CHAPTER 10
CONSTANTINO
I would rather Jericho kill me than feel what I am right now. I can’t stop myself from staring at the spot where everything broke around me. I should have lied, I should have denied it, but I couldn’t make the words pass my lips. I couldn’t.
Because my Lily makes me something I’ve never been before—weak.
She was staring so hard at the screen, and I could see the recognition in her eyes when she saw Briar’s face. I should have known she was at the party when Giovanni was killed. I should have thought about that before. She believed me when I told her what happened. I didn’t need to show her the video, but I wanted to leave no doubt.
I should have anticipated my smart Lily figuring it out. I gave her too much information in the attempt to be honest and forthcoming with her. I fucked up. At the same time, I’m not sorry about it. Being obsessed with her goes in more than one direction, I have this burning need to be upfront with her, to be honest. Even as I was hiding the biggest secret which could ever come between us.
It’s out there now.
And she’s running from me.
“Fuck,” I roar when I hear the door slam, knowing she’s gone.
There’s an ache in my chest, one which I know won’t go away until she’s back in my arms. Wasn’t I just fucking her into listening to me? I wish I could go back in time, but, at the same time, I don’t. It’s fucked up.
Contradiction is not something I’m used to at all.
I pull up the tracker I have on her car and her phone, grateful as fuck I’m an obsessed asshole who has been tracking her for far longer than I’ve had her in my arms. I needed to know where she was, to know she was safe, to know I could get to her.
I’m not sure how long I watch her moving away from me, but I’m surprised as fuck when I see where she ends up.
Does she know I’ll be right on her heels? Is this just foreplay for her?
No. I saw the hurt and the pain in her eyes. She needs to know her father is not a big loss in her life as much as she might wish it wasn’t true. Does she have any idea how he talked about her?
If it hadn’t been me, he would have basically sold her off at some point to keep his holdings solvent. I just took him out and hastened the process.
As I pull up in front of Elio’s house, I realize I’m not even sorry about it. Which will probably make apologizing to her difficult considering I’m not going to lie to her.
I storm into the house to find Daisy in the living room with her arm wrapped around Lily’s shoulders as my littleGattinasobs. Elio looks uncomfortable as fuck standing behind them. It’s clear he has no idea how to deal with a crying woman. I don’t blame him, I’m kind of at a loss myself.
When Elio’s eyes snap to me, I can see the pure rage there. I didn’t tell him about my plans. I didn’t have to, and we both know it. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to be pissed at me.
He closes the distance between us in only a few strides and grabs the t-shirt I pulled on last minute before I ran out of the house still naked after being buried balls deep in my woman. When Lily looks up, her tearstained face breaks something inside of me.
I don’t fight it when Elio punches me. Why would I? I broke her, the only woman I’ve ever loved or ever truly wanted, my obsession. I broke her.
“Lily,” I croak out and she starts shaking her head from side to side viciously.
“No,” she whimpers. “I don’t want to see you,” her voice starts to rise. She screams at me, “How could you?”
Elio freezes at the pain in her voice, stopping himself from punching me again. I should have known he would take to her immediately and put her on the same kind of pedestal we’ve always put Daisy on. The look of disgust on his face would have hurt before, but it’s nothing compared to the raw pain in my little Kitten’s eyes. Fucking nothing.
I wrench myself from his grasp and drop to my knees before shuffling to my Lily. When I reach for her face, she flinches, and I let my hands drop. It feels like someone has branded my very fucking soul because of one simple action.
“I’m not sorry,” the words are a whisper from my lips, cracking at the end, but I know she hears me when she sucks in a sharp breath. “He talked about you like you were nothing, myGattina, when you’re everything. I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t let it go by. It was only a matter of time before he sold you off to one of his employees, friends or business partners to have someone to lead after him. Then what? Where would you have been?”
“You don’t know that,” even as she yells at me, there is resignation in her voice.
“I do know,” I retort fiercely. “I know it so fucking well. He brought you to my office to parade you in front of me. I have no doubt he would have tried to make me an offer given enough time to make some sort of allegiance between our families and using you as the pawn to do it.”
“So you used me as a pawn instead,” she counters with a sneer on her face.
I know she’s pissed, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her more gorgeous than she is right now. She’s a fucking goddess. A queen. My queen.