Married With Malice

by Cora Brent

She knew I thought she was still at the spa. She saw an opportunity to run. From me. From us. From what we’ve become. And yes, that is all my fault. My fault for escalating our constant war. My fault for failing to see what she really wanted. My fault for not understanding her, for letting her believe I didn’t care.

“It’s my fault she’s out here,” I say. Chase winces and shakes his head. “No, Luca.” “You don’t understand. My wife was running away from ME.”

Cale was always my hero so when I had the chance to step up and become his, I didn’t hesitate. I bought his freedom by taking his place at our uncle’s side and I fixed things so he couldn’t reverse that decision.

“She didn’t make it.” Fuck no. That’s not the way our story ends. I love you, Annalisa. I can’t leave this mountain without my wife.

“You look like you’re one full moon away from eating bats in a graveyard.”

A surge of fierce, protective love for my sisters is the only positive feeling I expect to have today. They need me and there’s nothing I won’t do to keep them safe. I’ll even marry a man I despise.

It was Annalisa, the middle Barone sister, who captured my imagination. For looks, she’s my dream girl with a tight, athletic body, long dark hair, pouty lips and deep brown eyes that could have been my downfall if they’d ever once looked my way with longing.

Annalisa and I are both adults now. Just as I have good reasons for proceeding with this marriage charade, she must have reasons of her own. Maybe she’ll tell me, maybe she won’t. But since we both need to play along for now, we might as well have some fun in the meantime.

My first conclusion is that I was very wrong to believe Annalisa has no sense of humor. My second conclusion is that if she intended to shock me she’ll have to try a lot harder.

Vows that are meant to be sacred. At my own wedding I’m just a player in an act. Even the rings were picked out by Aunt Donna.

“Do you even know how to not be a lying prick, Luca?” “Do you even know how to not be a heinous bitch, Annalisa?”

I don’t care if he’s the Don or a movie star or a god on Mount Olympus. I think of him calling me a heinous bitch earlier and my blood simmers.

If they’ve come to abduct me to the bridal bedchamber, I plan to scream as I’ve never screamed before. The couple from the waiting room will hear. They’ll save me.

All of a sudden, I desperately wish that I hadn’t sent Luca away. While I wouldn’t call Luca an ally, I’m positive he’d never stand by and watch me get kicked around.

“And I expect you to be a mother to Luca’s sons. My grandsons.” He pauses and his lip curls with disgust. “Believe me, you would have been my last choice to continue the family legacy, but the deal stands and you’re going to honor it.”

It’s no secret to my sisters that I’m far from delighted about this union with Luca Connelly. They believe my grudging cooperation comes from a sense of duty to the family. Despite the lonely feeling of bearing the weight alone, I’d never burden them with the hideous truth.

I don’t regret sleeping alone tonight. The last thing I’d ever want is for Annalisa to grudgingly submit to sex on her father’s orders. When I do finally get my hands on her, she’ll fucking melt like ice cream in July. And that time is coming. I get hard again just thinking about how sweet the victory will taste.

However, there is a silver lining. A mafia capo is more of a lifestyle than a job, which means most of the time Luca will be off doing dirty business and I’ll be left the fuck alone.

Even if I wanted him for myself, which I absolutely DO NOT, men like Luca Connelly aren’t faithful. None of them. Not my father, not his uncle, not the unending network of capos and underbosses and soldiers populating the mafia realm.

“You are stunning, Annalisa.” Luca lets out a low whistle. “But I’m sure you’ve heard that a million times.”

I allowed Luca Connelly to undress me, finger bang me and make plans to fuck me after we have dinner with someone named George. That’s what.

Annalisa Barone, beneath all those withering glares and arctic attitude, is a girl who is craving rough use and tons of it. The problem with Anni is that she’s never been worshipped the right way. I’m going to fix that. My little ice queen is getting thawed out and she’ll love every second.

Maybe I was too smug earlier. I should have mentioned that while I was in Miami I couldn’t wait to get back here to her. She wouldn’t have believed me but I should have said it anyway.

Even if Anni knew every pose in a dirty deck of cards by heart I’d want her just as much. It doesn’t matter to me. But I also can’t deny the contrast between her sharp tongue and her innocence is unbelievably sexy.

She’s mine to teach, mine to corrupt, mine to conquer.

I’ve never been fun. Since I tend to gravitate toward equally serious and un-fun people, no one I’ve ever dated has been fun. Being on the arm of a charming, charismatic and absurdly sexy man is a new and dizzying experience.

This is not entirely accurate. With each passing day, I’ve grown to accept the idea that I do like Luca. I’ve abandoned all plots to make his life miserable. I feel good when I’m with him.

“Hey, I’m right there with you. There comes a time when you’ve got to take one for the team and get what you can out of it.”

The heart really is a strange instrument. It can crack with pain and light up with pleasure at the same time.

“If you won’t tell my father no,” I say, “then I’ll tell him. I’m not a kid anymore and I won’t tolerate getting roughed up in my own house.”

“Anni, I hope you know that I would never ever let anyone hurt you.”

Whether this will solve anything or not, Anni has suffered long enough without justice for what was done to her. This is going to change.

Whatever happens at her father’s house today, she’ll never hear the whole story. Just as she’ll never hear what really happened to her tormenter in a seedy room above a bar in Queens.

I’m a daughter of the mafia. My life has been filled with men who do terrible things. I understand that I’m in a room with one of them right now.

That’s not remotely true. This is my most comfortable sleepwear but fuck it. I want him. I don’t care what he’s done tonight or how messed up our relationship is. He’s the only man on earth with the power to make my body feel as if it can fly and ignite all at once. If this is what he needs right now, he can have it. It’s what I need too.

I’m good enough for him to fuck. He’ll tolerate sleeping beside me. He’ll escort me places when he needs to and grudgingly refer to me as his wife. But Luca doesn’t want more than that. He never did.

I had to have her, to bury myself inside her and forget the existence of everyone else but her. And I wasn’t tender about it, not that she minded. We savaged each other in a quest to feel good and blot out all the ugliness. At times like that I’m convinced fate has connected us on a level that can’t be put into words.

To my husband, I’m still just a plaything he uses for perverse pleasure. This truth cuts far more deeply than the memory of some stupid college era breakup possible could.

There’s a persistent fear in the back of my mind that I’m screwing up the best thing that’s ever happened in my life. I have to believe this can still be fixed.

Falling for Luca was never my intention. I’ve actively fought against the possibility. That makes no difference now. Here I am, hopelessly falling anyway and wishing my husband would reach over to hold my hand.

“I’m sorry,” I say, startling even myself with the sudden sound of my voice. “I’m really sorry for accidentally throwing out your pen. And for calling you an asshole when it turns out I added the pepper to the cake myself. And for causing the fire that ruined Christmas. And I’m sure there’s much more but those are the first transgressions that spring to mind.”

This woman is pure art and I’m amazed.

“We’re not like them, Luca. We don’t have what they have. You will NEVER EVER look at me the way Cale looks at Sadie. The same way Big Man Bowie looks at Daisy. The way those three brothers we met today look at their wives. Like they cannot imagine life without their other half. That will never be us, no matter what I wish for.”

“Believe me, I know how pathetic I sound. And I know that you never promised me love. That wasn’t part of any deal we made. You’re just taking one for the team, like you said. Falling for you was unintentional. And it’s my own problem.” Coming up with words to suit any situation has always come easy to me. I can shift gears

She sniffs again and with a fresh wave of horror, I realize she’s crying. My beautiful, headstrong, captivating wife, who could probably face down a Roman legion and not flinch, is crying. All because I’ve withheld from her the love she so badly wanted from me. And I didn’t understand.

“Saylor and I grew up together. I gave her plenty of causes to hate me. I don’t know how I earned a chance at redemption but she gave me one. You see, when the right girl becomes the center of your universe, fate has a way of falling into place. She deserves all the credit for the man I am now.”

And since we’ve been married I’ve been breaking her heart in a different way. I’ll never forgive myself for having no clue.

“Everything will be all right, sweetheart,” he says. “Just don’t go to sleep, you hear me?”

“I wasn’t running from you,” I repeat. “And I won’t leave you. I swear I won’t leave you.”

Ever since I found her in the storm I can’t deal with the thought of letting her out of my sight, almost as if it’s too good to be true that she’s here.