“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” I toss the pillow back to her. She catches it, and I turn to go.
“Did you know that part?” she calls out before I get to the bathroom. “That they’d parade the sheets around?”
When I look back at her, I’m not grinning anymore. “It’s not a big deal. It’s done, and it’ll keep you safe.”
“So, you did.”
“My family’s traditions need to be honored.”
“Just say you knew, Damian.”
“I knew, Cristina.”
“You could have warned me.”
“And what would that have done?”
“What if I wasn’t a virgin? What would you have done then?”
“Punished your uncle.”
She looks confused. “What?”
“A part of the rules.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He was responsible for you until I came to claim you. So those eight years your father bought, the burden of raising you and keeping you…intact…rested on your uncle’s shoulders.”
“Then why did you want to have that doctor check me?”
“Because I’m sure you had boyfriends he didn’t know about.”
She doesn’t say anything.
“He got paid, of course.”
“The apartment renovations and our lifestyle. That was all you?”
I nod.
“He did it for money?” Her face falls. “My own uncle betrayed me for money?”
“There was more. He wanted custody of his kids. I assured that.”
“How?”
“I have some influence.”
“They’re with my aunt now, though. Simona is, at least, and Liam on weekends.”
“Our agreement lasted until your eighteenth birthday.”
She looks away, shaking her head. “This is crazy.”
“Yeah, it is.” I walk away then, into the bathroom, and switch on the shower. I take a piss while the water warms up, then step under the stream of hot water.
When I’m finished, I wrap a towel low around my hips and walk out into the bedroom. She’s still sitting on the bed, but she’s got a robe on and is hugging her knees to herself.
“Go get showered and ready. I’ll wait for you.”
“Are they all going to be down there?”
“Probably not. But you’ll need to get used to being around them. I told you, you’re safe now.”
“How am I safe? I don’t understand.”
I sit on the edge of the bed and look at her. Even after the night she’s had and hungover like she is, she’s pretty. But she needs to eat. She’s already lost a couple of pounds since being here.
“Did you hear what my father said to my brother?”
“That because of some rules he can’t touch me.”
“That’s right. No one can. You belong to me. You’re my wife. My property. Only I can touch you.”
“What year is this? Did we go back in time, and I’m not aware?”
I adjust the robe at her breast, tugging it closed, tugging her closer. “It’s what will keep you safe. Just like with those men at the party. They won’t touch what’s mine. If they do, they know there will be war.”
“Your brother kissed me on the mouth.”
My jaw tightens. “And he won’t do it again.”
“And all because you married me? Because I’m your property.” Her eyebrows rise so high on her forehead they disappear behind her bangs.
“It’s an issue of territory. We don’t fuck with each other’s territories and when it comes to my family, it’s…tradition.”
“So you married me for my own good.” She says it mockingly, but she remembers my words from a few nights back.
“That’s right.”
“Should I thank you?”
I smile. “That’d be a good start. Should I show you how you can thank me?”
She smiles too, a wide, sarcastic thing. “If you mean by sucking your dick, you can be assured I will bite it off.”
“Ouch. I thought you liked my dick.”
“I wouldn’t put my mouth near your dick.”
“I wonder how hard you’ll come when I put it in your ass.”
Her mouth falls open, and I can’t help but laugh outright at her expression.
“Fuck you, Damian!” She swings her legs over the bed and stalks toward the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I’m still laughing when I hear her drag the chair that was in there, and I realize what she’d done with it. She must have it lodged under the doorknob since there’s no lock on the door.
Good girl.
I get up, walk to the bathroom door. “So, does this mean you don’t want me to wait on you for breakfast?”
“Go choke on your breakfast, prick!”
12
Damian
Although I need her to eat, I’m too stubborn to send food up after telling her she won’t eat unless she eats with me. Maybe I’ll take her something later as a peace offering.