She studies me for a long time.
I keep my features schooled. “I need to go. Do you need something to help you sleep?”
“One of your needles? No, thank you. Why is he here?”
“To take what’s mine.” I stand. “But don’t worry, I have no intention of giving it to him. Of giving you to him.” I walk to the door. “Get some sleep, Cristina.”
“I don’t want to marry you, Damian.”
“You want to remain fair game?”
“I want to go home.”
“I am your home. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“I won’t do it. I won’t marry you.”
“What are your options?”
“Just let me go.”
“You’re naïve, Cristina. Be grateful I’ve taken you under my protection.”
“Grateful?”
“Yes, grateful.” I walk back to her. “Look around you. You’re in my house. And in this house, you have one ally and many enemies. Those men at the party? I told you what they’d do to you if they could. Who’s left? Your uncle? You think he’ll save you? Remember that he sat at that table too. Or maybe your young cousin. He may be good at digging up information but I’m pretty sure even you don’t want him involved with men like us.”
She pushes a hand into her hair, then looks down as her forehead creases.
I take her chin and tilt her face up toward mine. “Your life before me is over. There is no going back. Understand that.”
“I already know that.” She tugs free.
“Good.”
She’s quiet for a long minute. “What happens after the year?”
I study her.
“Am I going to die because your sister died?”
I step away. I need a drink.
“Is that the plan?” she pushes.
“That’s not my plan.”
She rubs her face, wraps her hands around the back of her neck, then weaves her fingers together tightly in her lap.
“What do you mean? Please just explain everything to me. Just tell me. I can’t handle the games you’re playing, Damian. I’m not in your league. I’m…God, how many days has it been? I’m already falling apart. I want to talk to Liam. I want…I want this to go away. I want you to go away.”
“It’s not going away. I’m not going away. You will marry me because you need me to survive this.”
“Survive it how? How do I come out on the other side of this?”
I consider her and draw a tight breath in. My exhale is a sigh. “You give me what I want, and when it’s time, I will let you go.”
She opens her mouth, closes it again, and studies me, eyebrows furrowing. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“You’ll let me go?”
I nod.
“Why? Why would you do that?”
“What’s the point of keeping you when I’m through?”
She winces as if I’ve slapped her. I hear my words. Her expression darkens, a deep distrust settling in her eyes.
“I give you my word, Cristina.”
“What good is your word?”
“It’s all you’ve got.”
“And why do you need me? Let’s both be clear here. You’re not helping me. What is it you want from me exactly?”
“For starters, I want tomorrow. I could threaten you. I could hurt you. Hurt someone you love. I’ll get what I want either way.”
“Then why are you even asking?”
“Because you’re right. You are completely out of your league. You have no idea who or what you’re dealing with. And maybe I remember that barefoot little girl, and when I see you like this, a barefoot woman lost in this damned place, this house of monsters, maybe I don’t like it. Maybe there’s something human left in me after all.”
Something in her eyes softens, and I see her innocence. I see a need to believe. To trust. Doesn’t she know what that does to me?
She looks away, then back to me. “Only on paper. The marriage will only be on paper.”
“The marriage will be consummated.”
She licks her lips and shakes her head.
I lean toward her. “Do you want me to remind you how wet you were the other night?”
“Why would you want me when I don’t want you?”
I straighten, snort. “You can deny it all you want if it makes you feel better about yourself. Deep down, you know the truth and so do I. Give me what I want and when the time is right, I’ll let you go. Don’t, and I’ll take it anyway. But you’ll be mine forever. And your forever may not be that long.”
Her face pales. I could have left that last part out.
I walk to the door, open it, and step out.
“Damian,” she calls out.
I stop. Turn.
“Even if I agree, if I give you what you want, know that it’s not a choice I’d make if I had any real options. Know that you’re still forcing me. And you can deny that all you want, but deep down, you and I will both know the truth.”
I grin.
Clever girl.
Maybe she isn’t so far out of her league after all.
I close the door and lock it behind me.
3
Damian
“Didn’t realize you were back,” I say, walking into the dining room where my brother turns to meet my gaze. “You should have sent a message.” I take the bottle of whiskey from Lucas, grab a glass, and pour myself one.
He goes to the window and lifts the curtain to look outside. “Would you have had my room cleaned? Had a welcome party waiting with a feast ready to celebrate the return of the prodigal son?”
“No, probably not.” I take a big sip keeping my eyes on my brother’s back. He’s so fucking dramatic.
“Didn’t think so.” He drops the curtain and turns to me. “Wanted to surprise you anyway.”
“Timing’s suspicious.”
“Michela likes to keep me informed.”
“I figured that much. And Dad? He keeping you informed too?”
He studies me, eyes narrowing as he takes a sip of his drink and grins. “All you have are enemies. How does that feel, Brother?”
“That’s certainly not the case now that you’re back, I’m sure.”
We both drink, neither of us taking our eyes off the other.
He’s put the weight he’d lost after the accident back on. Six feet four and built as powerfully as me. If it weren’t for the scars, I’m pretty sure you couldn’t tell us apart. But where my arm and torso burned, Lucas took the brunt of it to his face. He almost didn’t look human for a time.
“Patching you up piece by piece, are they?” It’s an asshole thing to ask, but my brother is an asshole.
He’s found good doctors, I have to admit. He always was a vain motherfucker. But the damage is still there, and it must have scared Cristina half to death.
“The girl,” he says, instead of answering me.
“Is mine.”
“Was that the blood diamond on her finger?”
“You have a keen eye.”