he replied coldly. “There will never be anything more important to me than your safety. Even your happiness, Remy.”
“So, that world you’re offering, it’ll be a world you control,” I remarked, disgust dripping like poison from every word. “Well, I have news for you. That’s not a world I want.”
“Well, that’s just too damn bad,” he bit out. “It’s the only world you’re going to get.”
I had bitten off more than I could chew. It had been obvious from the beginning, but I had fooled myself into thinking I could handle it. Even Robbie’s comforting words about how she’s still trying to find her way had convinced me I could do this. But, then, she wasn’t paired up with Luca Benetti. Sure, Ciro Mancini was powerful in his own right, just as Phoenix Fiore was, but they were not the head of the Benetti Family. They weren’t leading an empire. Luca was the present and the future of the organization, and he wouldn’t or couldn’t allow for weaknesses. Logically, I understood that. But emotionally, I couldn’t accept that, if I were to choose this life, I’d be abandoning all those kids I swore to protect. My entire life, as I knew it, would lose its purpose.
I couldn’t allow that.
It looked like Luca was going to have to end up killing me in the end after all.
I willed myself to stop crying and looked him in the face as I lied my acceptance. “Fine,” I said. Luca knew I was lying to him. He knew I wasn’t going to give up this easily, but what could he do? He couldn’t prove I was lying until I did something proving it.
Luca let go of my throat and the hold he had on my hair. He took a step back and regarded me coolly as he said, “You can’t win, Remy. So, whatever you’re thinking of doing, I suggest you hold off and really think about it.”
“Or else what?” I asked, not afraid of the answer anymore. “You’ll kill me?”
I stared as he picked up my phone off the counter and handed it to me. Wordlessly I accepted it, but the words he spoke next crushed everything inside me. “No,” he replied. “I won’t live without you. But, then, there’s always your parents, Remy. Don’t forget that.”
His words were like a physical blow, ruining everything I was beginning to feel for him. Luca walked out leaving me alone in the kitchen, and not even looking back once as my heart broke all over the floor.
Chapter 17
Luca~
I never should have said those words to her.
I never should have threatened her parents. I knew she was close to them, and they were good people, but Remy challenged me in a way I couldn’t lose.
She was new to this life, so she had no idea how paramount her safety was. Francesca and Robbie understood because they’d been victims to it. If Francesca had never gotten kidnapped or if Robbie had never dated that asshole Randy, they might be in the same boat as Remy. But they had, and they understood better now.
Remy had no clue who she was.
I wasn’t going to take it back, though. I needed to keep her in line until we could reach a compromise and her parents were the only way I could do that right now.
I let the hot water beat on my shoulders as I tried to come up with a way to make things right. I meant what I said about her safety mattering more than her happiness, but I wanted her happy too, damn it. I didn’t want her to regret marrying me. I didn’t want her to lose her smile or her fight. But her job was too dangerous for her right now.
I got out of the shower and changed into a suit. It was Sunday, but I had shit to do still. I always had shit to do. We had three different gun shipments coming in and I knew Sal was finalizing a drug deal that would land us millions.
I also had to go over my finances with Phoenix. I asked him to lay out a financial plan for Remy. She needed access to my bank accounts and credit cards, and she needed her name on all my deeded properties. With all the apartments and condos I owned throughout the city, Remy needed to understand just want she was coming into. There’d be no prenup. However, she’d have no access to the Benetti Family assets. Those