Page 58 of Brutal Husband

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why not? It’s your name.” My chin lifts, challenging him. Am I trying to piss him off, or am I reminding him that I’m his equal, not his errand boy? Maybe both. I’m not his fucking errand boy.

“I have a meeting. I know there are things that you should be doing. Are you really going to let a woman tear down everything we’ve worked so hard for?”

I’m not trying to tear anything down, but I’m on edge about something, and I don’t know what or why. In the past fifteen months, my life has changed for the better and it’s all because of the brother I didn’t know I had. I grew up poorer than dirt, but throughout my twenties, I learned how to survive in the shadowy underworld, making money dealing in whatever people wanted and needed but weren’t supposed to have. It was going well until I was double-crossed by men who were supposed to be my allies, and everything was taken from me. Problem was that the peoplewho were waiting to be paid for their guns and drugs wouldn’t take excuses and explanations. They just wanted their money.

When Luca found me, I was up to my ears in debt to some very dangerous people. He paid off what I owed and killed anyone who still wanted to cut off my fingers and toes and gouge out my eyeballs.

Luca saved my life, but more importantly, he was the answer to the question I had been asking all my life. I had a twin. Atwin. I grew up with our mother, and he grew up with our father. They hated each other, and so they agreed to raise us separately on the opposite sides of the country. Luca only found out about me because our father confessed on his deathbed.

I thought I was losing my mind when I first saw Luca, but then everything about my life made sense. Ever since that day, he and I swore to put each other first. My brother has had my back since the day we were reunited, and I have his. It’s not just that we’re blood. Loyalty is more important than blood, and we’ll never forget that we were separated against our will. I’ll rip my own eyes out before I go against my brother.

“Of course I’m not going to let anything tear us down,” I assure Luca. “You and me. That’s what’s important.”

Maybe I get carriedaway as I convince Rieta to marry Nero Lombardi a second time. She just gets so wet in the back of my car that I can’t resist finger-fucking her in the pussy and ass at the same time while she pants my name and gazes at me with so much sweetness and need. I tell myself I’m just doing what’s needed to get this woman walking down the aisle, but I know that’s a lie.

I’m falling for this woman hard, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.

Luca is feeling ambitious about his ability to act like a decent fiancé around Rieta, and so he suggests a second engagement party. Nothing I say can dissuade him from the idea.

“Do you think I’m a monster?” he asks me, lounging on the sofa in his home. “I can handle one small family dinner party. I presume Rieta’s learned not to act like a little whore around me.”

“Watch your fucking mouth,” I growl. He should feel honored that Rieta said even one syllable to him. “No one wants a repeat of the last engagement party. Invite her to dinner with her family, but I want to be there.”

“Don’t be idiotic. No one can know there are two men with the name Nero Lombardi.”

“I’ll keep out of sight. I’ll listen in. If you get into trouble with Rieta or her family, come find me, and I’ll tell you what to do and say.”

“I don’t need to be babysat, but fine. Make sure you stay out of sight.”

On the night of the engagement party, I wait in the downstairs study and listen to Rieta and her mother and sisters arrive. I’m peering through a keyhole, hungry for a glimpse of my fiancée. There’s a flash of her skirt and bare calves—and then Luca blocks my view of her, and they head into the dining room, followed by Giulia and her other two daughters.

I carefully open the study door and creep silently along the corridor until I’m standing outside the dining room. Luca left the door ajar. I’m out here in the cold, listening to him speak to my woman in a voice that’s void of emotion.

I hate this so fucking much.

I didn’t think this through, and I’m not talking about tonight’s dinner. The entire agreement is a mistake. Every time Luca says something stilted or cold to Rieta, I clench my fistsand shake my head. How can he be this way with her? Does he not want to make her smile and blush so he can witness how radiant she looks with sparkling eyes and pink cheeks? He has no interest in Rieta beyond her being his arranged bride. He’s going to make her miserable.

I have to take the lead on this marriage. Luca won’t like it, but there’s no way this will work otherwise.

Dinner is wrapping up, and so I head upstairs to wait in the shadows, hoping to see Rieta. Her family leaves, and Rieta and Luca stand at the bottom of the stairs by the front door.

Rieta’s expression is cool, and her voice is colorless. “You don’t have to come to family dinners after we’re married. I don’t much like you around other people. As long as you’re not like this with me when we’re alone. Can you promise me that?”

My hand clenches on the banister. I’d never be cold with her.

“Promise me that you’ll be a warm and loving husband the next time we’re alone together, and…”

I lean closer, desperate to catch every word she’s saying. I have to know what she wants. My hand slips, and I only just manage to pull myself back into the shadows in time.

Rieta looks up, directly at me, and my heart lodges in my throat. But then her roaming eyes move on, and I realize she didn’t see anything in the shadows.

Luca draws her attention back to him, and she searches his eyes for something. Then I realize what it is.

Rieta is looking for me.

In my brother’s cold eyes.

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