Page 89 of Unchained

He crosses his arms over his chest and stands opposite me. “So, you cared for your brothers? What about your mom?”

I suck in a breath. “She died, Colt. When we were really young. I don’t even remember her voice anymore.”

I remember what she looked like. I remember she’d kiss my forehead when she put me into bed. And then, one day, she never came home after going out to buy more ingredients to bake cookies with Max and me. Just like that, my world was tipped upside down. I do wonder what I’d be like now if Mom hadn’t been murdered. Would I have begged for my father's love by wanting to become the same as my brothers?

Probably not.

He leans forward, running his finger along my cheek. “Losing your mom is one of the worst possible pains you can go through, especially as a kid.”

“God. Do I need to buy one of those little violins?” I try to deflect.

He chuckles. “If you want? Add it to my card alongside the yacht and everything else.”

I glance down at his ring that I had engraved; it makes my tummy flutter. “Yes, daddy.”

He licks his lips and hooks his fingers under my dress, tugging me forward. “Stop trying to distract me, viper.”

I look up at him through my lashes. “But you’re so easy to distract.”

“Yes, because obviously you put a spell on me when we said our vows, and now I’m obsessed with you.”

My eyes go wide and my heart hammers.

He studies my face. “What exactly do you think is going on between us, Gianna?” he asks.

I swallow the lump in my throat. I’m so far out of my depth. I’ve never been given love; I’ve had to earn it. Work for it. Is this love? It can’t be. But it’s something. It’s powerful. But if I let him know that, it shows him I’m weak. That I’m just another woman who’ll fall in line for him.

“I don’t know. An alliance?”

He laughs. “You think I fuck everyone I have an alliance with?”

I tilt my head and shrug. “I assumed you would fuck anything with a pulse?”

His rough fingers brush along my jaw, and he grips my chin. “Try again.”

“We’re kind of friends who fuck?” I say.

He blinks slowly. “I’m not having sex with a friend. You’re my wife.”

A shiver runs down my spine. He’s not backing down, and I need that. Someone who is ready to fight against me.

“Colten… I basically bullied you into marrying me for an alliance. I tricked you into taking my virginity. I took your card and bought a yacht.”

“Hot. I like a woman who goes after what she wants.”

The meatballs start to bubble over the saucepan, and I step away from him. My father wants me to ruin his family's empire. That’s the only way I get my place back. I need to figure out who I am. Who I want to be. What I’m prepared to do for that empire.

“Stop trying to wind me up, Colt,” I huff and slide past him to stir the food.

I lower the heat on the stove and put the lid back on. My heart is in my throat as I turn back to Colt.

“I’ll drop it, okay?” he says.

“I’m going to get changed; the food will be another twenty minutes.” As I walk past him, he grabs the back of my dress and pulls me flush against his chest.

“The only way that dress is coming off is when I rip it off. Do you hear me, Gianna?” he murmurs against my shoulder.

My cheeks instantly flush with heat. My mouth opens to argue, but the words don’t follow. He got it wrong. He put the spell on me, because when do I listen to what a man has to say?