Page 70 of Cold Hard Kisses (London Mafia Kings)

The door slammed shut behind him, and I gave the driver Tam Cornell’s address.

“Yes, Miss.”

I watched the streets of London go by, lost in thought and barely holding back tears. Was this really it? Was it over?

My heart was all but in my throat as we approached the house. Was Tam home? It was impossible to tell. I had my key and knew the code for the alarm. Would he have changed it already?

“Wait here,” I told the driver, and I climbed out and approached the gate. My key still worked, as did the code.

I let myself in and hurried upstairs to the bedroom. My case was in the walk-in wardrobe, and I hauled it out and threw it open on the bed. I surveyed the room, and my heart clenched with pain. Was this the last time I’d ever be in here? I remembered how terrified I’d been on the first day, how Tam had looked at me as though he was going to eat me all up, and how much I’d discovered that I wanted him to. Was that all over now? Would I never get to hold him again? Never feel his mouth against my skin, or inhale the clean, tangy scent of him?

I picked up his pillow and hugged it to my chest and ducked my head to inhale his scent. Tears threatened, and I threw the pillow back down again.

He’d crossed a line, and I couldn’t just give in and pretend like it had never happened, no matter how much I felt like my heart was breaking. If I did, then I’d be telling Tam that I didn’t care how he treated me. In fact, it wasn’t so much about how he treated me—I think I’d have been able to suck it up and deal with it, if I was the only one who’d been affected. It was about how he treated my family. The whole point of our marriage was that we put the years of warring with one another behind us, and become one, and Tam couldn’t even handle having my brother in his bar. If that was how Tam was going to act, then what was the point in it all? I was doing all of this for nothing.

Before I could let my resolve flounder, I raced around the room and opened the drawers, scooping up clothes and shoes, and makeup and toiletries. I felt like each item I touched had a different memory attached to it, and I found myself choking back sobs.

A male voice came from the bedroom doorway. “What the fuck are you doing, Hallie?”

I froze, still leaning over my bag. “What does it look like? I’m packing.”

“Unless you’re packing so we can go somewhere exotic for a holiday, I suggest you stop right now.”

“I wouldn’t go anywhere with you.” Anger burned through me. My entire body bristled with it. Just his presence in the room made me want to throw things.

His tone was cold. “Then I suggest you stay right where you are, ’cause if you’re not going anywhere with me, you’re not going anywhere at all.”

I threw a pair of jeans down with far more force than needed and spun to face him. I folded my arms across my chest and stared him right in the eye. I wasn’t going to let him bully or intimidate me now. I’d seen how he’d treated Jayden, and any begrudging respect or feelings I might have developed for him over the past couple of weeks blew away like smoke in the wind. Okay, maybe not all of them. I didn’t think the hurt and way some part of me desperately wanted him to apologise and make everything all right meant that my feelings had completely evaporated, but I was determined not to let them affect my actions.

“What are you planning on doing then, Tam? Making me a prisoner? Are you going to lock me inside this house and take away my phone?”

Hadn’t I always been a kind of prisoner here? I might not have been kept here by locks and chains, but I’d been held prisoner by loyalty and duty.

A muscle in his jaw twitched. I’d put bets on him wanting to do exactly that. But he must have realised that doing such a thing would start a war. It was one thing us getting married for our families, but it was a whole other thing for him to hold me against my will.

“I know you feel something for me,” he said. “Why else would you walk in here and smell my pillow.”

I froze. “How the hell did you know I did that?”

I’d been alone in the room when I’d done that. I was sure of it.

Tam held up his phone and on the screen were several smaller screens, each showing a different part of the house.

My mouth dropped open. “You have cameras in here? You’ve been watching me?”

“Not all the time, but you do look pretty fucking great in the bath.”

I couldn’t believe it. “And you wonder why we’re over.”

“What about the wedding?” he said.

I shook my head at him. “Don’t pretend like you give a shit about the wedding. You never wanted to get married, Tam. Actually, neither of us did.”

He jerked back slightly, as though my words had slapped him.

“You never wanted to marry me?”

“I was doing this for my father—for my brother, too. I was securing our futures. The idea of marrying a man who was more than a decade older than me, was, quite frankly, revolting.”

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