walked in, Luca. I’ll call you later.” He hung up without waiting for Luca’s reply.
I walked father into the room and the tension almost swallowed me whole. “Phoen-”
He threw his hand up, palm out, stopping me. “Why, Frankie?” he asked, and his voice tight and cold.
“Phoenix, she texted me asking for help,” I answered. “She’s one of my best friends. How could I not go help her? Would you leave Ciro or Luca hanging if they asked you for help?”
He stood staring at me and, just when I wasn’t sure if he was going to answer, he grabbed the desk light and threw it across the room. I flinched even though he hadn’t aimed it my way. I flinched because Phoenix was losing his shit and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to rein him in.
“That’s not what I’m asking!” he thundered.
Frustrated, I shouted, “Then, what are you asking?!”
“Why didn’t you tell me your friend was in trouble?!” he asked, still shouting. “Why didn’t you ask for my help? Hell, not even mine. Why didn’t you ask for Ciro’s or Luca’s?!”
I tightened the robe around my waist. “The text said to go alone,” I pathetically explained. “She mentioned being intimidated by everything that was going on with discovering who I was to you guys, I thought she was just being…she said she didn’t want to borrow trouble.”
Phoenix let out a harsh laugh. “Jesus fucking Christ, Francesca.” I knew I was partly at fault here, so I remained quiet. “Do you have any idea who we are? Who you are?” he snapped. “You are best friends with the most powerful man in Morgan City. Hell, in this entire fucking state. Your brother is one of the wealthiest and deadliest men walking the planet. And you’re married to the most prolific hit man in goddamn Mafia history. Do you get that? Do you understand that?”
“Of course, I do,” I spat. “I’m not fucking stupid.”
“Then quit acting as if you are!” he roared, and, this time, the house phone flew across the room.
“She needed help, Phoenix,” I repeated. “I wasn’t not going to help her!”
“I don’t give a fuck that you wanted to help your friend,” he tossed back. “I give a fuck that I almost lost you! I give a fuck that you are so cavalier about your status as my wife that you put yourself in danger! That’s what I give a fuck about!” Phoenix rushed me and, without any regard to my injuries, his large hand clamped down on my arm. “And you better believe I give a fuck that you put someone else before what is best for our marriage,” he hissed.
I could feel my eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
“Believing that Robbie was uncomfortable being around us, you chose to submit to her conditions rather than tell your fucking husband that your friend was in trouble, possibly placing you in trouble as well,” he clarified. “You ever chose someone else over me and our marriage again, and it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
“Meaning?” I asked, boiling with anger that he would treat me as if I didn’t have my own mind.
“Meaning that I will handcuff you to the goddamn bed and never let you see the light of fucking day ever again if you ever think of stepping outside this building again without me, Ciro, Luca, or a guard.”
I yanked my arm from his grasp, and I knew I was successful because he allowed me to disengage from his person. “I am not some mindless, simpering female who is going to let you dictate her life!” I yelled, wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into. This man yelling at me wasn’t the Phoenix I grew up with. This man was clearly The Ghost.
“I’m not trying to dictate your life, Frankie,” he argued. “I’m trying to keep you alive. And for that to happen, you have to take this shit seriously. You are in danger every minute of the fucking day. And just as Luca, Ciro, and I have to, you have to constantly be on guard. You have to be smart, Francesca.”
“What if I decide this is too hard and I don’t want this life?”
Phoenix advanced on me until my back hit the wall. His hazel eyes were flames of lethal rage as he growled, “You think I was talking with my dick the first night I fucked you?” My body started shaking because I knew where he was going