Page 16 of Say I Do

“Tony, right?”

The guy looked up at me. His gaze dragged slowly up my frame. I wasn’t short, nor was I jam-packed with muscles. He probably assumed he could take me.

“Yeah. If you want your weapons, it’s not happening. The boss said no.”

I swallowed back my irritation. “I need to go shopping.”

“You aren’t supposed to leave until the boss gets back.”

“Where did he go?”

Tony shut his mouth and glanced away from me. He’d been there the day we got married. If he hadn’t been, he wouldn’t be so guarded around me. His hand rested near his waist, and he watched my every move.

“I have some missing items I need to replace.”

Tony shook his head. “No weapons.”

I smiled at him, showing off my teeth. “We both know I don’t need a weapon if push comes to shove.”

Tony leaned away a little more. “What do you need?”

I cocked a brow at him. “You going to go shopping for me?”

He shrugged. “You aren’t allowed to leave.”

I slammed the door shut in his face. Sure, I could take him, but then what? Go search for Benito? Not happening. I wrote down exactly what I needed, along with brand and size. I opened the door and gave him the list. Tony read over it, his brows practically touching the further he read.

“Wait, I—”

“Get it done, and don’t bring back anything cheap. I can’t kill my husband. No one said anything about his… whatever the fuck you are. A henchman?” I slammed the door in his face, not waiting to see if he’d listen.

* * *

Tony had delivered.I grabbed the multitude of bags from his hands.

“You’re wel—” The door silenced him.

I made my way to the main bedroom. Benito still wasn’t back, giving me time to put away the new clothing along with the others in our now shared bedroom. He thought he could put me in the guest room out of sight and out of mind. I thought the fuck not. Benito would think about me every second of every day. I would burrow so deep into the man’s psyche that he would start believing we were one and the same.

I worked quickly, filling out the rest of my side. It still wasn’t as full, but there weren’t any huge gaps either. I wiped the few beads of sweat resting on my forehead. The last bag was my favorite. I hadn’t known if Tony would go through with it. I opened it again and smiled down at all the goodies.

I put a few in Benito’s nightstand but stopped at the way the drawer softly closed instead of slammed. My brows dipped as I raced over to my side. I opened and closed the nightstand. They weren’t the same. Because I had all the free time in the world now, I took everything out and swapped them.

It was one of many inconveniences I planned to plague Benito’s life with. I told him he could do this the difficult way or the easy way. He chose the hard, piss-me-off route.

Once everything was done to my liking, I checked the time. It wasn’t exactly late, but after rearranging an entire luxury closet, I was exhausted. I stripped out of my clothes and headed for the shower. An idea struck me, and I went back to my bag of greatness. I laughed under my breath as I hid a few items in the shower.

Happy with my “Fuck you, Benito, you’re a piece of shit” plan, I relaxed in the shower. The water pressure worked over my back, making me groan. It hit my ass, and I hissed from the bruise that had formed. I didn’t have to get out and look at my ass to know it would be blue and purple tomorrow. I bruised easier than a peach.

“Bastard.”

I forced all thoughts of Benito to the furthest part of my mind as I enjoyed my shower. I grabbed the shampoo I had Tony buy and washed my hair. Suds covered my hand as I worked through the strands. I lost myself in the simple-minded motions. Washing my body from head to toe, I contemplated my life. No one had told me what I was supposed to do now. I doubted I’d get to go back to killing and collecting debts for the organization.

I was no longer a Hayashi; I was a fucking Vitale. I shut the shower off at my realization.

“Fuck. A Vitale.”

I did my best not to think, but it was impossible. I didn’t mind being feminine and preferred it, but I was no one’s bitch. If Benito thought my new purpose in life was to wait on him hand and foot, I’d kill us both. Fuck the deal. Fuck everything. Panic created a sour taste in my mouth as I realized I had no answers. I knew what I didn’t want to do, but I didn’t know what Ineededto do.

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