Page 119 of Brutal Revenge

“I just did.”

She shakes her head. “You’re impossible.”

“Probably.”

“And selfish.”

“Definitely that.” My witty reply doesn’t even get a hint of a smile.

“You’re going to regret this.”

“Maybe,” I admit. “But I know what I want.”

“And what’s that? The closest woman willing to get on her knees?—”

“You,” I interrupt, done playing games. “I want you.”

Pain filters through her eyes like my confession physically hurts her.

She stares up at me, unspeaking and blinking, before she eventually murmurs, “You don’t want me. You just don’t want Antonio to have me.”

“Then why did I marry you?”

Without looking at me, she snaps out, “Because you’re insane.”

“Not really building a solid case,micina.”

She crosses her arms before acting as if I never spoke. “And controlling.”

“That’s not a total lie.”

“But if I had to settle for one thing, I’d say it is because you wanted to ruin my life.”

“That was never my intention.”

She finally looks at me—annoyed, impatient, and done with my shit. “Then why, Matteo? Why did you do what you did? Why did you lie?”

My lips twitch, yet I make no sound. Instead, I take a breath before doing something I’ve never done in my life. I fall to my knees in front of her, the dozens of guests still lingering in the ballroom, and my brothers, who all freeze mid-conversation.

Gasps ripple through the room as Azra’s eyes widen. “What are you doing?”

“Do you want me on my knees?” I ask, voice steady. “I’ll get on my knees.”

Her jaw drops, but her silence announces I need to do more than plead for her forgiveness.

“Do you want me to crawl to you?” I scoot back before flattening my palms on the carpet. “I’ll crawl over broken glass and across continents to reachyou.”

The room goes silent, and my brothers stare at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have lost my mind, but I don’t know how else to prove to her that this isn’t related to jealousy or revenge.

It’s about her and her alone.

“I’ll crawl to you even after you punish me by cutting off my limbs,” I say. “You aremy wife. I willneverbe too good to bow at your feet. You just need to tell me what I have to do to prove that to you.”

She observes me like she’s seeing me for the first time, then whispers, “I want you to let me marry Antonio.” I almost lose my shit until she adds, “So I can make him pay for killing my best friend.”

“Hattie was Antonio’s first wife?”

I realize I vocalized my confusion out loud when Azra nods.