Page 79 of Secrets of the Brother
I lifted my shoulders away from the mantel. “One.”
“We aren’t together. I’m free to date whoever I want.”
I uncrossed my arms and took two steps toward her. “Two.”
“I don’t belong to you! You can’t threaten me like this.”
“Three.”
Despite knowing it was locked, she bolted for the bedroom door and pulled on the knob.
I crossed to her in two strides, pressing her back to the door… and that’s when I saw it. “What the fuck?”
The prosecco had splashed her face, washing away a thin streak of the caked-on makeup. I cupped her cheek and gently swiped my thumb over her cheekbone, exposing a faint bruise below her eye and an angry red scratch.
She hissed in pain at the contact.
Through clenched teeth I seethed, “I’ll kill him.”
I stormed toward the wardrobe to retrieve the key.
Bianca followed, pulling on my arm. “It’s not what you think.”
“He’s a dead man.”
“It was my mother!”
I pivoted to look down at her, staring intently to see if she was lying to me.
She lowered her head. “It was my mother,” she whispered.
I ran my hand through my hair. “Why?”
“I confronted her about what you told me… about Renata and Milana.”
Damn it. I never should have told her. I'd let my anger get the best of me.
I placed my hands gently on her shoulders. “So she hit you?”
“Not exactly.”
When she refused to raise her gaze, I put a finger under her chin and tilted her head back. “I’ve got all night. And I’m not going anywhere until you tell me the truth.”
“Whatever my parents are involved in, it has them freaked out about money. They are refusing to let me return to New York and are pushing me to marry.”
“The man you were with tonight?”
She nodded. “His name is Nevio Zettici.”
I made a mental note to have my men learn everything that was possible about the man, especially any connections he might have. It would be useful information to know before I killed him.
And I would kill him.
He dared lay claim to what was mine. For that he would die.
And as for her parents? I would ruin them.
They only thought they had money problems. By the time I was through, they wouldn’t have a pot to piss in. I was over their bullshit.
