Page 71 of Bloody Vows
My jaw tightens at the mention of Enzo’s name. The man Simone was supposed to marry. The man she plotted against me with. I haven’t forgiven her for that, yet. The feeling of betrayal is too fresh, and though I see fear in her eyes when she talks about Sal, I wonder how much I can trust it. How good of an actress my wife really is.
"He won't hurt you," I say firmly. "I won't let him touch you, Simone. I'll keep you safe.
She laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Will you? Or will you just use me the same way he wants to, the same way Enzo wantsto? You married me for power, Tristan. You've never pretended otherwise. How is that different from what they want?"
The question hits me harder than I expected, and for a moment, I don't know how to answer. Because she's right, isn't she? I did marry her for power. I did see her as a means to an end, at least at first.
Now she’s an obsession. I’m not sure if that’s any better.
I try for honesty, the only thing I haven’t tried yet. The only bridge that I can still see between her and me, that might not result in our marriage continuing to be an endless battle of wills.
The battle turns me on. But the stakes are higher now, and threats are coming our way. I can’t afford to always be at odds with my wife if I’m going to succeed at this venture.
If I’m going to keep what I took when I claimed her.
"Maybe it's not," I admit finally. "Maybe I am using you, just like they want to. But there's one difference."
She snorts, brushing back a loose piece of hair as she looks at me with that same defiance that I know so well. "What's that?"
"I'll protect you while I do it. I'll keep you safe, I'll make sure you're taken care of, and I'll never let anyone hurt you. Can Sal or Enzo promise you the same?"
She stares at me for a long moment, and I can see her processing my words, weighing them against everything she knows about the world we live in.
"That's not enough," she says finally.
I feel something drop in my chest. "What do you mean?"
Simone shrugs, setting her coffee cup down. "Protection isn't enough. Being taken care of isn't enough. I don't want to be your beautiful prisoner, Tristan. I don't want to be locked away in this mansion like some precious object while you go out and live your life. You don’t deserve me. You didn’t earn me. Youstoleme. You’vetakenme. You think you’re some mafia warlord who’s claimed the woman who will give him everything, but I willgive younothing, because you haven’t shown me why I should. You want to save me and protect me and shield me, but there’s nothing behind that shield that I want."
“That’s a lie.” I glare at her, frustration welling up. “I felt you last night, Simone. I’ve felt the way you respond to me before. You want me. You’re just too fucking stubborn to admit it.”
“And you’re too fucking arrogant to admit that you don’t deserve a damn thing you’ve been given!” She raises her voice, her eyes spitting fire, and her jaw clenches. “You can keep taking what you want, Tristan. I certainly can’t stop you. But you’ll never get what youneed.”
Without another word, her chin in the air and her eyes dark with fury, she shoves past me, striding toward the door. I could stop her, but I don’t, too startled by the rage in her voice and the force of her words to do anything.
I flinch as she slams the door behind her, leaving me in her room, standing in the wake of her anger. It feels like a physical thing, and for a long time, I don’t move, staring after her.
Nothing about that went the way I thought it would.
And I have no idea how I’m going to fix any of it.
19
SIMONE
The silence between us is oppressive.
It’s the only way I can describe the three days that follow our encounter in the alleyway, the desperate sex in the back seat of his car, the fights before and after. Tristan and I move around each other like wary animals, speaking only when necessary, our conversations clipped and professional and utterly devoid of the heat that usually suffuses all of our interactions.
It's maddening.
He’s angry with me. I know he is. And I can’t entirely blame him. He knows I tried to plot to kill him. That I ran away. I’m so far from a loyal wife that it’s impossible to imagine how we’d get to that, even if I wanted it.
And he’s done nothing, as far as I’m concerned, to inspire my loyalty.
Yes, he saved me from Konstantin’s ultimatum. Yes, he came after me when I ran. But I don’t believe that it’s for any reason other than the fact that he sees me as his possession, something that can be lost or stolen away, and that if he loses me now, soearly in his tenure as the new head of the former Rossi empire, he might lose his grip on that as well.
I don’t believe it has anything to do with me. I don’t believe he cares for me. Hewantsme, but that’s not the same thing.
