16
Michael
Shit, shit, shit. I shouldn’t have let her go. I snatch up the ring that she had flung down on the table. I close my palm around it and the edge of the diamond seems to bite into the flesh of my palm. Shit, what was I thinking, letting her leave like that? I slide the ring inside my pocket, then pull out my knife and flip it, catch it by the handle. I stare at the polished blade. The edge of which I had sunk into her skin when I had carved the mark of my possession of her.
Was she right? Did I do that because I wanted to own her? To make her mine. To have her as my wife to cherish, to protect, to love… No… Not that. I am not capable of that emotion. No, my feelings for her are already way more complex than that. If I had asked her to stay, if I had given in to the temptation she is... In that gorgeous dress which had clung to her like a second skin, outlining the thrust of her breasts, the curves of her hips, and pulled tight across her thigh... I would have never been able to let her go.
And would that have been so bad?
Pain slices my palm. I glance down to find the blade has nicked the flesh at the base of my thumb.Che diavolo. I stick the knife into the wooden surface of the desk, then bring my palm to my mouth and suck on the wound.
The door to my office bursts open and Seb stalks in. His features are set in hard lines, his forehead furrowed.
"What is it?"
"Karma." He scowls, "They took her."
My heart slams in my chest. My pulse rate ratchets up. "What do you mean, they took her?"
"That’s what he says." Massimo drags in a guy by his collar. The man is bleeding from his mouth; blood stains his vest. A sleeve of tattoos covers one arm and runs up the side of his throat.
"Who is this?" I growl.
"Found him bragging to one of the dancers downstairs, that he saw a woman being kidnapped. She reported it to me, and I got suspicious. I collared him, asked him to describe what he saw, and from his description, I am positive that he witnessed Karma being taken."
I rise to my feet, slam my palm into the table with such force that a glass crashes to the floor. "Will one of you tell me who the fuck would dare come into my territory and take my wife from me?"
"You did let her go," Seb reminds me. "You sent her out there unprotected."
Anger squeezes my guts and pain slams into my chest with such force that my lungs burn. "Shut the fuck up," I growl.
"Am I wrong?" Seb tilts his head.
"Don’t fucking talk to me like that."
"Someone needs to, considering you are letting your ego blind you to what’s there right in front of you."
"And what’s that?"
"That you love her."
Something hot stabs at my chest. I round the table, throw up my fist. He doesn’t duck… He had enough time to evade my blow, but he doesn’t. My strike hits home. I connect with the side of his face and he grunts. I raise my fist again, but Massimo shoves the man he’s holding at Antonio.
He steps between us, holds up his hands, "Enough, Capo, you need to get a grip on yourself."
"I am going to kill him."
"For telling the truth?"
I freeze, "What the hell is wrong with all of you?"
"What is wrong with you?" He snaps. "Your woman has been taken… This time, likely, by our enemy, and you’re standing here fighting with your own clan? With people who are on your side, in your corner. You need to rein in your temper,fratellone,and focus on what we must do next."
I lurch back, shake my head. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What’s happening to me? I drag my fingers through my hair, then jerk my chin at him. "You can step aside," I murmur, "I won’t attack him."
Massimo lowers his arms and I brush past both of them. I stalk over to thefiglio di puttanawho’s struggling to get away from Antonio. I swipe out my arm, bury my fist in his face. Blood blooms from his nose, drips down his chin.
"What did you see?" I growl.