Page 63 of Devious
“Because you were going to hurt me! I’m always trying to prove that I’m not going to betray you. I feel like all you do is take, and I get the little crumbs of you.”
He stares at me with confusion on his face, then says, “Trust me when I say this.” He grips my chin and digs his nails into my skin. “You’re not getting crumbs of me. If I wasn’t into you in the first place, I would have ended your life on our wedding day. I would have slit your throat and buried you the next day and found someone who was willing to do the exact job you were supposed to do—which is shut the fuck up and bear my kids. Or I could have let Terrance keep you as his pet. After my research on him, he would have made what I did to you look like child’s play. The only reason why I spared you was because I want you, and I’m trying my damnedest to make this relationship work. If you ever try to meddle in my business again, I’ll punish you. I’ll spank you, Roselyn.”
His words shake me to the core, cutting me deep. Fear wraps around me, but the idea of him spanking me makes me wet. Why am I a glutton for pain? The last time he spanked me, I was turned on.
His eyes are blank, and no hint of emotion lingers in them. He peers down at his expensive watch. “This conversation is over.”
I didn’t think the stuff he was doing for me was his way of trying to make amends.
Guilt coils in my stomach like a snake. Why do I feel guilty? I haven’t done anything wrong. “I’m sorry, Devious. I won’t disobey you again.”
He doesn’t respond.
“I’m really sorry.”
“Do you know why you’re not allowed to know what goes on in the mafia? Why we have the rule to keep the wives from knowing what’s going on?” I shake my head and he goes on. “It’s for protection. The first person our enemies go after is the wives, and if you don’t know anything then you can’t let them know. They can’t get information from you. If the FBI tries to come after me—which I highly doubt—you can’t go to prison or be charged with being an accessory. It’s protection for both of us, nymph.” He yanks my hands to his mouth, leaving trails of kisses on my palms. “You being safe is all that matters to me.”
His words make me melt, and my cheeks heat. “I had no idea, Cayden. It won’t happen again.”
He kisses the top of my forehead then he holds my hand as we get into the SUV.
He tells the driver to take us to the casino as he straps my seat belt for me. I see the tension on his face and in his shoulders, but I keep my mouth closed.
Inside the gigantic casino, slot machines hum to life, and people surround different tables. My eyes try to adjust to the bright lights.
“You ever played blackjack?” Devious asks.
I shake my head. “Show me.”
He shows me to a table, and a guy dressed in a sharp suit bows his head. “Mr. Vitali. You want to play?”
“My wife wants to play,” he says. “You say ‘hit me’, and if you get over twenty-one, you lose.”
We play blackjack three times, and I lose every game. After we finish the game, Devious takes me out to eat, and then we do some sightseeing of different artwork.
We find ourselves standing outside of a museum.
“Consider this your first official vacation.” He pauses. “You said you want to travel the world, so if you behave, I’ll take you anywhere you want. Besides, you can use some fun because when we have our first child, you will be swamped with the baby. We’re not having nannies—I want you to be a good mother to him or her.”
I want to tell him I’m not ready to have any kids yet, and we have our whole lives ahead of us to do it, but I don’t want to start an argument. The thought of having a kid terrifies me. A kid will depend on me to take care of it and call me their mother. Something about that doesn’t sit right in my soul.
I nod, giving him a fake smile. “How soon do you want to start having kids?”
He stares at me with sad eyes. “Not right now, I don’t want any kids anytime soon.”
I sigh in relief and place my hand over my heart.
“I have a surprise for you.”
Devious
“Close your eyes,” I tell Roselyn as we go to the restaurant.
“No,” she answers.
“I’m serious, Roselyn. Do you trust me?”
She gives me a serious look, arching her eyebrow. “I trust you to protect me, but I don’t trust you to not kill me,” she jokes.
