Scorned Obsession (Scorned Fate)

“I don’t think I can do this.” Divina raised the teacup with shaky hands.

We were in the kitchen. I made tea for her because she’d suddenly felt cold and couldn’t warm up. Sloane was sitting beside Divina but was drinking a Red Bull. She looked exhausted and was silently listening to Divina and her misgivings about what happened tonight.

When Divina and a soldier had gone to pick up cleaning supplies, he told her that Al was standing beside Tommy. And if their uncle hadn’t pushed him away, Tommy would be the one bleeding out in the office.

“Surely this is not a one-off.” I poured more tea into her cup and also mine.

“It’s never hit me this way.” She swallowed. “I was never there.”

“Mafia wives are never as involved,” Sloane said. “They stay in the kitchen to prepare food for the men after all the business is done.”

I stilled. “Am I supposed to be cooking?” That was why I wanted to talk to Sandro this morning. I didn’t know what he expected from me. But if he was the one who was hurt, no one would keep me from his side. It reminded me again of Griselda slamming the door on me after Sandro was shot. It reminded me of Griselda showing up this afternoon. I was Sandro’s wife now. He made it clear that in this house I was in charge, but I wanted it clarified to Griselda, too.

“Nah,” Sloane laughed. “There’s still leftover pizza.”

“What?”

Sloane laughed harder. “Where were you? I lost you there for a moment.”

“I remembered something.” I stared at Divina. “Let’s hope this is not a common occurrence.”

“Let’s,” Sloane agreed and took another sip of her Red Bull. “But you have to be prepared given the change of leadership.”

Sandro entered the kitchen and informed Divina, “Tommy, Al, and Arnie are waiting for you.”

“I should get going too,” Sloane said, rising.

“You don’t have another job to do, do you?” I asked.

“Just a small one. You need me tomorrow?”

“God, no,” I said. “Only when you have time. Get some sleep. You worked so hard today.”

She shot me an appreciative smile.

Divina couldn’t muster a change of expression. She was still trapped in the what-ifs of her thoughts. She got off the barstool and followed Sloane like an automaton.

“Divina,” I called and sprinted to her. Before she could fully turn, I wrapped her in a tight hug and whispered in her ear. “Rest tonight, Tommy is fine. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

At her surprised look, I had to stop and think of my impulsiveness. My reaction was a one-eighty from the standoffishness with her yesterday.

“Hey, do I get a hug too?” Sloane piped in.

“Yes, you do.” With my other arm, I dragged her into my embrace with Divina. In a way, we had found a common ground. We were in this family, not by choice, but by coercion. Admittedly, Divina was in love with Tommy, but their marriage was turning out more overwhelming than what she signed up for. I gave the girls another squeeze before letting go.

“Thank you.” There was a catch in Divina’s voice.

When they left the kitchen, Sandro was looking at me with his arms crossed. “What was that all about?” His tone was casual but his gaze was piercing.

“Just girl bonding.”

“Is that right?” He opened the fridge, surveying the contents, and grabbed a beer.

“Do you want me to make you something?”

He looked over his shoulder and lifted the pizza box out, letting the door of the fridge swing shut. “You think I’d rather have you laboring over a stove than hearing about your day?”

“Here, let me heat that up.”

“I’ll eat it cold.” And he proceeded to do so. “So, how was your day?”

I watched him as he took a swig of beer. He’d unbuttoned more buttons of his dress shirt and exposed that strong, tanned column of his throat.

I got distracted for a moment. “We cleaned the rooms. That Sloane is an interesting character.”

He sat back against the barstool. “You seem to get along.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“You’re settling in, then?”

“I don’t know.” I schooled my features and looked directly at him. “Griselda showed up and thinks she has a run of the place.”

Every line in Sandro’s body stiffened and his face grew scary. He dropped his half-eaten pizza back in the box. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“Are you serious? You had a man bleeding in your study. I don’t know what happened, but you clearly had bigger problems. That said, since we’re talking about our day…”

I did my best to shrug it off, but I couldn’t. Remembering Griselda was here made me want to foam at the mouth all over again. I didn’t know if it was being possessive of Sandro or just this place and the people around me.

He considered this briefly. A muscle twitched in his jaw before he asked, “What did Griselda want?”

“She needed to pick up her earrings from your room.”

He muttered an expletive that sounded like bitch. “She uses this place sometimes, but I’m telling you now, I haven’t fucked Griselda since that time I threw her out the night you called me from Queens.”

“Six years ago?”

He nodded. “I owe Al and Arnie a lot and you know I grew up with Tommy. She’s a good club manager, and it’s impossible to avoid her. But make no mistake, I’m making it clear where she stands when it comes to you.”

“She said she has the keys to your kingdom.”

“It makes it easy to move things in and out of the club. But I was going to get my keys back from her anyway.” His voice lowered. “I want you to have them.”

Or change the locks on every property that Sandro owned. I hated that Griselda stirred a pettiness inside me. “Miller and the guys didn’t know how to handle her.”

“Where was Sticks? He wouldn’t have let Griselda pass.”

“He was on an errand.”

“Dammit, all right.” He resumed eating his pizza, but it seemed like he was running through different checklists in his head. I didn’t want to add more to his problems. I could handle Griselda now that I knew Sandro had my back, and that I wasn’t stepping on any organizational hierarchy. And he hadn’t slept with her in years. I brought his attention back to business. “So what happened tonight?”

“We’re trying to get clear of the drugs,” he said without hesitation.

This was good news. And that he was open about what he was doing might make living with Sandro easier to swallow. I was figuring out my objection to the made-men culture was keeping the women in the dark about mafia business. “This is good.”

“Yeah. Tommy and I are checking over the financials with the accountant tomorrow. Make sure there are no hidden streams coming from human trafficking too.”

“You could talk to Dom if you want other options for revenue.” The De Lucci crime family steered clear of two things: drugs and human trafficking. Other businesses were fair game.

Sandro drained his beer before answering. “Right now, I’m on the De Lucci shit list.”

“Any news you can tell me?”

“Renz is scheduled to be discharged tomorrow. Your dad is blowing up Luca’s phone.”

“Why?”

“He found out that Luca was my sponsor to fast-track the made-man ceremony with the commission so I could marry you.”

“And Dom?”

“Dom is sending every De Lucci soldier into our territory.”

“He’s not supposed to do that.”

“He’s straddling the line for sure. Intimidation without confrontation.”

“And?”

He hitched his shoulders as though saying it was as he expected. “Tensions are high.”

One wrong trigger and there would be an all-out war. But both families wouldn’t want that. The commission would come down on their heads if it caught the attention of the public.

I walked to the fridge to get water. “Want another beer?”

“Sure.”

“Is there any other way I can see my family sooner? I mean, even talk to them. See them over FaceTime. They just need to know I’m okay.”

I popped the cap off his beer and handed it to him. Sandro was already shaking his head before I finished my sentence.

“I saw Raffa briefly today,” he said. “He’s enjoying Cesar’s suffering.”

Too late, Sandro realized he said the wrong thing because he must have seen the expression change on my face before I realized my whole body had locked up in fury. Any effort to be on the same page, same line, same word disintegrated.

He quickly blanked his expression.

That pissed me off further.

“Bastard,” I managed to get out.

“You need to hold your temper around him, Bianca.”

“Why?”

“What did I tell you earlier?”

“You have no choice but to kill a man if he insults me.”

“Exactly that.”

At first, I thought it was endearing how Sandro was so protective of me, but an uglier conclusion was taking form, especially in light of Dad’s suffering. My dad, who’d done nothing but want what was best for me, was suffering at the hands of the Blind Don, who was using me to fuel his revenge. “Is that your way of keeping me in line?”

“If you think I’d manipulate you that way, then I’m disappointed with you.”

His words sliced into my already ragged heart. My mouth curled in anger. There was no remorse on his face to soften the blow. He’d become a stranger once again. He was always going to be one of them.

“Well, fuck you, Alessandro Rossi, and fuck this marriage. Imagine how disappointed I am in you!”

His face hardened even more. A muscle in his jaw jumped before he took a swig of beer.

I couldn’t stand to be around him. Fuck him. Fuck the Rossi crime family. Fuck them all to hell.

“I’m going to my room. I can’t stand your company.”

And for the second night in a row, I stormed out of the kitchen. But instead of the silence that followed me yesterday, the sound of something crashing, probably an overturned chair, reached my ears.

“Bianca!” Sandro growled my name. Each syllable was punctuated with exasperation. Even if I couldn’t hear his footsteps because of his specialized stealth footwear, I quickened mine.

Before I reached the bottom of the staircase, fingers grabbed my waist and he lifted and tossed me over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” I pounded his back.

“No.”

He was starting up the stairs when I spotted the front door opening and in my upside-down state, I saw Raffa and Griselda walk in flanked by men in suits I figured were like his Secret Service security. If there was any doubt of Raffa’s importance in the family, the fact that he had an entourage of men protecting him erased my questions.

I would have panicked thinking that they were coming for Sandro, but Sticks and Miller were with them.

Sandro angled their way, and I could feel his whole body freeze. He backed down the steps to face them.

“Put me down.” I was glad I was wearing joggers and not a skirt or my ass would be on display. Speaking of which, Sandro hugged my legs with a hand over my ass in what felt like a brand of possession.

“Quiet,” he growled to me, and then, “What’s this all about, Raffa? I thought we agreed to talk about this shit tomorrow.”

I stilled. I promised cooperation in front of the others, so I fumed in silence.

“Yes, but Griselda seems to think you’re not keeping your end of the bargain.”

“And what is that?”

“You’re not staying in the same room, so I assume you haven’t consummated the marriage.”

That nosy bitch.

“I was giving Bianca a chance to adjust, but as you can see, you’re interrupting our foreplay.”

I didn’t know whether to be mad or laugh. But I could definitely hear Sandro’s men laugh.

“So, is that all?” Sandro continued. “Because I’ve got all this aggression from what happened tonight and my wife…” He gave my ass a swat. I inhaled sharply. “Is being a brat and I think she’s had enough time to adjust.”

Oh, he was going to hear it from me.

Raffa gave a pained laugh. It seemed Sandro embarrassed him. “I’m sorry for interrupting, nephew. Yes, what happened tonight can wait. Take care of your wife. Get her pregnant, even better.”

“You simply believe them?” Griselda shrieked.

“Shut up, Griselda,” Sandro snapped. “You’re forbidden to step foot into this house without permission from Bianca or me. Do I make myself clear?”

“Fuck you, Alessandro.”

“Sorry, that’s my wife’s job.”

Again. My conflicting emotions. Pleased and annoyed.

“Let’s go, before you humiliate yourself further,” Raffa said. He could only be addressing Griselda.

Sandro moved toward the entrance. It was getting uncomfortable on his shoulder. He slammed the door and I heard him turn the lock.

“You can put me down.”

“Hell no, I enjoy having you at my mercy.”

I was too furious to be turned on. Seeing Raffa only brought back the image of Dad’s worried face. All my life, my father’s main objective was to keep our family mafia adjacent and not actually in it. I was going to be his biggest disappointment.

When we got to the top of the staircase, I renewed my struggle, pounding on his back because he had the presence of mind to lock down my legs.

“Stop fighting,” he growled.

“You’re a bastard just like all of them.”

“Yes, but this bastard is your husband.”

“I’m sure Dad has drawn up the divorce papers.”

He pivoted into his room and dumped me on the bed. I lost my breath momentarily and found myself staring at the ceiling. When I heard the door slam, my gaze switched to the looming outline of Sandro stalking toward the bed. He was on me before I succeeded in scrambling off. His weight bore down and I hated how my body came alive.

I pushed against his shoulders. My hips squirmed against his, but I was feeling something very hard rubbing against my thigh.

I ignored the pulse of my arousal between my legs. I wasn’t giving in.

The sounds in the room were my grunts and his.

He grabbed my wrists and slammed them on either side of me. Somehow, he had wedged his hips between my legs, and when he adjusted, his erection rubbed right along the seam of my pussy.

My moan was loud in the room.

He froze. “Did you just come?”

I glared at him, indignation resonating loudly in my vehemence. “No!”

A corner of his mouth tipped up and he repeated the motion.

“Sandro, stop it!”

He raised a brow. “You’re saying no?”

I was too mad to have this go further and have me regret it later, so I gritted, “I’m saying no. Let me go.”

He immediately released my wrists. I expected him to be pissed, but there was a warm glint in his eyes and a proud look on his face. I remembered our conversation years ago about “no means no.” And with that memory, it reminded me there was still something I wanted to ask him.

“You got it.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “But you’ll have to sleep in my room.”

I exhaled a heavy breath. Of relief, a bit of disappointment. Gah! My feelings for Sandro were all over the place and he made it so hard to stay mad at him. “Fine. I don’t want Griselda having more ammunition to use against us.”

His face turned serious. “I don’t like that she’s still between us, baby. If anything about her bothers you, let me know immediately. I’ll take care of it.”

“No,” I said firmly. “I’ll take care of it. As long as you’ll have my back.”

“Always.”