Page 20 of Deceit
I wished I could say the memories werejustimages my brain hadconjured up, but something in the pit of my belly told methateverything spinning in my head actually happened.
My legs buckled.“I think I’m going to be sick.”
Miles cursed under his breath before scooping me into his arms and carryingme to his ensuite. His masculine scent wrapped around me like a comfort blanket before he unceremoniously dumped me in front of the toilet and walked straight back out again.
Silent tears slid down my cheeks as blame pierced my lungs, making itimpossible to breathe. Miles was right; my actions had gotten Gus killed. No, I didn’t ever want to experience the fear of being kidnapped again, butI would rather something happened to me than to Gus; he didn’t deserve to die at my expense.
I hovered over the toilet, bile creeping up my throat but refusing to expelitself. No wonder Miles hated me. Atthatverymoment,Ihated myself. It hadn’t occurred to methatI could be putting Gus in danger; he’d alwaysseemedlike someone who could protect himself. Besides, I’d been going to the bar for years, and nothing had ever happened.
Closing my eyes, I quickly reopened them when the image of Papa flashedbehind my lids. He would be furious when he found out what happened, especially after he warned methatI wasn’t to leave the house while he and Rafe were away.
I should have known better.
I was used to being a disappointment to Papa, but for some reason, therealization ofjusthow much I’d let him down this time hit me like someone had dropped a ton of bricks on my head.
“Here,”Miles said, returning to the bathroom and thrusting another glass ofwater and two pills in my direction.
I didn’t bother asking what the pills were as I swallowed them down. I didn’t care. With any luck, they’d knock me out and I’d wake up to find this was alljusta nightmare.
Better yet, I wouldn’t wake up at all.
Making the mistake of meeting Miles’ dark-brown eyes as he watched meintently, another memory reared to lifethatmade my heart plummet to the deepest depths of my stomach. An image of me safe in his arms and unable to stop the truth from falling from my lips.
‘It was always you, never Theo.’
My cheeks heated, and without needing to look in the mirror, I knew theywere blazing brighter than the sun. I ripped my gaze away, thenauseathathadjustsettled beginning to swirl again as a heavy atmosphere descended.
“Can you give me a minute?”I asked feebly when, after a few minutes,Miles hadn’t moved from leaning against the counter, and I was certain I could speak without embarrassing myself more than I already had.
“No. You need someone to monitor you. Like it or not,thatsomeone is me.”
I wiped my mouth and got to my feet, my legs shaky.“Can you takeme homethen? There are staff who can keep an eye on me.”
He folded his arms across his broad chest, his signature scowl crossing hislips.“No. You clearly can’t be trusted.”
Anger bubbled under the surface of my skin, smothering the lingeringembarrassment. The asshole had no idea what it was like to live a day in my life, being told what to do, when to do it, andevenwhoto do it with. Anyone in my position would be crawling the walls, desperate to escape forevena few minutes.
Miles had no damn clue.
“I want to go home,”I replied, gritting my teeth as my hands balled intofists, my nails digging into the flesh of my palms.
“Tough shit, Jailbait.”
“Don’t call me that.”
He shuffled closer, an annoying smirk gracing his handsome face.“Why?Reminds you of the night you tried to lure men into your trap?”
“Fuck you,Milo,”I hissed, internally high-fiving myself when a muscleticked in his jaw. He hatedthatnickname as much as I hated the one he’d given me, but two could play his pathetic game.“You know nothing about my life. Notthen, and not now.”
His smirk widened.“I know you’re a selfish little princess who doesn’tgive a fuck about anyone but herself. That’s all I need to know about you.”
Hurt crashed through me like a tsunami, but I refused to let the tears wellingin my eyes to fall. He could have his opinion of me all he liked, but he didn’t know me. He didn’t know a single thing other than I was Georgio Bianchi’s daughter.
Well, fuck him.
“I want. To go. Home,”I hissed through gritted teeth.
His hand shot out as he roughly gripped my chin with his thumb and finger,holding me in place. Too shocked by his abrupt movement, I stared back at his hate-filled eyes.“Let’s get one thing straight, Jailbait. Whether either of us wants it or not, you’ll soon be my wife, but don’t think for one goddamn minute you’ll be calling the shots. You may order your weak brother and your father’s men around, but I don’t take demands from anyone, especially you.”He brought his face closer to mine, close enough for me to feel his warm breath against my lips when he spoke.“Now, get the fuck back to bed and get some rest. I’ve got your mess to clean up, and I haven’t got time to babysit your whiny little ass.”
