“She’s not sorry, she’s not going to be sorry,” Luca says. “It doesn’t matter what you do. She’ll do whatever she wants to do. She doesn’t have the part of the mind that makes her sorry. She’s crazy.”
Aslin
Luca is hot. He’s always been hot. In another life, and in another time, we might have had a happy marriage. But that was never in the cards for us. I’m not cheating on him when I sleep with Jason and Soren. He’s not a real husband. And I’m not a real wife.
“Why don’t you tell them the truth, Luca? Tell them who I really am. Now we’re all here, seems the truth is inevitable now.”
“You’re Aslin Vitori,” he says, predictable. “You’re my wife.”
“I was born Aslin Gato,” I tell Jason and Soren. “I’m not a psychopath. And I’m not insane. I am the child of revenge. You married me to make a vendetta complete. You just never expected me to turn it on you.”
“What are you talking about, Aslin?” Soren looks so confused, like a big, muscular, blond pup. I suppose I could have told him this earlier, but this is family business. It’s a private vendetta that has been carried on for generations. It’s not something I wanted to burden or taint him with. Soren and Jason were my perfect Adams in their remote Eden. They gave me peace. And then they brought me here. And now I have to tell them the things I never wanted them to know. And that pisses me off, because I know that things will never be the same after this confession. This isn’t like pushing Jason into a lake or getting lost on mountain. This is a legacy of blood and death going back generations.
“Remember I told you my mother raised me alone in the countryside? Her name was Victoria Gato. Her father and my father were murdered by Vito Vitori. Vito, if you don’t know, is Luca’s father.”
“Oh. Shit.” Jason curses.
“You starting to see how this all works? What Luca has was stolen from my family. He took everything. All I did was take some of it back. But then you two had to intervene, with your morals and your righteousness. You had to know better than I did, even though you knew nothing at all.” I sound a little mad at them. I am mad at them. I know I lied, but I had every right to lie. What I was doing, I was doing to avenge my family. I didn’t plan to bring them into it. In the end, they didn’t give me a choice.
“You could have told us…”
“It wasn’t your fucking business!” I turn to face both of them. All of them. Jason with his serious, yet crestfallen expression. Soren, who finally looks concerned the way he should be. And Luca, who never stops looking smug. “I was trying to get away. I told you that a hundred times. But you wouldn’t let me. As soon as this asshole sent his goons, you knew better. So. Here we are, with an entitled little rich boy who thinks he owns me. Oh, and nobody is cheating. The marriage was never consummated.”
“Only because you ripped me off and ran off between the wedding and the wedding night,” Luca says. “You would have loved being my wife, Aslin. I know how to be rough too.”
“Alright,” Jason says. “Give him the money, give her a divorce, and let’s call this a day. We’re done here.”
“I don’t know if we are,” Luca says.
“He’s not going to let me go,” I sigh. “You’ve brought me back, and now he’s going to take me for his own.”
Luca’s expression turns shark-like. “Aslin is right, I’m afraid. She’ll be coming with me. My ancestors did take everything, and they’d be very upset with me if I let her go. Thank you for returning her, boys. I can assure you that you will be well compensated. A million dollars each should make up for your lost time.”
I knew Luca would try to keep me. And I knew he’d try to pay Soren and Jason off. He thinks money solves all problems. He thinks money is all anybody cares about. He’s wrong about the rest of the world, but he is right about himself. He’s predictable. And because he’s predictable, he’s easy to beat.
“Wait,” Soren says. “That’s a very generous offer, but…”
“I don’t want this to get bloody,” Luca says. “I thank you for your service. To your country, and to me, of course.”
“Aslin can choose where she goes,” Soren says.
Does he know how much he sounds like an after-school special? Does he know how much he looks like one right now? That button-down shirt is so cute. It makes him seem much less dangerous than he is. When I see him, I see the sweaty jungle man who swept me off my feet. I know the muscles that hide beneath that plain fabric. God. I really want to get that shirt off. I swing between anger at these men and desire for them so fucking quickly. It’s like sexual whiplash.