Page 40 of Hateful Union

His arm tightens around me and he presses a soft kiss against my head. “It’s going to be okay,” he assures me.

I’m nowhere near being okay. The past three weeks I’ve been hanging on by a thread, now he’s here, I feel as though I’m drowning.

I lead him to the back deck and close the door to the villa behind me. Gabby is the nosiest person I know, she’s worse than the gossips in the salon on a Saturday morning.

“You wanted to talk?” I say once we’re seated and I’m pouring wine into our glasses.

His lips thin, “Raylee, I get that you’re pissed and you have every right to be, but what happened between us, I thought you’d at least be a little accommodating.”

I blink. Is he for real?

“What happened between us?” I echo.

He doesn’t sense my tone, “Yeah, we had a night of unforgettable sex, felt something that is unexplainable. You did too. Something, mind you, that hasn’t happened with any other woman. You’re on my mind constantly.”

“Oh, see, when you said what happened between us, I thought you meant that you made me watch my best friend die. You pursued me in hopes of breaking me and in return breaking my family. Then we fucked, Malcolm, fucked,” I spit, angry as hell right now. “Then you flew across the world and I haven’t seen or heard from you in almost a month. So tell me, Malcolm, what part of that did you think I’d be accommodating about?”

He pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath. His lips are moving, but I can’t hear any words that he’s saying. But it sort of looks as though he’s counting. “Baby,” he begins, “I fucked up, I’ve admitted that.”

I scowl at him. “Oh and I’m supposed to just forgive you?” I reply snarkily.

He sighs, “No, I guess not.”

“Why did you do it?” It’s what I need to know, his answer to this is what’ll set about what happens next.

“I didn’t fuck you, Raylee, no matter what you think. It may have started out like that, but as soon as I sank inside of you and heard that whimper, I was gone. We made love.” His voice holds some anger and I’m shocked by it. “You’ve gotten under my skin and I want to fucking keep you there. I tried to forget you but, baby, you’re unforgettable.”

Well damn. That’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever said.

I’m silent for a beat, letting his words hit me. God, my head’s a mess right now.

“I meant why did you let Mayer die?” My voice is laced with pain as it is anytime I speak about the man that I loved like a brother.

He sucks in a ragged breath. “Okay,mo stór, I’m going to lay it all out to you.”

I nod, “That would be good.”

He doesn’t hesitate. “I may have seen you as an opportunity to get to your father, but you fucked that up by being you. Sexy, smart, sassy, and you give me shit. I fucking love that. You’re not scared of me and that’s something I’m not used to.”

I roll my eyes. Oh the big, bad mafia man is used to people cowering at his feet and jumping to do whatever the hell he wants. I’m not that type of person and I wouldn’t do that to my father, I sure as fuck wouldn’t do it to anyone else.

“At the bar, I knew that I wanted you. Like a fucking drug, I was drawn to you. I can’t explain it and, baby, if I even tried, I’m pretty sure everyone will think I’m batshit crazy.”

I raise a brow, “Who says they don’t already?”

His lips twitch, “True enough. But, Raylee, when I walked outside and assessed the situation, my only thought was keeping you safe. Not your friends. Not Christian or myself, just you.”

My breath leaves me like a punch to the gut at his admission.

He needs to stop. God. He’s killing me.

“When they started in on Mayer, I made the judgement of staying by your side and, baby, I’d make the same call each and every time. There were four of them, if I had intervened, I couldn’t be sure that one of them wouldn’t harm you while my attention was diverted. So I stayed and made sure that you were safe.”

He’s saying all the right words, but I feel as though he’s hiding something. “What else?”

“I found out that not only was your father and Ashton the ones that raped the women, but Mayer did also,” his voice is gentle and filled with remorse. “Those men believed it to be true also.”

“You think he deserved what he got?” I whisper, infuriated that he decided to play God.

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