Page 20 of Dangerous Deception

“I have to go. Remember, just go with it.”

He hangs up before I can say anything else, and I’m left in the warmth of the shower room with the water pouring freely behind me.

Go with it.

What kind of advice is that? I did this for him. I did this to save him, but nowhere did it say I would have to give up my life or anything I enjoyed. No one told me I would be under twenty-four, seven surveillance and that all the things I had passion for would be brought to a halt.

Anger simmers hot underneath my skin as I blow dry my hair and storm out of the shower room. Levi is right there, watching me as always, and despite yelling at him to piss off, he just doesn’t. He remains with me all afternoon until I retire to the art room hoping my anger will be excellent fuel for my art.

Spoiler, it isn’t.

I need to get out of here. I need to be able to breathe.

With my back to Levi, I contact Marie on my phone and check in with her. She texts me about her day and delves into info on a cute guy she met at the hot dog stand, then tells me she needs to let her hair down.

Now that’s the kind of news I need.

I text her back my desire for the same and ask when she’s free, but just as her reply comes through, a hand reaches over my shoulder and snatches my phone away.

“Levi?”

“You can’t leave without permission,” Levi says. “So I can’t allow this to continue until you have that permission.”

“What the hell? Were you reading over my shoulder?” I snap, then I spot another phone in his opposite hand. “Wait a second, did you clone my phone?”

“Like I said?—”

“What the hell? Give me my phone back, you asshole!” I yell, lunging for the device. Levi is faster than me and he keeps it high out of reach. “Levi!”

“Like I said,” he repeats. “You need permission.”

My anger boils over and in a fit of rage-born frustration, I snatch up the canvas I was working on and launch it at Levi. As he ducks to avoid it, I storm out of the art room and stomp all the way to Raffaele’s office where I barge in without knocking.

“I’m not your prisoner!” I yell, heat exploding from my head and washing down my arms and legs. “You can’t keep me here!”

Raffaele calmly puts his phone down. “You’re not a prisoner.”

“Then why is Levi telling me I can’t leave without permission, huh? Why does he even know what’s on my text messages?”

“One, Levi is doing his job. He has a clone of your phone because, in case you forgot, you have come into my family, but that doesn’t mean I trust you. So I will keep an eye on you.”

Tears of frustration spring into my eyes. “That’s so messed up.”

“It’s necessary to keep myself safe,” Raffaele replies. “It’s not spying. He merely makes sure you’re not up to anything dangerous. And yes, you need my permission to leave.”

“So I am a freaking prisoner! This is bull crap. This is complete and utter bull crap!”

“Wake up, Adelina,” Raffaele snaps slightly. “Look around you. You are my wife now and I have a lot of enemies. One slip up and you could end up in the wrong hands, and countless people would use my wife against me. So yes, I need to know what you are up to and where you are. And I will decide whether it’s safe enough for you to go out.”

“I hate this,” I yell. “And I hate you! I’m not some pawn to be moved about your board, okay? I’m a person! I have a life. I have stuff to do that doesn’t just stop because you put a ring on my finger.”

“Maybe you should have told your father that when he made this deal,” Raffaele says coolly. “But as it stands, there are no stipulations I must uphold, so I will do what I think is best, which is to keep you safe. You might not believe me, but I don’t want something to happen to you.”

“Bull crap,” I spit, hurriedly wiping away the tears of frustration that escape without my permission. “You don’t care about that. If anything, you would just leave me to die like all the other people who have died under your care. I bet you’d even relish the excuse to kill a few more, huh?”

Raffaele’s face tightens suddenly. “I don’t know why you’d think?—”

A sharp trill from the phone on his desk cuts him off and he sighs deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose.

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