“Birth control pills.”
“Why do you have them?”
“Birth control.”
Antonio’s eyes blazed wi
th anger, like two flames in the dark. We were devotedly Catholic, and birth control was frowned upon by the Church. But I knew what bothered him even more was that he wanted another child. Another son to rule his empire.
“How long?”
I looked him straight in the eye. “Since the day we were married.”
Since the night you stepped on my heart.
The slap across my face was immediate. It whipped my head to the side and knocked the breath from my lungs. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
“The things you make me do, Gianna,” he growled. “Do you think I want to hit you?”
My bitter laugh carried on the wind.
The sad part of it all was I only knew from TV this wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
He chucked the pills over the railing. “No more, do you hear me?”
I shook my head.
“No. More. Or, I swear, I’ll cut you off. No more money, no more secret trips to Chicago—and yes, I know you’ve been there.”
My heart froze to ice and shattered.
“You know your papà forbade you from visiting your mamma.” Softness laced through his voice. “I haven’t told him, only because I know what it means to you.”
She’s sick. I couldn’t say the words because I knew they wouldn’t be steady.
“I have to see her.”
“I know.” He stepped closer, the smoky scent of his cologne reaching me. “I know everything about you, Gianna. Where you go, what you do, who you speak with.” He ran a hand into my hair, and I fought the urge to jerk away because he’d only pull the strands. “You’re mine. And I look after what’s mine.”
“If you care about me at all, Antonio, you’ll get your filthy hands off me and give me a divorce.”
“Do you think I would take just anyone for a wife? I wanted you”—he pressed his lips to my ear—“so I took you, and I’m going to fucking keep you.” I tried to pull my head back, but his grip stayed strong. “I allow you free rein, Gianna, but test me, and I will lock you up so fast. Do you understand me?”
“If you think I will even sleep with you now, you are delusional.”
“You’ll cool off.” He ran a thumb across my cheek. “And when you do, you’ll realize you want children, too, cara.” His grip found my chin, a rough caress. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re not wearing your ring. You’ll put it back on when you get home, or you’ll wake up tomorrow with it glued to your finger.”
The glow of the ballroom highlighted his gray suit as he left through the double doors.
A tremor started in my hands.
The doors closed, and his words came out to swallow me with the shadows.
No more secret trips to Chicago.
No more secret trips to Chicago.
No more secret trips to Chicago.