Page 56 of Married with Mayhem

“Monte,” she snaps.

“Stay there,” I whisper.

“What?” she marches right over and tugs on my arm. “Care to explain your comment?”

Nope, I don’t feel like explaining a fucking thing.

She exhales loudly and ducks under my arm, popping up between me and the window. There is now zero space between us. Her body brushes against mine. Air hisses through my clenched teeth.

Some kind of shrieky Jiminy Cricket voice screams from the depths of what remains of my conscience.

Don’t do it. Don’t do it. DON’T YOU FUCKING DO IT!

This girl,the reedy little voice screeches,is Sabrina!

She’s too special, too important to me.

And I’m too fucking drunk for this to matter.

“What is it you think I fail to understand about men?” She’s angry now, with color in her cheeks and an adorable scowl twisting her mouth.

But she’s poking a beast. And she shouldn’t have.

I move my hands down until they are on either side of her shoulders. She’s backed up against the window, my captive. She’s going absolutely nowhere unless I let her.

This realization shows up on her face as frustration rather than fear. She hasn’t learned when to be afraid. That’s why she thinks nothing of sauntering into a basement to play card games with a pack of depraved men while wearing a smile and a miniskirt.

“You and your games, Sabrina.” I hardly recognize my own voice. I sound like a demon summoned from the pits of hell. “You have a bad habit of playing Russian Roulette because you’ve convinced yourself there are no bullets in the gun.”

“What are you talking about?” she says but there’s a breathless squeak on the last syllable as I push my knee between her legs.

She inhales sharply but doesn’t resist. She’s confused, staring up at me. She doesn’t know what this is, whether to be insulted or turned on.

I’m hard enough to explode and it’s driving me crazy. All I would need to do is shift my hips to let her feel the evidence.

I laugh at her and the sound is evil. “Sabrina Barone, you can’t imagine how much I’d love to tear that killer body up and turn you into my personal fuck toy. You like to win, huh? Congratulations, cupcake. You win the prize for being the hottest piece of ass I’ve ever jerked off to. But quit trying to tempt me every chance you get because we both know that I can’t be the guy to break you in and show you how to be a woman.”

The abrupt shift in her eyes is brutal. A flash of pain so intense that my very soul drops through the floor.

I’m already numb with horror as I lower my knee and drop my hands.

WHAT THE FUCK HAVE I JUST DONE?

We’ve argued plenty and I’m no stranger to Sabrina’s anger. This is different. I’d happily walk into a buzzsaw for the chance to take every word of that drunken tirade back.

“Fuck you,” she whispers.

“Brina.” I seize hold of her arms with my heart fragmenting into desperate pieces. “I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.”

She shoves my chest with both hands. “No. FUCK YOU, MONTE!” She’s shaking, breathing so hard she’s nearly gasping. She covers her mouth for a few seconds and struggles to speak. She gulps another breath and throws me a look of pure agony. “Turns out you’re not nearly as perceptive as you think. Guess what, you macho asshole? Someone else alreadybroke me inand he wasn’t too nice about it. He’s actually even more of a prick than you are. Now stay the fuck back!”

Her final words, no matter how forceful, can’t mask the onslaught of tears. She hides her face and hurries away, nearly tripping as she sobs her way to the bathroom.

The door slams shut.

And I’m left out here with only the terrible echoes of my own words and actions.

I’ve been on the wrong side of the law for a while. It’s fair to say that my moral compass is cracked beyond repair. I’ve done things that would make normal people recoil in horror.

---