Page 31

PSYCHO

Jimmy enters my home, flanked by four of my guards. He is the kind of man you watch from all angles, because even if you think he’s a friend, I promise you, he’s not.

“Bonetti,” he says with a slimy grin.

I shake off the war currently going on in my head. Like there’s an angel on my right shoulder, saying to not do this, and the devil on my left, is screaming that she can’t be trusted, and this is my only option.

“She ready? After seeing that picture, I can’t wait to fuck her. Is she a screamer?”

Clenching my jaw, I tighten my hands into fists at my sides. I want to kill him. How dare he talk about my little lamb like that? I want to reach into his chest, grab his beating heart, and stuff it down his throat. Instead, I take a deep breath, because this is my doing. My guards stand staring at him, not really listening to his vile words, but ready for any threat.

“Anastasia is in the shower. She’ll be down in a few minutes. Do you want me to grab her suitcase while you wait?”

He laughs, like someone told a hilarious joke, before shaking his head.

“No. She won’t need any of it.”

Images of him, torturing her, flash through my mind. Jimmy, fucking what belongs to me, and my chest aches with regret, before it has even happened.

What the fuck am I doing? I cannot fucking hand her over to him for two reasons. One, I can’t let him destroy her, and two, she fucking belongs to me.

“Deal’s off, Jimmy. Get off my property.”

He stares at me with shock, and throws his hands in the air in a ‘what the fuck’ motion.

“We had a deal, Bonetti. I brought the money, and you need to give me the girl. I’m not leaving without her.”

I nod to my guards, and instruct them to get him out of my house.

“Help him off the property. Be sure he actually leaves. If he doesn’t, feel free to put a bullet in his brain.”

As they drag him away, he shouts at me, but his words don’t worry me.

“You’re going to regret this, Bonetti. I don’t give a fuck who your family is. You will be sorry.”

Ignoring him, I go back upstairs to tell my little lamb that it’s off. She’s safe. I don’t know what the hell the future holds for her, but Jimmy is not part of it.

I make it up to the bedroom, and wait outside the bathroom.

“Anastasia?” I say, after it feels like at least ten minutes. She doesn’t respond, so I walk over and attempt to open the door, but it’s locked. After calling her name repeatedly, she doesn’t answer, the only sound is her sobs.

I smash down the door, and find the woman I broke, on the floor sobbing, while she attempts to open a vein with the end of a pair of tweezers. I’m sure it would’ve been a knife, if she could’ve found one.

“I’m not going,” she cries.

She looks so fucking delicate, and broken, on the floor. It’s not lost on me that this was my plan. Tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes lost, and far away, the way she shakes with her sobs, this should please me, and it doesn’t.

I knew I was doing a terrible thing, I’m not an idiot, but seeing her like this now makes it very fucking real.

Kneeling beside her, I take the tweezers and throw them in the corner, before grabbing her wrists, and pressing soft kisses to the one she was successful in cutting.

Her lashes flutter as she lifts her gaze to mine, and she stares at me for a long minute, before she speaks in a low voice.

“I’m not going. You can’t do this to a person. Massimo, even you must know this isn’t okay.”

She sits on the floor in front of the shower, with pure devastation in her gaze. The pain in her eyes cracks my chest wide open.

“I know,” I admit.

Reaching out, I place my hand on her cheek, and she pulls away with obvious fury.

“No! You don’t get to touch me. How dare you? Massimo, you have no right.”

I retract my hand with a nod. Am I going to let her suddenly control things? No, but I can give her a fucking minute.

“I told him the deal is off.”

She trembles as she stares at me incredulously. Shaking her head, like she can’t begin to understand my words, she speaks in a broken voice.

“Do you think that makes it right? You didn’t go through with it, so it’s okay? You’re absolved of wrongdoing?”

Her gaze locks on mine, her hands shaking, and eyes darting back and forth. The bathroom is filled with her labored breaths, as the anger vibrates from her body. She looks at me with so much disdain, I’m certain I am going to force her to stay.

“Let’s get you into bed, you need rest.”

Taking her hand into mine, I help her to her feet, and she quickly pulls back from me.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“No,” I answer in a clipped tone.

She places a hand on her hip as she demands, “Then let me go. I want to leave.”

That’s not happening. There’s no fucking chance of her walking away from me, but I don’t say that because, for once, I don’t want her fight.

“After you rest,” I say, and am pleased my lie was convincing enough. She storms into the bedroom, and gets under the sheets with an exasperated sigh.

Reaching under the cabinet, I grab what I need, and shove it into my pocket.

I come out of the bathroom and stand in the doorway, unable to take my eyes off her. I drink her in, every delicious inch, even as she scowls at me.

“Do you really have to watch me sleep?”

“Yes,” is my only answer, because I like watching her. It doesn’t matter if she’s awake, mouthing off to me, coming all over my cock, or sleeping. Anastasia captivates me in all things, but right now I’m waiting for her to fall asleep, to make my next move.

I pull my cell phone out, and check my messages, so she thinks I’m not watching her. Rolling my eyes, I respond to my brother’s text.

Reaper: Bella could do it.

Me: No. Nobody is killing her.

He sends me an immediate bulging eye emoji, which I know is all the effect of his wife, because he didn’t do this annoying cutesy shit before he met her.

Reaper: Nobody is killing her?

Then he sends a thinking emoji, and I’m officially done with this conversation. I glance back over to Anastasia, and grin when I notice her parted lips, as she sleeps. Walking over to her, I take a second to get a good look at her features. Her lashes flutter as she sleeps, her cheeks have a light blush to them, and those full lips are the perfect shade of pink. She is stunning, but when she wakes up tomorrow, she will not be this calm. Once again she’ll call me a monster, but I was nice. I could’ve done this while she was awake. She should be grateful. Yet, I know she won’t be.

After grabbing the alcohol, I clean her skin before placing the needle to her neck, and slowly push it through her flesh. I know she’s out for the night, but I keep my voice low anyway.

“My sweet little lamb, tomorrow is the day. You’ll realize when you wake up, I’ll never let you go. I don’t love you, I never will. It’s not something I am capable of, but what is greater than love? Obsession. You have that.”

Lifting her into my arms, I hold her close to my chest, and carry her back down to the basement where my fixation started. Taking her into my tattoo room, I lay her on the chair, and stroke my finger over her lower back as I hum.

“You’re going to look so stunning with my knife on your back.”