My breath caught in my throat. I stared. I could do nothing else. He was calm about it, but in the depth of his eyes there was something dark and dangerous. Not directed at me. And I didn’t dare hope that this could really be the truth.
“And what will you do to me? I’m not what was promised. I’m not a virgin.”
He looked at me almost as if I’d said something stupid. “I don’t care if you are a virgin. It’s a small piece of flesh that’s completely useless. But I’m aware of the importance it holds in the minds of so many people, even yours.”
“Then why are you furious if it’s not because someone stole what you wanted for yourself?”
“Because someone stole what you weren’t willing to give,” he murmured.
I looked away because stupid tears gathered in my eyes. I didn’t understand his reaction or him for that matter. I’d heard the rumors about Vegas, about how they dealt with women who didn’t pay their debts or displeased Remo Falcone in some other way.
I gestured at the sheets. “It’s tradition. My family expects to see blood.” I swallowed. “If you take me with force, will I bleed?”
He nodded, his expression impassive. “It’s been years for you and you only had sex a few times, so if I use enough force, you will most definitely bleed. Your vaginal muscles are very tense from fear, and you will tear when I force myself into you all the way.”
My stomach constricted. He sounded like a doctor explaining the physical effects of his actions. My lips fought to form the words that rationality wanted to say. “Then do it so my family and the Famiglia get the blood they expect.”
He leaned forward, his beautiful, cold face so close I could see the dark specks in his gray eyes. “They will get blood, don’t worry.”
I nodded and moved to lay back, but he stood from the bed and put on his briefs. Confusion filled me. “I thought you would …?”
He got into his pants and buckled his belt. He didn’t say anything until he was dressed in his black wedding suit again and had strapped on his knives. “I will find the man who raped you and slaughter him like a pig on these sheets. Do you think that will be enough blood for your family?”
I choked, sliding off the bed, clutching the blankets against my nakedness. “That means war. Luca will kill us all.”
Nino didn’t say anything, but he moved closer. I tensed but didn’t back off. He raised his hand, and I flinched. I hadn’t been hit in years, not since my father—and later Uncle Durant—but my body still expected it.
“I won’t hit you.” I opened my eyes and stared at his white shirt. He put a single finger under my chin and lifted my gaze. His cold face peered down at me, almost curiously as if I was something he needed to understand. “Do you want your uncle to live?”
“No,” I admitted.
And that sealed all our fates.
NINO
I dropped my hand and walked over to the desk to pick up my mobile then raised it to my ear.
Remo picked up after the second ring. “Shouldn’t you be busy?”
“I need you to come over.”
“I assume it’s not because you want me to help you fuck your wife.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Silence. “Two minutes. This better be good. I chose a waitress to fuck.”
He hung up, and as promised he knocked two minutes later. I opened the door, and his dark eyes went to something past me. I stepped back and he entered. Kiara backed away, the sheets still clutched to her naked body, her face tearstained.
Remo turned to me with raised eyebrows. “That was quick. You realize you can’t give her back once you’ve opened her, right?”
“I’m going to kill someone. And I wanted to give you fair warning.”
His twisted grin slipped right off his face. Remo tilted his head. “So you aren’t asking for my permission.”
“No, not this time. I will kill that man and nothing will stop me.”
Remo looked at Kiara, and she flushed, trying to make herself even smaller. Her shoulders rounded in, her arms wrapping the sheets tighter around her body.
“Someone got her before you could? You want to cancel everything?”
“Someone raped her when she was a child.” I paused, regarding my wife, who now stared at the ground, shaking. “And she will come to Las Vegas with me.”
She raised her widened eyes.
“Her rapist is among the guests. He’s the husband of Luca’s Aunt Criminella, Underboss of Pittsburgh,” I said. Remo needed to know the extent of our problems.
“I know.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You knew?”
He shrugged then cracked his neck, stretching out his hands. “Then I better sharpen my knives and load my guns.”
“We could prevent war if we gave Luca a warning.”