Page 66 of Where Quiet Hearts Scream
“Ha!” She barks out a laugh. “Don’t like it when the shoe’s on the other foot?
She has a fair point. I don’t, but I’m not arguing right now. I need the truth. “You shut down during dinner.”
I sense something snap inside her. Years of torturing my enemies and negotiating with people I need something from has honed my instincts.
Her gaze finally flicks to mine and it’s filled with hate.
“What do you expect?” she seethes. “You’re giving me to that disgusting man just so you can seal a deal.”
What?I open my mouth to speak but she carries on.
“That’s all you wanted, isn’t it? Not just awife. Not just a wife who is related by marriage to the Di Santo’s. You wanted a wife you could pimp out to secure your dirty deals. I mean, what could be more attractive than that? To sleep with the sister to a Di Santo wife? Especially if you’re a dirty politician who thrives on power.”
She turns, about to walk away, so I reach out and grip her shoulders. She’s not going anywhere until she’s explainedexactlywhat she means.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Her eyes round, then narrow on a dime.
“Don’t you dare pretend that’s not what you’ve justdone. You exchangedmefor the plans for your tech facility.Mein return for that man’s signature.”
My voice sounds otherworldly, like the devil himself has hacked into my throat. “I didnothingof the kind.”
She thrusts her hands to her hips and squares up to me. “Then why did you frown at me to be quiet while he was feeling me up under the table?”
I take a step backward, a red fog passing over my consciousness. “He was what?”
Serafina must sense something in my voice because she swallows loudly.
“He had his hand on my thigh…”
My nostrils flare like they belong to a caged animal.
“Then he moved it up and took ahold of me… of my…”
Her cheeks flush, not an adorable shade of pink, but a mortified, embarrassed red. She can’t finish the sentence, but she doesn’t have to.
“H— hetouchedyou?”
Her eyes dart side-to-side over mine, confusion ripping through her whole body. “Yes. I thought that was what you wanted.”
I stare at her in disbelief.
I can’t get a handle on the rage flooding through me. I’ve never felt anything like it. Not when my father betrayed me over and over, not when gang lord after gang lord killed off my men in the early days. It’s singing my skin and threatening to erupt in a blaze of violence.
My voice is a shadow. A dark, bitter shadow. “I don’teverwant another man’s hands on you.”
Her eyes ping so wide I worry her eyeballs might actually pop out.
“Look at all of this…” I coast my gaze around the entrance hall and dart it back to her. She knows I’m referring to everything I’ve done to try and help her since I put my ring on her finger. “Why would I?” I seethe.
“I—I don’t know,” she whispers, breathless.
Rage infuses me and I can’t look at her wide eyes and heaving chest any longer.
“Go to bed.”
“When will I see you again?” Her words are weak and panicked.
