“No, Dante. You kept me in the dark so that you could use me.”
“Oh, darling.” He smiles that dangerous, dimpled smile and cups my cheek. “You have no idea how people look when I’ve used them. There would’ve been nothing left of you.”
I pull away from that scorching touch. “What are your plans for us?”
“For starters, we’re leaving for New York.”
“I can’t.” Grasping at straws, I hurry to say, “I have a job here. I’m in the middle of one. I’m not going to just walk out on my client.”
He tilts his head. “Is the job important to you?”
Actually… “Yes.”
I’m proud of the work I do.
He considers me. “How long do you need?”
“A week.”
“Then we’ll leave next week.”
Just like that. I expected him to deny me. “I have other clients.”
“You don’t.”
“I always get referrals.”
“One week, Tatiana.”
“And then?”
“And then we worry about the rest.”
“Noah needs stability. He’s starting school next year. I’m trying to make a home for him here.”
“You’ll make a home for him in New York City.”
“It’s not safe for us there.”
“You’re under my protection. No one is going touch you or Noah.”
Raising my voice, I make my point. “You’re going to war with my brother.”
He clicks his tongue and shakes his head as if he thinks I’m stupid. “The war is long since over, darling. All that remains is delivering the deathblow.”
He says it so heartlessly that another shiver works its way through me. “You’re a monster.”
“Not entirely.” He takes something from his pocket and hands it to me. “Or I wouldn’t have gotten you this.”
I look at the packet on my palm. It’s the morning-after pill.
Heat pushes up my neck and face. “You didn’t just run out and get this, did you?”
I want to ask if I’ve been such a foregone conclusion—again—but he spares me by saying, “I dispatched one of my men to a twenty-four hour-pharmacy. He sent the parcel up with the food.”
“Great.” My cheeks burn hotter. “Why not tell everyone what happened last night?”
“My man is discreet. He won’t say a word. As for the hotel staff, the purchase came in a non-transparent pharmacy bag.”
