My cell vibrated on the desk as I looked over the reports Enzo had sent to the house. The Bellandis wouldn’t leave me to fight my war alone; not after Rafael and I had given everything to help them in theirs.
By the time Thalia’s wedding came, we’d be ready. We just needed to develop the perfect strategy in the meantime. I picked up the phone when Christian’s name flashed on the screen, knowing that he would be safely tucked away in his tiny apartment at this late hour. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, jolting to my feet as every muscle in my body tensed. The thought of Thalia being harmed at all was enough to send me into a furious rage, but for her to be hurt severely enough that he would risk his cover to contact me?
It was unthinkable.
‘She’s fine,’ he reassured me quickly. ‘I promise. No one has hurt her in the last few days from what I’ve seen.’
‘Then what the fuck do you want?’ I snarled, dropping my weight back into my chair.
‘She came to me with a request today. It isn’t something that I’m comfortable dealing with on my own, so you might have to move up your timetable.’ He gave an uncomfortable chuckle, and I could just imagine the man rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand.
‘What are you talking about?’ I asked, exhaustion creeping into my tone. Every waking hour had been spent making arrangements and contacting allies in the region who would be willing to go up against the five remaining families to have me reinstated.
Or to kill them all and take the city for myself. Either option worked just as well for me.
‘She doesn’t want to lose her virginity to Damianos,’ he said suddenly. ‘She asked me to help her get a window where she can find a man and…’ He trailed off, the hesitance in his voice making me grind my teeth together.
‘Don’t you fucking say it,’ I warned with a growl.
He ignored me, continuing on. ‘She wants to find someone to fuck her, so she can say at least once she had a choice in who she took to bed. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you aren’t down with that idea, so how would you like me to handle it? I saw the look on her face, man. If I say no, she’ll just find another way.’
My chest vibrated with the need to rip his vocal chords out of his throat for planting the image of Thalia with someone else in my head, but as much as I hated his insistence on telling me what I didn’t want to hear, I knew he was right.
She was nothing if not rebellious at her core, and was never going to go quietly into a loveless marriage.
‘Set it up. Get me a day and a time, and I’ll fucking be there,’ I said, gripping the edge of the desk with my free hand.
‘You’re going to stop her?’ Christian asked, his voice full of questions. We both knew Thalia knowing I’d returned would ruin all our careful planning.
‘No. I’m not,’ I snapped, pulling the phone away from my ear and jabbing the screen with furious fingers. I stood from the desk and moved to the screens to watch Thalia sleeping peacefully in her bed.
She was beautiful, peaceful, as she lay there curled up into a ball beneath her blanket. Like an angel of death, just waiting for me to defile her.
If she was so desperate to be ruined, I’d happily oblige.
