Page 41 of Unhinged Little Angel

SALVATORE: Hands off your pretty cock. That’s mine.

DANTE: Do you have cameras in the apartment or something? That’s an invasion of privacy.

SALVATORE: haha, no cameras, I just know my husband.

I gape at the text for another minute or two and then send an eye roll emoji and stuff my phone into my back pocket.

With my head held high and a fresh sense of confidence bolstering me, I stomp into the living room and grab the remote off of the coffee table before Antonio has the chance to reach for it.

“Get up, asshole, we’re going out.” I click off the TV.

“Nope.” He crosses one ankle over the other on the table like he’s making himself more comfortable and sinks a little deeper onto the couch.

“Fine.” I toss the remote at him forcefully, taking satisfaction in thethunkit makes when it bounces off his head. “I’m going out, you can stay here. I’m sure Salvatore, myhusband, won’t mind at all when I tell him later that you didn’t think it was necessary to actually guard me.”

I hear him muttering more unflattering things about me as he scrambles off the couch right as I reach the door. I could be the bigger person here, but where would be the fun in that?

“Good puppy.” I pat his cheek and give him the most sugary smile I can manage.

Several hours and a dozen stores later, I hate Antonio even more. His sulking and bitching are starting to give me a fucking migraine. He was even rude to the barista at the coffee place, which we only had to stop at because he was incompetent at the challenging two-step process of putting ground beans and water into a machine and pressing the start button. The new clothes I’ve bought aren’t even enough compensation for having to spend the day with this miserable asshole.

“Alright, you’ve had your fun, now we’re going home,” he says on our way out of the store, his voice ruining the one second of euphoria I managed to feel about the new shoes I bought.

My petty plan isn’t working as well as I hoped, and at least at home I can lock myself in the bedroom and not look at him again until Salvatore gets home and sends him away. But there’s no fucking way on this planet or any other that I’m going to give him the satisfaction of obedience or even compliance.

“No.” I ignore him, turning back towards where we parked the car, and I keep walking.

“It wasn’t a question,” he calls after me. “You think Salvatore won’t believe me if I tell him I had safety concerns, and you ignored them? Maybe I tell him you got away from me on purpose, almost like you had someone you needed to meet that you didn’t want me to know about. Wouldn’t be the first time a rat tried to join The Family.”

I stop in my tracks. Would Salvatore believe him over me? Would he take Antonio’s word over mine just because Antonio is in The Family? A surprising amount of certainty fills my gut. I turn halfway back around, just so he can see the relaxed smile on my face as I shrug.

“Tell him and find out.”

People move around us on the sidewalk, unaware of our silent stand-off that lasts less than a minute.

“I’m serious, get in the car or I’m leaving you here alone,” he growls.

“No,” I say again.

Antonio huffs through his nose, then rounds the car to the driver’s side, gets in, and screeches away from the curb, nearly hitting another car in the process and leaving the smell of burning rubber and exhaust in his wake.

“Fucking asshole,” I mutter.

I’m definitely not going back to the apartment while he’s still there. I could take a taxi to my place. The thought makes me shudder immediately though. Fuck, I really am going to have to break the lease and find a new place once all of this is over, aren’t I? Even once Don and his little helper are long gone, that apartment is still going to feel tainted. I consider the idea of texting Sparrow to see if he wants to get lunch or something. Dammit, is this who I am now? Mafia wife spending the day shopping and lunching with other Mafia wives? Gag.

Honestly, after hours with that condescending prick, what I really want to do is hit something… or preferably someone.

The people around me thin out as I get farther away from the shopping district, not really walking anywhere in particular. At least I stuck Antonio with all my bags, so they’re not weighing me down. A few hours just wandering around the city until Salvatore gets home isn’t the worst idea. Definitely better than going back to the apartment and beating Antonio to death with whatever heavy object I manage to get my hands on.

It takes a few blocks before I realize there’s a distinct sound of footsteps a few paces behind me. Huh. Ask and you shall receive, apparently. I pick up my pace a little to check, and sure enough, the footsteps speed up at exactly the same rate. It’sbroad daylight though. No one would be stupid enough to try to grab someone off the street in the middle of the day, would they?

The blood in my veins turns icy. Maybe it’s Don’s friend, the one who broke into my apartment and took all the pictures of me. I make a left turn down another street, residential this time, and the footsteps follow. My heart beats faster and my muscles start to tense and tick, trained through the years to react withfightwhen a predator stalks behind me, thinking they’re stealthier than they really are.

There’s hardly anyone out on this street, everyone away at work in the middle of the day. All the traffic sounds are coming from the shopping district a few blocks behind me now. I reach an alley between two apartment buildings and make a quick turn into it. I take a few steps, holding my breath against the stench of the dumpsters as I pass them, listening for the crafty predator sneaking up behind me. It only takes a few seconds before I hear his footsteps again, a crunch on the gravel, and a low laugh like he thinks he has me now.

“I guess Don didn’t warn you about me, did he?” I taunt, spinning around with my fist already cocked, a move I’ve done so many times it’s pure muscle memory.

“Actually, he did.”

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