Page 53 of Wedlocked

I leaned my head against the seat as Ethan took the driver’s seat once again and pulled back out onto the road. I had no idea where the hell we were, only that we were in the middle of nowhere with the landscape more desert than farmland. Somewhere west if I were to hazard a guess.

My eyes blurred as I began to think of what could have been. If we’d come from normal families with normal upbringings, maybe we could have had the whole picket fence and two-and-a-half kids. I idly touched my stomach, my mind growing numb as self-protection kicked in.

Ethan turned onto a dirt road that was little more than a goat track, stunted, skeletal trees barely clinging to life in the sandy, nutrient deficient soil. Bunches of dried grasses dotted the ground, an eagle soaring up high.

I shivered as I looked up. “Are you at least going to bury me once I’m dead? Or are you going to leave me as carrion for that eagle and whatever other scavengers live out this way?”

A frown darkened his face, but I didn’t fail to notice him glance at the predator in the sky before he growled, “You promised me you wouldn’t try to escape.”

“I did. Except ‘till death do us part’ didn’t have quite the appeal to it that I’d hoped,” I said bitterly. “Even your dad told me to enjoy your attention while it lasts.” I let slip with a manic laugh. “Apparently it’s always been a little short when it comes to the ladies in your life.”

He stiffened. “When did he tell you that?”

“When doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“It does.” He glanced at me, his face inscrutable, though his dark eyes glinted. “Was it at the nightclub while I was distracted by the fight?”

I stared at him. “Well…yes.”

“Son of a bitch,” he growled softly, his jaw as tight as his shoulders.

I blinked. “Are you saying that fight was orchestrated by your father?”

He nodded. “That fight ensured I left you alone for a few minutes so he could have his chat with you.”

A shame the knowledge didn’t stop him from driving. My stomach hollowed out. His mind was clearly made up, his decision final.

A minute later he slowed the car as we approached a platoon of SUVs, where I immediately recognized the men standing outside. Ethan’s capos—his three brothers—along with their father and Ethan’s inherited advisor, Carlo. There were also at least half-a-dozen soldiers standing guard.

My stomach turned to liquid. This was it then…my inevitable death. Though I wanted only to live a long and fruitful life, it was almost a relief not to have to worry about when it’d all end.

It didn’t stop me hating my husband almost as much as I loved him. My heart stopped beating, a flush of adrenaline evaporating the sudden coldness hitting at the core of me. No. No, no, no! I couldn’t love him! How could I possibly feel that way about someone who was about to kill me? I had to hate him!

Skewering him with a cold glare, I asked, “Does your family need proof that you dispatched of me?”

His jaw tightened some more. “Do you blame them? I haven’t exactly shown them leadership qualities when it comes to you.”

“Why? Because you wanted to marry me and keep me alive? Isn’t that your right as a don? As the boss?”

His hands clenched the steering wheel, his knuckles white. “My duty is to do the best by my family.”

“I’m your wife, aren’t I? Last I heard that meant something. Last I heard a wife was family.”

He parked the car and killed the engine. If I was getting through to him, it no longer showed. He looked more automaton now than human. He was distant and cold. Like nothing could touch him…least of all me.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ethan

I got out of the car about as numb and empty as I’d ever been. I had to be. I couldn’t think about what was about to happen, couldn’t acknowledge I was about to kill my own wife. She’d dishonored me. That she was an Agostino was just another nail in her coffin.

I had no choice.

I opened my wife’s door and she swung her bound legs out and managed to stand, her robe parting to reveal her cotton nightgown underneath. Her chin lifted as her eyes flashed. She wasn’t about to die as a coward. I had no doubt she’d stand proud right to the end.

My breath shuddered out, my emotions not yet fully anesthetized.

If only Nico hadn’t been murdered then maybe I wouldn’t be in this position now. It’d always been my older brother who’d been expected to take over as don, but since his death I’d had to prove myself a hundred times over to demonstrate to everyone that I was worthy to stand in his place.

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