Page 27 of Dark Wolf Soul
I tense, unable to avoid the little ping of hurt his words cause.
Stupid.
He doesn’t even know me.
And I hate him.
Why should I care if he doesn’t want to marry me?
I damn sure don’t want to marry him either.
“You gave your word you’d help this family get to the top,” Vincenzo says darkly. “This is how you do that. So, stop fucking whining about it.”
“You asked me to bring her here. To use her as leverage to make the old man hand over the reins. That was our deal. You never said anything about marriage.”
“Well, I’m saying it now.”
“That wasn’t the agreement.”
“And plans change, boy. Get over it.”
“You’re a son of a bitch,” Grey says.
The answeringcrackis so loud I wonder if the bar broke in half. Unable to help myself, I peer out and down the hall—then go still as I watch Grey straightening from where his whole body was driven sideways. When he straightens, a large, reddish bruise is already forming just below his eye.
Holy shit. Vincenzo hit him?
I brace myself for what Grey will do in return, but he only glares back at his father, eyes blazing with the fires of Hell.
“She won’t do it,” Grey says.
“Then change her damn mind,” Vincenzo booms. “Make her fall for your sorry ass. Do whatever you have to.”
“You want me to manipulate her into actually liking me?”
Vincenzo looms over his son, poking Grey in the chest. “I don’t give a shit what you say or do; just get it done. You have three days before we go public with this, and she needs to be on board, or she’s useless to me.”
Vincenzo shoves past him and heads for the door.
Grey barks out a laugh. “This is insane. I can’t do it. I won’t.”
Vincenzo spins and growls, the sound of it vibrating through the walls, shaking the artwork, and coming up through the carpet at my feet. “You’ll do it, or you’ll suffer the same consequences Franco’s son did.”
I shudder at the open violence in the man’s tone. But Vincenzo doesn’t wait for an answer before he stalks toward the elevator with the confidence of a man expecting to be obeyed.
When Grey finally speaks again, his voice is hard and controlled. “This is the last favor I do for you, old man. When we’re done, I don’t ever want to see your face again.”
“It’ll be no loss to me,” Vincenzo scoffs. “And my advice? Use protection when you do your convincing. Who knows what she picked up from that club before you yanked her worthless ass out.”
A second later, the elevator door dings, and the hum of the doors sound.
Then, the apartment is quiet.
Minutes tick by.
I don’t move, waiting to see if Grey will come to get me. But he doesn’t appear, and there’s no sound from the living room.
I emerge slowly, making my way down the hall with my heart in my throat.
