Page 33 of Heartless Union

He blinks before shaking his head. “I just don’t want you to say anything accidental to my father. He’s not a good man. He’s not a good boss. I’m going to take over. Understand that. And then you will be the most powerful women in the city. But with power comes enemies. People may try to target you, which is why I’m telling you this. Don’t go off on your own without me from here on out. Is that understood?”

“I’ll never have freedom of my own ever again?” My heart begins to pound frantically against my chest. It hurts in a way it never has before.

“Yes,” he says bluntly.

That one simple word is a blow to my entire body.

“For your own safety,” Rocco continues.

“For my safety or yours?”

He takes a step toward me. “Is that disobedience I detect in your voice?”

I want to tell him he only wants me “safe” because he doesn’t want me telling his father anything. I don’t believe him when he says he truly wants me safe for my own good. Rocco doesn’t care about me. I’m nothing but property to him.

“I won’t go to your father,” I say in a quiet voice. I’m kicking myself. There’s so much I want to say to Rocco, but I’m too afraid. It’s one step forward, a hundred steps back. “You’re my husband. But don’t treat me like a prisoner.”

He takes me wrist in his hand. It’s not rough, but it’s not gentle either. “I could so easily make you my prisoner.” He stares at my wrist. My entire hand and arm tingle from his touch. Then he lets me go too soon and takes a step away from me. I feel like I can breathe again. “You are not my prisoner, Lara. When we go home, you’ll have free rein of the house. But you will not leave it without me or a guard. Is that understood?”

As usual, there’s no use arguing. What Rocco wants, Rocco gets. “Yes,” I whisper, feeling my heart break as I say it. I want to be brave when it comes to my husband, yet I keep falling short.

He nods once. “Good. Let’s go.” He turns away from me.

I don’t move. I’m rooted in place. “I have to change first.”

He glances back at me, and for a moment, I think I see a softness in his eyes. Then it’s gone. “Go change.”

I hurry into the bathroom and rip off my nightgown. It’s suffocating me. I was supposed to wear it on my wedding night for my new husband when we had sex. But I’m not in love. And there was no sex because I can’t stand my husband.

I quickly change into a light pink dress and heels. Pressing my head to the bathroom door, I know the moment I step out of here, my new life with Rocco will begin.

A life I’m scared of.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door and go to my husband.

Rocco doesn’t let me say goodbye to my father. “You can still talk to him on the phone,” he says. We’re in the car on the way to his house.

“I would have liked to have given him a hug at least. I didn’t get the chance to last night.”

“Not my problem.”

At this moment, I feel intense hatred for him. “Do you have no heart? I love my dad. He was a part of my life every day, and now, I won’t have that anymore. Can’t you understand that?”

“Not really.” He keeps his eyes on the road. “I hate my father.”

I slump back into my seat. “Then we’re just two very different people.”

“That’s one thing we can agree on.”

The rest of the drive is silent until we reach Rocco’s house. It’s a brownstone in Brooklyn that screams historical charm. He doesn’t speak, even as he opens the door and lets me inside. Rocco just walks inside like his house is no big deal.

But it’s a big deal to me.

This is my new home life. Even though it’s beautiful—from the hardwood floors to the light wallpaper to the elegant furniture—it already feels like my prison. A cage where I’m supposed to look pretty and nothing else. I’m nothing more than a pet to Rocco.

“I have work to do,” he says, not looking back at me. “I’ll be in my office.”

I’m left standing in the foyer all alone.

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