Page 11 of Deadly Vows

“I...” I trail off, not knowing how to respond to him. He’s still upset about it. What I did was something that isn’t done in our world. I purposely defied him in front of his subordinates.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

Luca scoffs, leaning back in his seat.

“You ask me to trust you, and I give you an opportunity, and you blow it. Why should I believe your flimsy apology?” he asks.

Silence fills the air. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to make him understand that what I did had no malice behindit. He is not a man who easily trusts, and judging from the scars that riddle his body, he has every right to be that way.

“I would never do anything to jeopardize our marriage—”

“Is that what your father told you to say to me? Did he tell you not to jeopardize this marriage so he can weasel his way into our graces?” he asks.

I shake my head.

“Of course not,” I say quickly.

Luca laughs again, the sound forming chills on my arms as he watches me.

“Of course not,” he repeats my words, contemplating their meaning. I flinch as he stands, moving around his desk to stand in front of me, leaning against the wood as he looks down at me.

“You were never interested in your family business when you were a Trovoli. Now you’ve married me, and you suddenly have an interest? Yet you tried to find a way to spare my enemy, simultaneously defying me in front of my men,” he says.

I can’t respond to him; the only thing I’m seemingly capable of is lowering my head, hoping he’ll move on. But he doesn’t. He grips my cheeks, forcing my gaze to meet his.

“Do you know the rumors that circulate your family name? Do you know the position you are in having married into mine?” he growls. His eyes search my own, and he finally releases me.

“You should be doing whatever you can to deter the rumors, not add to them, Elise,” he says in irritation.

I quickly nod, placing my violin back on its stand. I purposely take a good minute to do so, hoping it will give me time to gather myself. But with Luca’s gaze on me, I’m only prolonging whatever he’s planning.

“Do you have anything to tell me?” he asks, breaking the silence.

I look up, immediately noticing the distrust in his eyes.

“No,” I whisper.

Luca narrows his gaze.

“You’re a Pasquino now, Elise. Your loyalty to your family is dead. Do you have anything to tell me?” he growls.

I shake my head, fear brewing in my chest.

“No, I swear,” I say a little louder this time.

Luca knows something, something that I don’t know. He knows something involving my family, and he is not happy about it. But he thinks he is giving me a chance to prove myself. He just doesn’t understand how much my father hated me. It was a stroke of fate that I grew into a woman menwantedto marry, that way my father could pawn me off on the most powerful—Luca being that man in this instance. I’ve been married to Luca for a little over a week and my father has already done something to piss my husband off.

Luca crosses his arms over his chest. I don’t know how anyone could go against this man willingly. Physically, he is an intimidating presence with a suffocating aura that makes me quiver. As he stands before me right now, I wish I knew what he has on my father. I would tell him in a heartbeat to avoid the scrutiny of his gaze.

Luca releases a bitter laugh, making my nerves fray even further.

“You are good. He must have trained you well. He must have taught you every trick in the book on seduction so you could get under my skin and get me to let my guard down. You are as despicable as him, using that pretty face and what’s between your legs to—”

Smack!

Silence fills the air as we both register what I did. I hit him. I hit my husband. Tears sting my eyes, and my hand throbs from the force as I look at Luca. My entire life, I have been a pawn in my father’s life. For him to accuse me of something so dirtymakes me feel an anger I didn’t know possible. But slowly, as my adrenaline dies down, I realize what I just did.

I hit him.I hit my husband.I hit Luca.

---