“Likes me?” I scoff. “We’re married. I’d hope he does a little more than just like me.” I have no idea why I said that, given the current state of our relationship.
“Maybe he likes you a little too much, hence the reason his head of security is currently standing over there keeping an eye on you.” He nods his chin in the direction over my shoulder, and I turn to see Maximo watching us. Rome inches closer, slanting a brow as he stares down at me. “I’d love to know what it is you did that pissed off my cousin to such a degree he’d resort to locking you in your room.”
Rome’s assumption of me being in the wrong and earning my punishment is not only offensive, but it demands a response. I step closer, confident enough to keep his melted chocolate gaze. “I find it worrying that everyone around here knew Alexius locked me up in my room, even you who only just arrived, and yet no one bats an eyelash. Everyone just accepted it.” I lean my head to the side as I study his unmoving expression. “It’s quite disturbing, don’t you think?”
“Not compared to what else goes on in these halls.” The corners of his eyes crinkle, and I’m not quite sure what to make of Alexius’ cousin. Another enigma, just like my husband. Either it’s a blood-related thing, or it’s something in this place’s water, turning these men into mystery riddled magnets.
He snickers then pulls the collar of his coat higher up his neck. I catch a glimpse of a partly hidden tattoo as it disappears beneath the wool fabric, but I can’t make out what it is. “Well, it was nice to finally meet you, Leandra. I hope to see more of you around here.” He smirks. “That’s if you don’t get yourself locked up again.”
My skin heats, but the mischief tugging at his lips has me more amused than angered. “Hopefully, we’ll run into each other before you decide to run away again.”
He sucks his bottom lip into his mouth, the corners curled upward. “I like you,” he remarks before turning and walking toward the house.
“Asshole,” I mumble as I watch him leave.
“I heard that.”
My cheeks flush.
“Next time, use your inside voice.”
“Next time, I’ll just say it to your face.”
He waves at me over his shoulder. “Looking forward to it.”
I shake my head and watch him disappear into the house. For some reason, I’m smiling. My brief chat with Rome was weird, yet somehow it was the most normal conversation I’ve had in a while.
I’ve heard other members of this family talk about Rome. Alexius referred to him as a coward for leaving his responsibilities behind. Now he’s back. But something tells me Rome isn’t back to spread Christmas cheer.
ChapterSix
ALEXIUS
Iwatch them through my office window. He’s standing too close. He’s touching her hand. His gaze lingers on her lips for too long. His expression is far too entertained while keeping the company of another man’s wife.
My wife.
Jealousy is bitter and caustic as it burns my throat with every swallow. Possessiveness gnaws at me with sharpened teeth, tearing at my flesh and hitting bone. My fists are clenched claws that want to rip his fucking throat out. I should go out there and fuck her while he watches, bend her over, make her scream and mark her like a goddamn animal. I’m two seconds away from doing just that when he turns and walks away, and I can finally take a breath, only to have the oxygen torn from my lungs by a single goddamn sight.
Her smile.
She’s smiling as she watches him walk away. Why the fuck is she smiling? What did he say to her? What did they talk about? Jesus Christ.
I pull my palm down my face, biting my lower lip, chewing the side of my tongue as possessiveness poisons me, eating me alive.
Leandra’s smiles are mine. No one else’s. They’re woven into my bones and blood, yet lately, all I’ve done is make her cry. And up until this moment, I was okay with that, wanting her tears, craving her sorrow because it meant she still felt something, and something is better than nothing. But now that I’m reminded of how fucking beautiful she is when she smiles, how her dark, almond-shaped eyes light up when happiness fills her, I thirst for her smile and her laughter. Her joy is my paradise in this fucked-up world, and I just watched another man get a piece of it.
God, I need her so damn much. It’s a hunger that burns my veins and consumes my thoughts. I want her touch, her kiss, her desire. I need her passion, her lust, her body against mine. I need to feel her heartbeat, see her smile, and hear her laughter, her moans, her cries of ecstasy.
Yet, here I am, watching her smile because of another man.
Another man I’m going to…
“Alexius, here you are.”
A growl rips from my throat, and I reach for my gun behind my back, spinning around and launching at Rome, slamming his back into the wall, his breath exploding from his mouth.
“What the fuck?”