Page 75 of Bartered Innocence

I huff. “If this is what I think it is, I will kill you. Slowly and meticulously, so you’re aware of every single minute of your death.”

The corner of his lips quirk. “I do enjoy how bloodthirsty the wife I acquired is. It makes me hard.”

Rolling my eyes, I pick at the tape before I pull away the cloth and let it unroll. My eyes water and my breath catches at the dark ink etched permanently into my skin. Bile rises in my throat and I squeeze my eyes shut, tears streaming down my face. I knew something like this was coming after he warned me to never take off my ring.

“It’s called acladdagh. It declares your relationship status. The bottom of the heart points toward the wearer, so people will know you’re married,” Rian says calmly.

I bring my hand closer to examine it. It looks like a pair of hands, holding a large hollow heart. Inside the heart is his initial, and on top of the heart is a crown. Turning my palm up, I see the hands bleed into a solid line encircling my entire ring finger. It would be beautiful under different circumstances.

“Why?” I ask hoarsely.

“If anyone in our world sees that on your hand, they’ll know exactly who you belong to.”

My heart clenches, and I drop my hand into my lap. “So it’s a brand…”

Rian’s jaw tics and he stands, moving to sit on the edge of my bed. He holds up his hand, showing a matching tattoo with my initial inside his. A flash of possessiveness and satisfaction swells in my chest before I push it away and mentally slap myself for the foolish feeling.

He must not have missed the emotion as he grins. “You own me as much as I own you.”

I grind my teeth, my fist twisting in the sheets. “I told you I don’t want to be owned.”

His face sobers and he nods. “Your brother told me why you were so set on taking over the restaurant.”

My stomach pangs at the reminder of my failure. If anything, my relationship with Rian has dragged my parents further into this world. The memories of the months the mafia used our restaurant to launder money and my mother’s constant worries while my father worked overnight weigh heavily on my heart. My brother was so caught up in the glamor of it that he never stopped a moment to see the toll it took on our parents.

“It shouldn’t have needed to be explained for you to respect my decision,” I mutter.

He sighs and lays back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Isabelle. No matter what you want in life, this is the one you have. And at the end of the day, you are aware of how things work in our world. I’ve promised you my fidelity, which is more than most made men. You can run this home how you see fit. This is your domain. But outside those doors, you answer to me. The men cannot see weakness, and you are my biggest weakness. They cannot see you defying me. Outside of the men I call my brothers, you are to be the perfect wife.”

I curl my fists, trying not to cry at the near prison sentence he is describing. The bed shifts, and his hand wraps around my calf through the blanket. I blink down at him, the stark longing on his face making my breath catch.

Rian swallows. “I can admit that I have not treated you with all the respect you deserve, but I have been dealing with other things that demanded my attention. And now I have the time to devote to you and I want to start over.”

I hold up my hand. “And this is how you want to start this truce?”

His eyes switch to my tattooed finger and I don’t miss the carnal heat that swirls in them. I know now that he is never going to apologize for marking me, he loves it on my body. Rian sits up, and crawls up the bed toward me. My heart flutters like it always does as he gets closer. His presence affects me more than I can control.

When he drops next to me, my eyebrows scrunch in confusion. I had expected him to lie on me, to push my legs apart and settle his body between them. I frown when he doesn’t and turn to him. His bright eyes watch me as I settle onto the same pillow as him.

His hand cups my face, his thumb dragging across my bottom lip. “I trust my brothers and myself to protect you, but I have to prepare for any scenario. The tattoo gives me peace of mind if we were ever separated and you were unable to contact me.”

I understood his reasoning and shiver at the reminder of the shooting, the bodies of the employees I grew up with. “You could have asked.”

His hand pauses. “Would you have said yes?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t given a chance to think about it,” I say with a sigh. I pull his hand off my face and entangle my fingers in his. “Rian, you blackmailed me into this marriage. But I have still been trying to make the best of it. I only asked for one thing. I wanted to keep working, learning to cook at the one place it meant the most to me. And you wouldn’t even consider it.”

He squeezes my hand, and his tongue drags along his bottom lip. “I am…sorry that I did not take the time to realize how important that was for you and try to find a way to make it work.”

Shock courses through me and I stare at him, unconvinced that he means it. He takes our tangled hands and pulls me closer, forcing me to throw my leg over his hip. The heat of his erection presses against my belly, but I don’t pull away from his touch.

“I meant what I said, I’ll get you a restaurant to start from the ground up,” he mutters, his attention on my mouth.

“A clean one?”

He nods, pushing his hips into me. “Yeah. I’ll be a silent investor. No one will know that I’m involved. I won’t allow any syndicate to touch it.”

“And my parents?” I ask, my heart beating faster as hope fills me.

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