“Too much to lose.” My hands go to her waist. “But you should know better, Gwyneth.” I lean forward and bite her neck, making her cry in pain. “I only fuck her because I need to get her pregnant. Make her believe I’m a devoted husband.” Loretta’s threat of disinheriting me hangs in the air. Paris was a close call. I got comfortable, thinking that Valentina would never dare to leave me, and she almost did. Deep down in my bones, I know it. And I won’t allow the same mistake to happen twice.
“What makes you think a baby will make her stay?”
“Because that’s all she’s ever wanted. She won’t leave me after that.”
She looks at me with some sort of perverse pleasure as she lowers a hand and strokes my cock over my pants. “I could give you one, too.”
I throw my head back as her fingers begin to pump my dick. So damn good.
“I love you, William.”
I grab her by the ass. “Kiss me so I can taste your words. Show me.”
Right before I lose myself in my sister’s kiss, I think of Valentina.
Yes … I’ve got her right where I want her.
I hear the crunch of leaves. Gwyneth and I both turn to our left at the same time and find Valentina standing there, horror and disbelief in her eyes.
“I—your grandmother wanted you …” Shaking her head, Valentina doesn’t finish her sentence. She brings a hand to cover her mouth before turning on her feet and running toward the house as fast as she can.
“Fuck!” I push Gwyneth off my lap and stand. “Fuck.”
Gwyneth, cool as always, flattens her dress, smoothing out the wrinkles. “Uh-oh. Someone’s been caught being naughty,” she taunts, laughing. “You better hurry, dear brother, and try to fix it. But somehow I get the feeling that this is even beyond your power.”
I don’t waste another second with Gwyneth. I hurry back to the house after Valentina. Blood pumps in my veins. Fear that she will ruin everything threatens to overpower me, but I push past it. I will find a way to fix this like I always do.
I can’t lose her.
I won’t.
“I ONLY FUCK HER because I need to get her pregnant. Make her believe I’m a devoted husband.”
It was all a lie. A lie.
Feeling like I’m going to be sick, I run my hands along the length of my arms while trying to dismiss the sickening image of William and Gwyneth burned in my brain. I should be surprised, but I am not. Deep, deep down, some part of me must have always known it would come down to this. Sometimes we refuse to see the big fucking reality of it all because lying to oneself is much easier.
But I’m done.
I laugh bitterly. My God, I have been such a fool. They played me like a maestro, and I fell right into their trap, believing their lies with eyes wide open. The laughs they must have had at my expense.
I rush to the house, not caring about the party anymore. The noise. The people. It’s all becomes too much. The need to be alone guides my step, propelling me to move faster.
In our bedroom, I go inside the walk-in closet, reach for a small suitcase, and begin to fill it with enough clothes to last me for a while. I don’t know where I will go, but one thing is for sure, I can’t stay here for another second.
“There you are,” William says calmly. A tremor runs through me when I hear his voice coming from behind. I stop packing for a moment before I resume what I’m doing. Don’t look at him. I can do this. I can do this.
“Val, darling, let me explain.”
Oh, that’s rich.
“Don’t.” Anger, sadness, disgust, confusion, and disappointment swirl inside me like a violent tornado, wrecking the home William and I built together, and shattering once and for all the paper-thin foundation of our marriage. “You don’t need to explain anything to me. Keep the sordid details to yourself. I’m done.”
I close my suitcase with trembling hands, reach for the handle, and head toward the door. I stop when I notice William reclining lazily against the doorframe. He watches me with a dangerous look in his eyes belied by a pleasant smile that sends chills running down my spine. Suddenly afraid, I tighten my grip on the suitcase.
“Please step to the side and let me through.”
He crosses his arms and doesn’t move. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Without bothering to acknowledge his question, I try to get past him. William blocks the exit with his body. “When someone asks you a question, the polite thing is to answer back,” he utters pleasantly.
“I don’t owe you anything, much less an explanation.” I raise my chin while quelling the fear rattling my bones. I feel off-balance as though my entire world has been tilted upside down. And as I stare at his easy smile and calm demeanor, anger bubbles inside me. Anger for all the years I’ve wasted on him and everything I have given up for him. But most of all, I’m angry with myself because I was too weak to walk away.
“What have I done to deserve this, William?”
He remains silent.
“I loved you so much. So fucking much I threw my pride away again and again,” my voice cracks. “I let my love for you cripple and cut me. And you’ve watched me bleed without giving a shit. Well, I’m done handing you the knife.”
“Listen to you finally showing your fucking backbone.” He chuckles, his eyes dancing like pagan worshippers around a bonfire. He cups my cheek. The contact is so soft it would be easy to think that I imagined the caress. “Valentina … Valentina … What am I going to do with you?”
I take a step back, needing to put some space between us. “We’re done. It’s over. It’s been over for a very long time.”
“Quite the contrary, my darling.” William is too quick for me. He snakes a hand behind my neck, gripping my hair in an unforgiving hold. “It’s far from over. I own you. I own your body. I own your name. I own the clothes you’re wearing. The air you breathe. You’re mine and only mine,” he hisses, tightening his grip, drawing closer to me.
“It’s all smoke and mirrors,” I say, rebelling against him and his words. “Just like you.”
“Shut up,” he orders menacingly.
I train myself to appear outwardly cool when in reality I’m struggling to just keep breathing. “I’m nobody’s property. Do you hear me? Not anymore you disgusting—”
He slaps me hard with his other hand.
Stunned momentarily, I stare at this William with the cruel touch and stones for eyes and I realize I never knew him at all.
“Look what you’ve made me do,” he adds calmly as though he’s chatting about the weather.
“You’ve lost your mind,” I say hoarsely before trying to shove him away, but it only seems to incense him more, make his hold tighter.
“Let go.” I kick him hard, making William chuckle. “Get away from me.”
“No.” His grip grows more painful as a dangerous light glistens in his eyes. “You leave me no choice but to show you who you belong to.”
His teeth crash against mine, taking my mouth in a possessive kiss meant to punish and debase me, but I end it by turning my face to the side. “Stop it.”