Page 78 of Wretched Choices

My mind goes back to what happened last night, what he said when we came here.

I bought you a house.

Not us, me.

Does that mean he will stay in the hotel and I here? Is this what he plans for the next year until our agreement has expired?

Pain slices through my chest at the thought of him leaving me here alone. I should be happy. I would be free because he would stick to his part of the agreement. I would have protection from my father and be free to do whatever I want. I could live in a world that has nothing to do with the mafia, find someone I can start a family with and not be afraid to end up like my mother.

But just the thought of that hurts like someone stabbed me in my heart. Is that feeling what I think it is?

Love?

There is an attraction between us, and he can make my body feel many things. But I’m not ready to know what these feelings are.

All I wanted was to know who he was. Sometimes that’s difficult with all the walls around him.

I put the last of my things in the closet and leave the bedroom. I open the last door at the back of the house, where I find Marco in front of several monitors, typing madly on the keyboard. The monitors look like surveillance cameras around the city. Howdoes he have access to those? One huge monitor is divided into several smaller images. When I look closer, I see they are from around this house.

He types, and images keep popping up on other screens until one takes all my attention and my feet move on their own.

Salvatore follows a man into his car, and a flash of light fills the space. I still, afraid that something happened to him. When he exits the car, I exhale the breath I was holding. He places something behind his back and fixes the sleeves of his suit. Cold sweat covers me as I realize I just watched him killing a man.

Just as the image appears, it disappears again, replaced with another. This one is Salvatore and Dante entering a restaurant. The screen keeps changing images and Salvatore is in all of them. Either alone or followed by either Gabriel or Dante. And from the looks on their faces, I can see they are on a destructive mission.

I swallow the lump in my throat and focus on Marco. “What are these?”

He doesn’t even flinch. His fingers don’t stop typing and his eyes stay fixed on the screens. “Isn’t that obvious?”

“Did Salvatore just kill someone?” I point to the screen where the image was.

“Is that something you didn’t expect, or is it strange you saw it?” The indifference in his voice makes me angry.

“Why are you answering my questions with questions?”

“Because, for a smart girl, you are asking stupid questions. No offense.” He pauses, then adds. “You are asking the wrong questions. The question is why is he doing what he is doing? And before you ask more questions, you can sit and watch to get your answers.”

I say nothing and just take the empty seat beside him to watch the destruction committed by Salvatore.

I watch for hours how Marco manipulates cameras and erases every video Salvatore and his men were on. The skills this man has are priceless. According to Marco, they were traitors, men involved with Federico, the one responsible for last night.

When I can’t take it anymore, I leave for my room and do some work. Not that there are any interesting stories to dig into. These days, I’m restricted to dirty politicians. Because obviously, I can’t investigate criminal organizations since I’m married to the boss of one.

I close my laptop because I kept being distracted by thoughts of what I saw and where all this is going.

I pace the room because I feel like a caged animal, angry at myself for what I’m becoming. Waiting in my room until someone decides I can leave the house.

Am I really becoming what I feared?

I try to understand where Salvatore stands in this. Unfortunately, I can’t understand because he shared nothing with me. And that is also making me angry.

He said he wanted a better future for the family. That he is changing the rules. What he’s doing now doesn’t look like what he said he wants. Being under attack can change things for anyone, and Salvatore has been under attack.

My pacing stops when Salvatore opens the door. His eyes are black, expressionless. I know that look, and I know what to expect. His face is hard and his body stiff. I take a step toward him, wanting to ask him what’s going on with him.

I don’t get a chance because as soon as I’m in his reach, I gasp when his hand wraps around my neck, pulling me to him. I stumble and slam into his chest, and his lips brutally claim mine. His other hand disappears in my hair, and he pulls, tilting my head to him. He walks us toward the nearest wall, and my back slams into it.

I ignore the slight pain when he tears my blouse and his mouth finds my neck, kissing, sucking, biting like a man possessed.

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