Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 89772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
He deviously grinned, reading my mind.
I shook off the thoughts, pretending like he didn’t catch me gawking at him. “It is Italian mafia tradition for my aunts to burst in here tomorrow morning and strip the white linen sheets off the bed. Can you guess why?”
He narrowed his beady eyes at me, curious where I was going with this.
“They need to make sure that the bride’s virgin blood soaked the sheets.”
He jerked back, not expecting me to say that.
“Fucking morbid, right? Like who came up with that? Oh, I know! Some mafioso who wanted to show off to La Famiglia so he could prove his brass balls on someone else he thinks he owns. You see, I’m cheapened to just property now. You might as well have put a fucking hit out on me. Every enemy you will ever make will know I’m your greatest weakness. Not because you love me, or respect me, or even cherish me. It’s simply because they want what you have. It won’t just stop at me, Crucifixio. They’ll take everything from you, including your children.”
“Our children. I would never—”
“Don’t tell me you’d never let anything like that happen, Cruz. I’m not stupid or naive. You married a woman who was born into this life. I know more about it than you do. Why do you think your father faked his death? You can’t raise a family in this world and not think they’ll eventually be used as collateral. My life is valued more than yours now. You see, the person who gets killed is gone, they’re done. They get buried. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It’s just a body that rots away. It’s the people who get left behind to mourn their loss. Those regrets are the consequences of this mafia life. Death is easy, husband. It’s living in this world that’s hard.”
If he felt any emotions by what I confessed, he didn’t express it in the least.
Wanting some sort of reaction out of him, I added, “I’ve experienced it firsthand. I watched my mother die in front of my eyes.”
“I know.”
“Oh, do you now?”
“I make it a point to know everything about you.”
“Hmm…I see…did my father also tell you the car bomb was meant for me?”
Nothing.
No affect.
The neutral expression on his face had my mind racing. I couldn’t stand to have him look at me the way he was. It reminded me of all the times I wanted to know what my father was thinking in similar situations. He never showed me anything I wanted to see. The stronger and more heated the discussion, the better control he had over his composure.
A fucking wall I wanted to break down. My worst nightmare had come to life, I married a mafioso.
“Are you just going to stand there and be all you?”
“What would you like me to do, Sienna? Coddle you, empathize, apologize for being who I am? I won’t do any of those things. This is the life we live, and unlike you, I’m trying to make the best of it. Which is why I wanted you as my wife.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“You just said this was an arranged marriage for you too.”
“I don’t need you to repeat my words, I know what I said. But since you need to hear it again, this marriage was my idea.”
I gasped. “You’re lying.”
“There’s no point in lying to you. You’re already my wife.”
My eyes widened. “I don’t understand.”
“Then pay attention. I’m clearly speaking to you.”
“Listen, asshole—”
“Do I talk to you like that, Sienna? I could call you a raging fucking bitch right now because you’re acting like one, but I haven’t.”
“You just did.”
“To prove my point.”
“Which is?”
“Treat me with respect unless you want to see—”
“El Diablo?”
Chapter 23
—Sienna—
He deviously grinned again, and I resisted the urge to call him a dick.
“Whether you like it or not, I’m your husband and I expect to be treated with common courtesy.”
“Or what? I’m not scared of you.”
Out of nowhere, he jolted forward, and I jumped back.
Fucking asshole!
In a cocky tone, he taunted, “You sure about that, Sin?”
“It was a reflex.”
“Are you always this sassy?”
I shrugged. “Are you always this much of a cold-hearted bastard?”
“I’ve been called worse things.”
“Oh…I know. Trust me, every girl at my academy knew who Crucifixio Martinez was. Your pompous reputation proceeds you, and now that I’ve met you…well, I can surely say the horns fit.”
He scoffed out a chuckle while his fingers moved to his mouth. Back and forth his thumb started rubbing along his bottom lip with nothing but intrigue written all over his face. Studying my stance, wanting to know what I was thinking, what I was feeling. His regard quickly turned predatory and I suddenly found it difficult to breathe.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want to get in my panties. I will never willingly let you in them.”