Page 140 of Cruelest Contract
Shit.I’ll fall at her feet and babble out endless apologies. Making my wife cry is inexcusable.
But I’ve underestimated her. She regains control before it’s lost and remains calm.
“You should understand exactly what kind of bond I have with Gabriel,” she says. “After all, you have brothers.”
“Yes, I have brothers who would die for me, just as I would die for them.”
“Yet you assume it’s not the same for me and Gabe.”
“I know it’s true for you. He’s a different story.”
She swallows and a shadow skims across her face. “Sometimes it sounds as if you hate my brother.”
“No. I just see him for what he is. Even if you can’t.”
Her chin trembles and she presses her lips together with a sniff. “What is it you think you know aboutmy twin brotherthat I don’t know?”
Fuck, I really need to stop. She’s already on the verge of breaking down. Brutal honesty will help nothing.
“Tell me,” she demands. “We’re always sopolite, aren’t we, Julian? What a civil, mature marriage arrangement we have. For once, let’s get all the ugly truth out in the open. I’m not made of eggshells. I won’t crack. Speak your mind.”
“All right. Gabriel feels no loyalty toward you, Cecilia. I’m not convinced he feels loyalty for anyone but he definitely has no use for you when you’re not needed to save his spineless ass. He’s so full of self-loathing he can hardly fucking breathe.”
“You’re wrong,” she whispers. “And you’re cruel.”
“Lying to you would be much crueler. And I’m rarely wrong, Cecilia. I’m not wrong now.”
“For your information, Gabe didn’t order me to come here and marry you. He didn’t even beg to be saved. This was entirely my decision.”
“Sure it was. But I doubt you’d feel so forgiving if your brothers and your grandfather had carried through with their original plan.”
DON’T!shrieks an inner voice.
Too late.
Cecilia freezes. “What original plan?”
I don’t answer. If I could rewind time and incinerate those words then I would.
“Whatplan, Julian?” she insists.
Protect her from this. She doesn’t need to know.
“You brought it up,” she presses. “Now tell me exactly what you meant or I’ll have to go ask your father. Maybe he’ll be honest.”
This is my fault. I was careless and I lashed out. But I’m not one to retreat from a mess of my own making.
“Gabriel killed a Made man in Junior Mancini’s crew,” I say. “I’m sure you’ve never even met Mancini. Consider yourself lucky. He’s twice your age and the rumors say his treatment of women is repulsive. His price for allowing your brother to live was you. The Grimaldis had already agreed to these terms. All Mancini needed was our permission. We said no.”
Cecilia, wide-eyed, covers her mouth while I’m talking. This is too much for her to handle. She’s avoided thinking about how readily she was used as a pawn by people who are supposed to love her.
Now I’ve presented her with a hideous fact she can’t escape from. Her family thought nothing of sending her here. They wouldn’t have balked at a far worse fate for her.
“Cecilia.” I reach for her and silently curse myself for this unforgivable revelation.
She drops her hand from her mouth but refuses to let me hold her and turns to the window instead. The wind is blowing harder, lifting the dry dirt where my mother’s greenhouse once stood.
“So you made me an offer instead,” she says softly. Her forehead touches the cold windowpane. “I suppose you did me a favor, although I’m sure that wasn’t your intention.”
