But I knew that before I arranged for him to be out of the country tonight.
Father stalks off to deal with one of his men as I twirl Marzia around until she's facing me.
"Your brother is alive," I tell her.
"Small miracle that is," she snarls. "At least you couldn't touch him, you bloodthirsty piece of-"
"Marzia," I interrupt her. "He's alive because of me."
Her eyes narrow. She's unsure, but I can tell she wants to believe me. There's a part of the little girl I met that day on the docks still in her, and she's eager to trust me, to do as she's told. "What are you talking about?"
"I made up some problem he'd have to deal with on the mainland," I shrug. "He's in Rome, right?"
She nods tentatively. "Why did you do that?"
There are so many answers I want to give her, so many words I could say - all of them revolving around my obsession for her, my need to own her. I settle for shrugging and muttering, "I didn't want you to be alone. I've been alone before and I know how terrible it feels."
"You knew your father would kill my parents," she breathes. "Why didn't you warn me?"
"It needed to happen this way." I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear but she avoids my touch like the plague. I've hurt her so deeply, I don't know if there's any coming back from the mess I've created. "Otherwise we'd never be able to be together. Your parents would never allow it."
"That's not reason enough to kill them." Her voice is nothing but a hiss. My confession hasn't done anything except piss her off more.
"Don't make me regret doing something nice for you," I hiss.
"You're an idiot, Adrian Bernardi," she says in response. "Don't you think my brother will want revenge? Don't you think he'll do everything in his power to avenge our family?"
"Of course I do." I fight the urge to touch her again, forcing myself to keep my hands off her. "But it was worth it. It is worth it. Because it means I get you."
"I'm not some trinket you get to keep," she goes on. "I'm not a prize or an object, I'm a fucking person. And today you destroyed my life. I'll never forgive you for it. Never."
"Then I'll spend a lifetime trying to make it up to you."
"I don't want that."
"Really?" I smirk, fully back in my dominant role. I'm the boss now. I'm Marzia's owner, her captor. She dances to the melody of my song and nobody else's. "Who says I give a shit about what you want, Marzia? All I care about is getting control over you. And something tells me I have that already."
She remains quiet, glaring at me and refusing to speak. I guess we've made it to the silent treatment portion of the evening. It's really fucking amusing how hard she tries to fight the obvious attraction between us. I want to say so many things to her. Prove to her she never cared about her parents at all, and that I'm all she needs. Instead, I settle for tugging on her arm and dragging her outside where a limousine awaits to take us to her new gilded cage.
"You will love me, Marzia De Luca," I tell her sternly. "I'll make you if I have to, but some day, someday soon, I will hear you tell me you love me despite everything that just happened."
"I'd rather die," she hisses, breaking the silent pact she's made with herself. "You will never own me."
I pull her against me, flattening her body against the door of the limousine as I reach between her legs again.
"Stupid bambina," I mutter with a smirk. "You're forgetting I already do..."
8
Marzia
I will never stop hating Adrian Bernardi.
The man ruined my life and he seems intent on continuing to do that for the rest of it. My parents are dead, God only knows what he did to my brother, and my fiancé-to-be has barely escaped with his life.
Once upon a time, I thought I could love Adrian Bernardi. Now I know it was the foolish thinking of a little girl who wanted to see the best in people. But there's nothing good about Adrian—he's a monster.
I am shown from one gilded cage to another, led from the massacre at my parents’ house to the luxurious quarters of the Bernardi family. My head hangs low as I'm led from the shiny black limousine to the Bernardi Estate. I am a prisoner here, and if they expect me to act happy about this, they're in for a big disappointment.
Still, I can't help sneaking a glance at my surroundings. The Bernardi Estate is enormous. There is a huge main building with a few smaller ones surrounding it for the caretaker, the gardener, and the help. There's also a guest house. Plenty of security guards are scattered around the house, glaring at the car as we enter. This place is like a prison—impossible to escape. They needn't put bars on my windows, because there's no way I'll ever get out of here.