Page 109 of Crazed

"I won't need to ask for one," I promise. "Please, believe me."

He assesses me some more. Then shock fills me as he states, "When we land, we're getting married. And you aren't taking your birth control pills anymore."

22

Massimo

My dolce'sglistening eyes widen. I debate whether she's in shock or isn't interested in marrying me and having my babies. I give her a moment, hating the doubt I have in my mind and pissed off that I'm unprepared to ask her the right way. But everything about today makes our reality glare in my face.

Katiya finally speaks, "I don't understand."

"You don't want to marry me?" I blurt out.

She climbs onto my lap, straddling me, claiming, "No. That's not it."

"You don't want my babies?"

Her chest rises and falls faster. An expression I'm unsure about floods her. She bobs her head side to side, answering, "Kids? I don't know what kind of mother I'd make."

The anxiety in my chest lessens. I stroke the side of her head and insist, "You'd make a wonderful mother to our children."

"I would?"

"Yes."

"How can you be so sure?" She licks her lips and scrunches her face.

I cover her heart. "Because of this."

She closes her eyes then mumbles, "I don't know how to take care of a baby."

"You'll learn. Plus, we'll have help." I move my hand and cup her cheek. In a firm tone, I declare, "If you're my wife, you'll have my babies. And I'm not getting any younger, so it's now or never. Plus, you're a perfect age to start popping them out."

Pink creeps up her neck. She replies, "I just told you what kind of person I am. Now you want to marry me and have babies?"

It's not abnormal for me to make decisions with my gut, even when others wouldn't. When this happens, rationale doesn't align with my choices. In some ways, it's what makes men fearful of me. It's also always paid off for me. I take bets others won't, and it's helped me get ahead in many ways. So while this might be considered crazy, I'm trusting my instincts, which haven't failed me in the past.

Maybe I should be running from Katiya. If any of my brothers' women were plotting to betray them, they'd get as far away from them as possible. Yet it's only made me more determined to fully make her mine. While it's true I'll experience great satisfaction when Leo finds out she's no longer going to do his dirty work, it isn't only that. She'll be untouchable under the umbrella of my family's protection. He'll know I've won, and he's lost.

Then I'm going to show him my real wrath.

Still, she stares at me with those big blue eyes, full of so many doubts and questions. I assert, "I thought you said you loved me."

"I do!" she insists.

"Then what's the real problem?" I inquire, my anxiety growing. The longer she doesn't change her perplexed expression, the tighter my chest gets. I add, "If you love me, you'll marry me—willingly."

She gasps slightly. "Willingly? You would force me?"

My heart races faster. Everything about Gianni and Cara's wedding was unkosher. They had a long history of being on and off. Cara hated Gianni when they got hitched. While they didn't share all the details of their unethical nuptials, it's not a secret he forced her down the aisle.

However, it's a question I don't think I should answer. If Katiya didn't want to marry me, I'd have a harder time protecting her. The best way to ensure that is for her to become my wife. And I don't want to be like my brother, but there's no way I'm not marrying her. If she said no, I'd find some way to lure her down the aisle just like Gianni did with Cara.

As much as I despise Katiya's admission that she was working for Leo to betray me, I can't let her go. Learning about it only intensified my urge to keep her as mine forever. I'm not blind to what she could have done, but she didn't follow through with it.

Plus, I'm a man who tries to put myself in others' positions. It's not for empathy. It's usually to get in their minds and see how I can take advantage of them. It's a skill I worked hard at developing. I saw early on how you can manipulate someone if you know their situation. So as unhappy as I am about Katiya's betrayal, I understand why she thought she had no other choice.

Leo plays mind games to scare others into doing what he wants. Katiya would have witnessed many of his fear tactics. On top of that, he spent years brutalizing her. A man in my position, one who understands violence, torture, and threats, knows Leo inside and out. I'm too aware of how those past events won't fade easily. They'll never fully disappear from Katiya's mind. I'd do anything to change that reality, but some things you can't alter.

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