Page 62 of Say I Do

“Just ask your goddamn question.” I put my chopsticks down. I was liable to break them in half with the amount of tension rolling through me.

“Fine. You fucked him?”

“Is that really a question, or you already know?”

“Harlow, answer me. Now.”

Why did it matter?“You’re surprised I’m not a virgin?”

“Fanculo a questo. Rispondete a questa domanda prima che vi uccida, fottuta troia,” Benito said. His brown eyes were just as cold as the day we met. “You either start talking, or I’ll make you.”

“You aren’t the first man my father traded me off to. You just happen to be the last.”

The look of horror on Benito’s face flashed and morphed into pity. I reached over and grabbed the fork up so fast neither of us prepared for it. I slammed the four prongs into his thigh. He grunted, but at least that foul look was off his face. I never wanted to see it again.

“Show me pity again, and I will stab your dick.” Anger rolled through me in waves. I wasn’t weak or in need of saving. That fucking shit made my skin crawl.

Benito growled as he yanked the fork out of his thigh. It didn’t go nearly deep enough.Was Qiang right? Am I growing soft?

“Are you jealous?” I spat.

Why did that question make my heart jump? I realized I wanted him to be. I wanted Benito to want to burn down the world for me. It was a childish dream I had no need for, but it burrowed into my soul the more I tried to brush it away.

“You going to take on the head of the triad for me?” I laughed at the ridiculousness of the question. It would be an all-out bloody war. No one would survive. Fuck, New York would forever be changed.

Benito said nothing, but the look on his face had me out of my seat in seconds. The chair toppled over and crashed to the ground.

I slapped Benito and grabbed him up. “Have you lost your fucking mind?” I smacked him again, my hand stinging with the force. His cheek reddened under his deeply tanned flesh.

“Benito, get this through your thick skull; we aren’t some damsel in distress and white knight pairing.”

He glared up at me. His dark eyes captured pieces of me I wasn’t sure I would ever get back.

“I don’t need fucking saving, and I sure as shit don’t want or need a hero.” I got off his lap, dinner forgotten.

“Then what the fuck do you want from me, Harlow?” Benito was up and pulling me back.

“Nothing. Is that so fucking hard for you to believe?”

He scoffed and let me go. “Bullshit, everyone wants something. Let me know when you’re done lying.” He walked past me, and I lost my shit.

I’d always had a bad temper. My control was paper thin on a good day. But for some reason, when it came to Benito, it didn’t exist at all.

I grabbed the first thing I could and threw it at his head. Chinese food rained down and splattered all over the floor. Benito stopped in his tracks, turned, and his cold brown eyes focused on me.

“Really?”

I grabbed another container and threw the fried rice at his face. Benito dodged it as he came at me. I didn’t try to dodge his fist as it connected with my torso. I hit him right back in the chest. He stumbled before coming right back. We traded blows, neither of us knocking the other out.

My blood pumped the more we fought. No words were spoken, but I was flooded with relief.No amount of therapy can give me this.

Benito grabbed me and slammed my back against the table. At some point, we stopped hitting each other, something shifted between us, and we became frantic. The dishes rattled as we tore at each other’s clothes.

“You’re a fucking headache, you know that?” Benito growled.

“Shut the fuck up and fuck me already.” My breath hitched as Benito ripped my pants off along with the panties I wore.

“He get to see these?”

---