Page 60 of Corrupted Bride

She hesitates. “I touched a nerve with the lights. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

More shame. More guilt. “It really is fine.”

“You can talk about it, if you want. I mean⁠—”

“No.” I say the word too fast and have to quickly add, “Not right now. Maybe one day.”

“Okay.” She smiles, not sure about any of this. “Okay. I’m going to go check on Cruz. Your mom has him out with the ranch hands getting a tour of the property and I don’t think that boy’s been out in nature for more than ten minutes in his life.”

“It’ll be good for him. My mother won’t stress him too much.” I pause and look toward the window. “Probably.”

She touches my cheek, a lingering gesture, before leaving me alone.

I pour a drink. My hands are shaking as I splash the whisky down my throat. It doesn’t help. I still hear my older brother’s voice echoing through time. At least leave the fucking light on for me!

18

MARI

There’s a strange way time moves out in the country.

Days are slow. Sunrise comes on like a hammer, but the afternoons stretch for ages. There’s a constant flurry of activity at the end of each day as the final chores get finished and a slow, almost luxurious tilt into full night.

Evenings are a gift. I spend them on the back porch watching the sun set. Cruz joins me most of the time. Bass’s mother Ottavia brings snacks and tells stories and laughs a lot. The sound is so infectious I start to associate it with everything good about this period in my life. Lia comes back from school on weekends, and we even get cameos from Vince and Nico, though it’s mostly Bass sitting with me after he’s finished his work, holding my hand quietly, eating dinner beside me, acting like a real husband.

He doesn’t share much about what he’s doing and I think it’s better that way.

Cruz takes to ranching in a way I never imagined. One morning, I find him feeding chickens with Ottavia. I hang back to watch them joking together, Cruz looking like the fifteen-year-old kid he actually is, instead of the sullen, depressed teen he was spiraling toward. Ottavia treats him like her own child, and I swear, she gives Cruz more attention and warmth than Barbara did in my little brother’s entire life.

It’s good seeing him work hard for once. He comes home with dirty hands, stained clothes, sweaty hair, and a big smile. One time, after Cruz spent the whole day out with the ranchers checking on cattle, Bass slipped him a beer. “Welcome to the family,” he said, thinking I wasn’t around to see it.

I let Cruz drink half before I took it away. I’m not a total monster. When I confronted Bass about letting a fifteen-year-old drink, my husband only shrugged. “Kid earned it.”

Days are long, but the weeks evaporate. I fall into a rhythm and for a while, it’s like the outside world doesn’t exist. I hear about what’s happening out there beyond the gates of the ranch like an alien getting distant signals from a strange planet. I know those signals mean something—but I don’t know what and I’m not sure I care.

I have my little brother, my husband, and my new family.

And I’m happy in a way I don’t ever remember being before.

One morning, about three weeks into my marriage, I wake up to find Bastiano still in bed.

Which is a minor miracle.

“What are you doing here?” I say, looking at the clock. It’s slightly past seven in the morning. “Aren’t you gone by now?”

“Usually.” He moves closer, his lips brushing mine. “I didn’t feel like getting up.”

“Why not?”

His arms wrap around my body. His warmth rolls over my skin. It’s half comfort, half desire, something I’ve never experienced before.

“Because I didn’t feel like it.” His kiss is deep and slow. I let it happen, still half asleep. It feels like a dream, the way he touches me, exploring and gentle. His mouth on my neck, on my lips, his body on mine. He pushes up my shirt and finds my breasts, sucking at each nipple.

“Now I know what you really wanted,” I say, teasing, grinding against him.

“I only decided on this—” He flicks his tongue on my breast again. “The moment you looked at me. Before that, I was happy lying here.”

“Liar.” I reach down and stroke his hard cock. A rumble of pleasure rises from his throat. That’s a sound I’ll never get used to. It sends a shock of pure need into my core. How a man like him could ever want me so much, could ever be so happy to have my hands on him, still amazes me.