Page 26 of Dark Wolf Soul
“No, she’s got a right.” He waves Grey aside and puts out his hand. “I’m Vincenzo Diavolo.”
I step around Grey and shake the man’s hand, pretending I’m not trembling with fear. “Lexi Ryall.”
His grip is already firm, but the moment he has full hold of my hand, he squeezes—tightly. I grit my teeth, wincing as the pain threatens to drag a scream from my throat.
“Enough,” Grey snaps, and Vincenzo lets go.
I exhale and snatch my hand away again, stepping back so that I’m standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the asshole’s son. It’s stupid considering I’m technically a prisoner of both of them.
“Glad to see you’re not some wilting little flower,” Vincenzo says, scanning me like he’s sizing me up.
“Glad to see you’re the asshole I thought you’d be,” I fire back.
It’s stupid of me to cross him when he clearly has zero fucks to give about me, but I can’t stop myself. No wonder Grey told me to wait in the bedroom. He’s a bigger asshole than I could have imagined—even with all the horrible mafia stereotypes in mind.
Grey tenses beside me, but Vincenzo just throws his head back and laughs uproariously.
“She’s a firecracker, isn’t she?” he says.
“No argument there,” Grey mutters.
I ignore it and cross my arms, refusing to let this man see me sweat.
“I’m not going to just let you do this to me,” I say.
He stares at me, still smiling. “And who’s going to fucking stop me?”
“Sir,” Grey says wearily. “She’s right. Marriage? That’s insane.”
I snort, becausesame.
“It’s the only way to convince Franco’s pack we didn’t kidnap her,” Vincenzo says. “That she came willingly.”
“But I didn’t,” I say, glaring. “And the moment you put me in front of someone willing to listen, that’s exactly what I’ll tell them.”
His eyes flash, and then he moves so fast I don’t see it coming until he’s backed me against the wall and leaned in, his face so close to mine that I can smell the club soda on his breath.
“You listen to me, you little bitch,” he snarls. “This might have started with your piece of shit grandpa, but I’ll finish it with you, and I won’t lose a single fucking night’s sleep doing it. Your family is done running this town, and you can either get on board, or we’ll get rid of you entirely. The choice is yours, but I suggest you make it fast, or that pretty little mouth of yours won’t be alive long enough to run itself to anyone again.”
“Stop!”
Grey shoves Vincenzo, and I watch as the surprise of it sends the asshole side-stepping away from me. He recovers fast, glaring at his son. Something passes between them, a crackle of energy that paralyzes me despite wanting to flee back to my room. Anywhere to be away from the monsters before me. Instead, I watch, unable to look away, as Grey stares his father down, hands fisted and trembling.
Vincenzo takes a single step toward us again and then stops.
“Don’t you ever put your hands on me like that again,” he warns.
“Lexi, go to your room,” Grey says.
I decide to do as he asks without argument, slipping away before Vincenzo can object.
At the end of the hall, I step into my room and go still, listening.
Both men are silent for another long moment, making my imagination run wild with what I can’t see. Maybe they’ve both shifted into wolves. Maybe they’re going to tear each other apart limb from limb right there on the luxury carpet.
Maybe—
“You can’t ask me to do this,” Grey says, and desperation leaks into his tone, driving out the fury from before. “Not with her.”
