Page 62 of His Vicious Desire

“But they all leave.My mom, my dad, Marissa, and now Sandro.None of them ever want to stay.”She’s crying again, deep-wrenching sobs.

I carry her into my room.“Breathe for me.Take a deep breath.You’re going to make yourself sick.I promise it’s going to be okay.”

Setting her down on my bed, I move to grab a washcloth to clean her up.She’s overheated.

Small hands cling to me.“Please, no.”

“Okay, I’m not going anywhere.I promise.”I open my bedside table and take out the bottle.

“What is that?”

“It’s Xanax.It will calm you down.Just two.”I shake out the small pills.

“No gummies?I thought you didn’t like these.”

I shake my head.“My resistance to them got too high.I don’t love these, but they work better at knocking me out.So I take them while I give the THC a few months off for the lower dose to start working again.”

Sighing, she nods.

“Let me grab a glass of water.”She lets me go, and I’m back in less than thirty seconds.

Sniffling, she opens her hand.Her nose wrinkles as she swallows the pills.“You’ll tell him, Sandro.You promised.”

“I promise.I’ll tell him, angel.”I assure her.

She burrows into me, holding me tight.

I’m relieved when she slips into sleep.Even though I’m exhausted, the stress of how upset she is and what the hell I’m going to do to Sandro for hurting her won’t let me sleep.

A text sounds, it’s Sandro.Carefully, I extract myself from the hold Bianca has on me.I hit send on the call before I’m out of my room.Anger at him has me speaking without thought.“Do you have any idea how long it took to get your sister to sleep?She cried so hard she made herself sick.That was fucking cruel to do to her.”

“What the fuck did you say to me?”Is cold, and if he were in front of me, it might have come to blows.

Shit.I work to calm myself.What the hell am I doing?My exhale is long and slow.“I apologize.But jesus fucking christ Sandro, she spent hours crying on me.She kept fuckinghuggingme and pleading for me to call you for her because she knew you’d answer if I called.”

“I apologize.I didn’t think she’d go to you, of all people.She shouldn’t have done that.Did you kill her?”

I force a laugh.That’s right.I’m supposed to think she’s a brat and pain in the ass—not the only thing in this world I want more than air to breathe.“I swear, if she weren’t your sister, I would have.In the end, I said fuck it and stuffed two zannies down her throat to get her to calm down.It still took her a solid hour to fall asleep.And she’s in my damn bed.I’m trying to sleep in my fucking recliner that always ruins my back for a few days when I fall asleep in it.”

I’m lying to him, so he has no idea how close I am to breaking every promise I made not to touch her.

“I apologize.When I get back Saturday night, I’ll handle her.”

“You’re really going to stay silent on her until then?”No fucking way is she going to be able to go until Saturday without talking to him.

“Right this minute, yeah.I don’t know what to say to her.If I don’t know, I don’t want to make it worse.”

How could he be so damn cruel to her?“All this because of a ring?”

“Typical Bianca, burying the lead.She picked a big ass rock that Carina hated.Bianca admitted she thought it was ugly.She called Carina a slut and said she only cared about money.Apparently, she went social media stalking and drew her own conclusions.”

Shit.There’s nothing he hates more than women being called sluts.“Look, I get it.She’s protective of you, though.She probably thought she was saying what you didn’t think you could.You made it clear you weren’t happy you were being forced to marry to take over.Maybe give her a break.Bianca is a brat, but you had a hand in making her this way.”

“Okay, you’re right.I’ll unblock her.Let her know to give me a call when she’s up, and I’ll talk to her.”

Thank fuck.I try to think of what the man who thinks she’s a pain in the ass would say.What I want to say is that if he ever makes her cry again, I’ll kick his ass.“Thank you.Can you tell her to go home after that?”

He chuckles.“Yeah, I will.And thanks for taking care of her.I get it wasn’t easy for you.”

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