Page 189 of Lovely Venom

“Do you remember when I asked you to save me?”

Indignation sparks in his eyes, and I know if he could, he’d hurt me right now.

“I begged you to stop it,” I remind him. “But you ignored every plea I made to you. So why the fuck do you think I would ever waste my breath to save a coward like you?”

“I’m the coward?” His nostrils flare. “You couldn’t even handle a few hours of discomfort without crying about it like a goddamned baby.”

I feel Cristian’s presence behind me, ready to put an end to this, but I shake my head. I knew I wouldn’t get an apology from Damian. I also know he’ll pay for what he’s done. But I want to give him one last parting gift before he goes.

I take another step closer and drive my knee up into his groin as hard as I can. All the men collectively groan as he doubles over and heaves like a dying animal.

When he finally looks up at me, his eyes are watering, and I offer him a sweet smile.

“Aww…it’s okay, Damian. You don’t have to cry about it. It will only hurt for a few hours.”

Cristian wraps his arms around me from behind and presses his lips to my ear as his brothers drag Damian off.

“There’s my good girl.”

I glance up at him, and for a moment, it’s easy to forget everyone else around us. Then Ares has to go and ruin it with his big mouth.

“Who would have thought we’d ever see this day?” he muses. “A Vitale willing to go to war for a Greek woman.”

Cristian meets his gaze, and while he’s controlled as always, there’s an undercurrent of tension in his body.

“In fact,” Ares continues, “I recall you famously saying that you’d sign your own death certificate before⁠—”

“I know what I said,” Cristian answers tersely. “And yes, I regret it. Happy?”

“Getting there.” Ares smirks. “You must care an awful lot about her to sacrifice your deal with Bastien.”

“Just spit it out,” Cristian says. “What will it take for you to sign off on this?”

“I have some thoughts.” Ares’s eyes glitter with satisfaction.

“Surely, you can’t be talking about a marriage contract.” I glance between them.

“Yes, my dear cousin, I’m afraid that is how this works.”

“But you aren’t my father,” I argue.

“No, I’m not. But seeing as I’ve taken on responsibility for you, it’s up to me to give my stamp of approval. Otherwise, it turns into rather messy business, and I know none of us want to go to war if we can help it.”

His threat hangs heavy in the air, and I can’t help but feel conflicted. Because I know if it weren’t for Ares, I wouldn’t be here right now. I owe him my life. I just didn’t expect that he would use me as a pawn, though I guess I should have.

In this light, it’s hard to argue that all the things the Vitales have said about him aren’t painfully accurate. He’s a notorious schemer, and now I understand why he told me I’d turned out to be a good long-term investment. He saw this coming, and he just sat back and waited for the perfect moment to make his opportunistic strike.

“Just tell us what you want,” Cristian reiterates.

“I have a proposition.” Ares’s gaze moves to Angelo. “Something I think will benefit all of us.”

“Which is?” Angelo asks gruffly.

“I know you weren’t happy about how things went down with Bastien, so I’m offering you an olive branch. Split custody. Think of it like a divorce, but with all the perks. Two birthdays, two Christmases⁠—”

“And you think Bastien’s going to agree to this?” Cristian asks.

“He already did,” Ares supplies. “For reasons I can’t particularly fathom, he does seem to be rather fond of you. He’s even willing to forgive you for crushing his poor daughter’s dream of marrying an Italian with a dry-as-toast personality.”