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I narrowed my eyes, suspicion slithering through me.What now?

Sandro pulled a folder from his case, flipped the top open, and slid the papers toward me. “I need your signature to finalize this.”

The large font of the heading sent a bolt of outrage through me. “I’m not divorcing him!”

Sandro’s voice was stone, hard and unyielding. “Serena, sign. Put an end to this madness.”

“It’s not madness!”It’s something...more.

My stomach did another queasy flip. I glanced to the swinging door into the kitchen, hoping the butler hurried with the eggs. I’d only had one glass of wine with dinner last night, so I wasn’t hungover. And my period—although light—had come and gone, so it wasn’t something...wonderful. I discreetly rubbed my belly. I was probably coming down with some bug. The heightened stress of seeing the man I adored shot and then being taken away without contact to know if he’d survived was probably ravaging my immune system.

No, I just needed some protein.

And a solid night’s sleep.

“Alessio, I said don’t push,” Penny reminded him, a soft warning in her voice.

“I told him.” The voice at the door had me closing my eyes. I didn’t have to turn to see the look on Leo’s face as he entered the dining room from the hall. “She needs to have the marriage dissolved at once, so he can’t take her back.”

“And what if I want to go back?” I snapped. Pushing to my feet, I glared down each of my brothers. “What if Ilikedit there? Don’t I get a say in my future?”

“No.” Their joint answer was spoken in unison.

“Listen here, you two,” Penny scolded, “she’s had a big change. Give her time and ask nicely. Or you won’t get anywhere with her.”

I gave Penny a small smile before stalking to the kitchen. Where I nearly ran into the butler and the covered plate of breakfast.

“Thank you, Shepherd. I’ll be eating in my room,” I said, taking the dish.

“Very good, ma’am.”

“We’re not done,” Leo barked, hot on my heels.

“Oh, yes, we are.” I moved through the kitchen to the opposite door.

“Get back in that dining room, sit down, and sign the papers,” Leo seethed.

“No.” The one-word answer clipped off my tongue with as much feeling as he’d used.

“Don’t make me haul you back there,” Leo warned. “You won’t like if I have to use force on you.”

“I’m not a child!” I rounded on him, nearly dropping the eggs as I flung my arms wide.

“You’re acting like one,” Sandro grumbled, pushing through the swinging dining room door. “It would serve you right to be switched.”

“The only man laying a hand on my backside is my husband.” The sudden discomfort on their faces was priceless. “That’sright, you heard me. My. Husband. And what’s more? I wouldbeghim for another.”

“I’m going to strangle her,” Leo growled.

“Lay a finger on me, and I’ll cut it off.” With that, I made my escape. The staircase seemed longer, as if the relief of solitude was trying to escape me. But I managed. Breathing hard, I slammed my door, rattling the frame.

I dropped the breakfast on top of the wardrobe and dug my fingers into my hair. A deep, rough scream of frustration bellowed from deep within, drawing from the ache in my soul. Couldn’t they see it? I was in love with my pirate. Desperately, all consuming. It was killing me—literally—not knowing if he was okay.

And they dismissed it as trauma, stupidity, and naïvety.

Sobs wracked my frame, each one stronger than the one before. They consumed me like a growing flame. My body quivered with them. My heart was on fire. I was trapped in hell. I was hopelessly alone. Ached. Yearned. To have tasted freedom, to have felt the wild wind in my hair, to have found the one my heart longed for—and now to be so rudely caged away from it all? It was misery. No! It was worse than misery. It was desolation.

“I should never have called them,” I whimpered, tears slipping hot down my cheeks. I should have let The Twelve do their worst. Them torturing me, even killing me, would have been a far more merciful situation.