"Please, Axel, whatever it is, we can work it out. You’re not a bad man, I know that. You have so much hurt, so much anger inside of you—"
"Emotions that I intend to work off with the help of your sweet willing body, Sunshine."
I shiver. "If you think I am going to let you fuck me—"
"Who said anything about you letting me do anything?" He chuckles and the sound is so dark, so filled with menace that my head spins.
"This is not the real you speaking. This is…someone who is filled with the need for revenge. When it wears off, you’ll see what you are doing today is wrong."
"Maybe," his footsteps thud as he continues to walk backward toward the door, "but I intend to have a hell of a shagfest meanwhile, with you, my darling wife."
"If you wanted to fuck me, you could have done so without kidnapping me."
"But imagine how filled with anger and remorse the Sovranos are going to be now that I have their precious “Xander’s girl” with me… Not that you were ever his girl. We both know he was too confused to ever give you that status, but you know what I mean. They are going to be shitting themselves, knowing that I am going to be taking full advantage of my marital status, darling. Again, not that they can do much, considering we are man and wife, in the eyes of God, at least."
Anger fills my veins and heat flushes my skin. Before I can stop myself, I have turned around and slapped him. The sound reverberates through the space. There’s silence, broken only by the sound of a pigeon’s wings flapping in a corner of the church.
Then, he throws back his head and laughs, "Damn woman, you always surprise me. All that sass and fire. Just when I think you are meek, you flash your spirit." He claps his fingers behind my neck, yanks me up to my tip-toes, and leans in close to me before saying in a low, menacing voice, "I can’t wait to rip into your pussy and teach you a lesson on how you need to behave with your husband."
"You are not my husband."
"The ring on your finger says otherwise, sweetheart."
I reach for my ring and he shakes his head, "Even if you take it off, we can’t undo the vows we exchanged in front of the Man Above."
I draw in a breath, then curl my fingers into fists. "I hate you," I snarl, "I hate that I fell for you. I hate that I spent all those days praying by your bedside. If I could do it all over again, I’d wish for you to die."
He yawns, "Save your strength; you are going to need it."
I raise my hand, and this time, he bends and throws me over his shoulder. "Let me go," I yell, "youstronzo, youcarogna,youfetente," I try to bury my knee in his groin, but he tightens his grip across my thighs. He turns and jogs toward the door. I lock my fingers, bring my fists down onto his back, but he doesn’t even wince. My veil flows down, blocking out the sight of the church, then the tiara comes undone and drops to the ground, taking the veil with it. I push the hair out of my eyes, glance up to find Nonna swaying. Massimo jumps to his feet and goes over to catch her before she hits the ground. Behind him, Luca and Seb scramble under the pews to find their guns while Michael and Antonio are already on their feet and racing toward us. Then the door slams shut, cutting them off from view.
Axel races down the steps as I wriggle in his hold. "Let me go," I cry, "let me the fuck go."
He reaches the first car, a Ferrari, and opens the door on the driver’s side. Still holding me, he grabs the man behind the wheel, hauls him out, and flings him aside. He throws me inside, turns and kicks out the legs from the man who's jumped up to his feet. He follows me inside, forcing me to move over to the passenger’s side, before he slams the door on his side.
My gown is stuck in between my legs as I reach for the door on my side. He reaches over, and gripping my shoulder, hauls me over the partition between the seats and across his lap.
I hear the locks on the door engage and cry out in frustration. I try to pull free, but he places the gun on the dashboard and spanks my ass, a hard tight slap that sends a line of fire up my spine.
"The hell?" I freeze.
By the time I think of beginning to struggle again, he’s already eased the car onto the road and accelerated away.
"What are you doing? Let me go, let me go." I hit my head against the steering wheel and cry out.
"Damn it," he curses from above me, "stop struggling or you’ll hurt yourself further."
"The hell you care about that? You kidnapped me at gun point."
"I never pointed the gun at you."
"Oh," I blink rapidly, "I still can’t understand why you did it? We were going to get married—"
"We are married."
"I thought you loved me."
"I never said that."