Page 30 of Deceit
If it hadn’t been for the calculating look I caught on Giorgio’s face every sooften, Iwouldhave blown my brains out. I had aired my concerns to Kai on numerous occasionsthathe was likely going to use Sofia to feed information back to him about how we ran our organization, and his constant shiftiness was only adding to my suspicions.
We weren’t stupid; it was exactly what we would have done, and if it wasn’tfor already knowingthatSofia wasn’t included in the Bianchi business, I would have been trying to get any information I could from her, ready to use against her father when the time came.
And it would come. Something both Kai and I agreed on.
But something in my gut told me Georgio was up to more thanjustwantingto use his daughter to gain information, and despite thewedding in full swing, I was making mental notes of what I needed to do to find out what old man Bianchi was up to.
Like a dutiful wife, Sofia stayed by my side the entire time. Whenever Itook a deep inhale, hoping it would calm the storm brewing inside me, I was hit with her delicious scent.
It didnothingto lift my mood.
Nor did it help my semi-hard cock I’d been trying to forget about all day.
Needing something to take the edge off before I lost my shit, I whispered toSofiathatI needed a bathroom break. Typically, as I was about to head outside and find somewhere quiet in the enormous garden to smoke a joint, the fucking wedding co-ordinator, who wasthisclose to being buried alive, announced it was time for our first dance as husband and wife.
Cursing internally, I met Sofia in the middle of the ballroom, wherethe string quartet began playing an acoustic version of,‘Can’t Help Falling in Love.’I had no idea which genius picked the song, but I was more than ready to gut them.
With all eyes on us, Sofia placed her hands on my shoulders, her eyes notquite able to meet mine. Knowing I had no choice, I gripped her waist, gritting my teeth as we swayed to the soft, twinkling music.
We’d hardly spoken all day, which suited me fine. The less she spoke, theless bullshit I had to listen to. Yet, she didn’t need to speak to have an effect on me.
With her warm breath brushing against my cheek, and the combination of her scent and perfume engulfing me, my semi-boner had turned into a raging one, something I hoped she wasn’t aware of, thanks to the thick layers of her dress.
The fucking songseemedto go on for eternity, my craving to smoke thejoints stashed away in my pocket growing stronger with every passingbeat. When other couples decided it was time to join us on the dance floor for the remainder of the song, I relaxed fractionally, only to stiffen up when Sofia shifted, her blue eyes meeting mine.
“Miles,”she whispered, the soft smell of champagne on her breath fillingmy nose. Unable to stop myself, my gaze briefly dropped to her luscious pink lips.“I…I know you hate me, but whether we like it or not, we’re now married.”My fingers dug into her hips. I didn’t need a fucking reminderthatshe was my wife; the weight of the ring on my finger was enough.“Can we at least try to…I don’t know, maybe be friends?”
Friends. As if it could bethatsimple.
I suppose life would have been better if we could have found a way to be friends,but truthfully, the only way I could have handled her being a constant presence in my life was if she were irrevocably mine.
Something she would never be.
And I knew—Ijustfuckingknew—thatif I gave her an inch, gave her thetiniest hintthatshe could be anything more than my enemy, she’d find a way under my skin, and demand more.
I repeated my mantra.
Liar.
Heart breaker.
Daughter of the enemy.
Makes me feel things I shouldn’t.
No, I needed to keep the walls up for my own fucking sanity.
I glared back at her, schooling my features.“You and I will never be friends,Jailbait. You want to know why?”I moved in closer to her, our mouths a hair’s breadth apart, so only she could hear me.“Because you’re nothing to me.Nothing.The only reason I agreed to this fucked up marriage was to save my city, and for Kai. Don’t think for oneminutethatyou’ll ever be more thanjustsomething I needed to get the result I wanted.”
Hurt flashed across her face, and an invisible knife stabbed me in thechest at the cruel words I’djustfired at her. But I refused to take them back.
I couldn’t.
Otherwise, I’d fall to my knees, beg for her forgiveness for every spiteful word I’d thrown at her in the past, and declarethatfrom theveryfirst minute I saw her, four years ago, she’d carved her mark on my heart.
“I’ll tell you how we’ll get through this marriage,”I continued, each wordtasting like acid as I forced them out.“You stay out of my business, and I’ll stay out of yours. Simple.”
Despite unshed tears forming, her eyes hardened.“What did I ever do toearn your hate?”
