It's enough." Luc moves closer. "You made your point."
"Did I? Because she doesn't look sorry." Adrian turns back to me. "Do you? Feel sorry for what you did?"
"Yes." I'm sobbing now because I am sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. Because Saint was right, going to Alexei was wrong. "Yes, I'm sorry, I made a mistake?—"
"A mistake?" His hand is around my throat. Squeezing. Not enough to stop my breathing completely, but enough to terrify me. To show me how easily he could end me. "You're fucking lucky we aren't all dead!"
I claw at his hand, gasping. Trying to pull air through my restricted windpipe.
