Page 102 of Massimo

I jerk back in shock and denial.

That'snotpossible.

The spy my father sent would've been someone disposable in his eyes—a grunt, a nobody. Not someone in his higher ranks who witnessed the psychological abuse my father had used to control me.

This means that Massimo is trying to trick and manipulate me to learn things I don't want to tell him. He's trying to play me.

Hurt—ridiculous, but very real—slashes through me.

Massimo is a monster, just like my father, maybe worse… No, definitely worse, because he's using my gullible hope against me to pick me apart piece by piece. It's his way of punishing me, of making me learn the lessons he wants me to learn.

During sex, and those insane, earth-tilting orgasms, I stupidly felt like I was being forged into something new. Something better, something stronger.

"Let go, Nova. Let go of it all. You've lived in those fires of hell for too long. Walk through the flames and emerge forged as my queen."

His queen.

I'm such a fucking idiot.

My hand rises without conscious thought. The startling slap across his face echos like a gunshot in the dimly light bathroom. The wetness of my palm made the strike that much more vicious.

Good.

Tears blur my vision and cloud Massimo's shocked, gorgeous face as I try to climb off his lap. My heart feels like it's being ripped out of my chest—torn between agony at his betrayal and terror of what I've just done.

His massive hands hold me in place, but I'mdone.

I'm done playing the meek and mild princess. I'm done hiding away from the monsters in my world. I know I have no chance of surviving, but I'll be damned if I go out like my mother. I may be completely broken and ruined in the end, but at least I'll fight.

She tried to fight, but by then, it had been too late. I won't repeat her mistakes.

"Fuck you," I seethe, happy that I sound pissed off rather than scared shitless.

"Nova." Massimo's hands tighten on my hips. "Where the fuck did your mind go?" He gives me one hard shake. "Tell me."

"Why?" I jerk in his hold, to no avail. "So you can use it against me? So you can make me learn more fucking lessons?"

He looks like I stabbed him. "No. Fuck.That'swhat you think?"

He finally lets me leave his lap, and I push away to the other side of the big tub. He raises like a Leviathan from the depths of the ocean—water running down his corded, strong body, all dark and menacing.

But he doesn't come at me. He steps out of the tub and paces the bathroom, uncaring of the dripping wet mess on the floor. He grips hishead, making the usually smoothed, neat hair stand up. "Of course you do. Fucking Mancini. I'm going to enjoy skinning that snake."

His large frame heaves and his fists clench. I can sense he's trying to remain calm and in control.

Finally, he turns back to me and comes to kneel beside the tub. His expression is open, his Don's mask—stoic and unreadable—is gone.

"Your father didn't send a foot soldier, Nova." He pushes my hair back from my face. "It was one of his men from his personal team of guards; someone who witnessed firsthand what you've lived through."

My body trembles.

The first reason is fear because if my father sent someone that high ranking to get the evidence he needed, that means he wants me back even more than I initially thought. This means something even more horrendous waits for me if he gets his hands on me.

The second reason is shame because Massimoknows.

Not only about the food control, being locked in the basement cell, and making me watch while my mother was beaten to death.

It's being locked in a pitch-black room.

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