Antonio: Headed to Sidorov’s penthouse.
Cazzo.I really don’t want to have Katya so firmly in enemy territory, even if it is her brother’s place she’s going to.
Scorpion: Keep me posted.
“What’s so interesting on your phone?” Chiara pouts. “I haven’t heard from you in weeks. If you don’t soon come visit me, I’ll have to find another man who can give me what I need. Is that what you want, baby?”
I don’t share. She knows it. I was clear on one thing—while we’re together, there’s no one else. When I shrug indifferently, she understands what I’m telling her.
“Do what you need to do.”
Shock registers on her pretty face. “That’s what you really want, me to find someone else?”
I gesture between us. “This was always temporary. It was convenient for us both. Now it’s not. I’m sure you have a new man lined up already. You have my permission to move on to him. It’ll be better for everyone.”
“You selfish bastard. I can’t believe that after everything I’ve given you, you can just dismiss me like I’m nothing!”
She’s shouting by the time she finishes.
It’s hurting my fucking head. This is what I was trying to avoid by staying calm.
“Don’t push me,” I warn her. “You knew what you were getting into with me. I have rules for a reason.”
The rules are always clear. I don’t do emotions. I don’t do forever. If you hop into my bed looking for a diamond ring, you’re in the wrong fucking bed. Or at least you were until I had no choice but to marry.
“I thought you loved me.” Chiara grabs the bag of takeout and flings it across the room.
Pasta alla carbonara flies all over the walls. My patience explodes.
With a curse, I zoom out of my chair and around the desk, grabbing Chiara as gently as possible and hauling her to her feet. “Get the fuck out of my office.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you hear what I have to say to you,” she snaps, trying to claw my face with her razor-sharp talons.
I swat her hand away, but not before she scratches me. “Get out before I throw you the fuck out.”
“You think that little Russian waif will keep you happy?” she demands, putting up a struggle as I start hauling her to the door. “She probably doesn’t even know how to suck a cock. She’lldefinitely never let you tie her up. She’ll never make you come like I can.”
“If you ever say a goddamn word about her again, I’ll kill you. Do you understand me?”
I kick open the door and pull a kicking, scratching Chiara over the threshold, but none of my men are anywhere to be seen. Where the hell is Gio when I need him? I should have texted him, but I was too pissed after Chiara threw pasta all over my walls to think straight.
She scratches my cheek again. “Bastard! Lying pig! Fucking asshole!”
Gio comes around the corner with backup.
“Get her out of here,” I order him, feeling blood dripping down my cheek. “She’s banned from the club for life.”
Chiara loves gambling here. It’s her addiction. I know that denying her entrance is as big a punishment as breaking it off with her is. I’m not fooled that she cared about me. But she liked the power that came from being with me. She liked what I could give her. That’s all over now. I should have made it clear from the second I knew I was marrying Katya.
“You can’t ban me from the club!” she shouts at me as Gio and another guard take her off my hands. “I won’t let you treat me like trash! You’ll regret this, you fucking coward. Just wait until I tell her the truth about you, all of your kinky perversions. She’ll leave you.”
“Watch your tongue, or I’ll have it cut out,” I snap, meaning that threat. “And if you dare to insult my wife, I’ll make sure you can never do it again.”
I don’t harm women.
But when it comes to Katya, I’m fucking feral. I will protect my wife at all costs.
Gio and the guard carry Chiara away, and I stalk back into my office, calling for a cleanup crew for the takeout that’s all over my floor and wall.