I shook my head. “But that doesn’t make him weak.”
A soft smile appeared on her lips. “In some cases, maybe,” she vaguely said. “But not all. And one day, you’ll understand why.”
I looked down at my hands on my lap as I fiddled with my fingers, trying to make sense of it all.In what case would Antonio being taken advantage of as a child, make him look weak…
“Mr. Antonio prefers business over any personal relationships,” she explained. “ But, Nirah,” she suddenly grabbed my hand, and my head snapped up. “I am trusting you. He can not know that I told you any of this,please.”
I nodded in response, seeing the fearful plead in her eyes. “No one will know, I promise.”
My bedroom door opened, and Antonio stood in the doorway. Rosalia practically jumped up, and so did I. He walked toward us, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “An apology isn’t enough, but it will suffice for now.”
“First you disrespect me in front of my staff and a guest, and then you give me an order?” he rhetorically asked, and I saw the muscle in his jaw tick.
I looked from him to Rosalia, then back at him, and nodded. “Yes,” I said in the most obvious tone.
He spat out some Italian, and Rosalia nodded with shame written all over her. As she was about to leave, I reached over to stop her. “Was that an apology?” I narrowed my eyes, and she smiled.
“Thank you, Miss Nirah.”
She left the room, and I darted my eyes back to Antonio. “It wasn’t an apology, was it?” I asked, and he rubbed his tongue on the inside of his cheek, clearly not very happy with me right now. “Also, if you’re going to sleep with other women, maybe have the decency to not have them parading around half naked.”
“I didn’t have sex with her.”
I smiled, folding my arms over my chest. “Sure you didn’t.”
“Let’s get one thing clear,” he began, stepping forward to close the space between us. “Don’t disrespect me in front of a guest or my staff.Ever,” he said, oh so demanding, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I already warned you about rolling your eyes at me,” he said, reaching forward to wrap a firm hand around my neck. “If you want to behave like a child, I’ll treat you like one.”
“And if you want to be respected, you earn it,” I fired back, and I noticed the protruding vein in his forehead vividly pulsing. The muscle in his jaw ticked, and I couldn’t help but smile. “I’mso close to seeing this little guy pop,” I whispered against his lips, letting my thumb lightly brush over his vein. “Won’t be long now.”
“I’m not playing with you, Nirah,” he warned. “Don’t—disrespect—me.”
“Earn it.”
His fingers around my neck tightened as he walked me back against the wall, and my hands flew up to grab his forearm.
His lips grazed my cheek, stopping at my ear, and I held my breath. “Disrespect me one morefuckingtime and I’ll throw you over my lap, leaving my handprint all over that perky ass of yours,” he promised and my eyes grew wide. “You’ve surelyearnedthat.”
My heart was fighting against my rib cage. His grip around my neck loosened as he gently cupped the other side of my face.
I subtly bit down on my bottom lip, hiding the trembling as I forced bravery.
His free hand rode from my hip, up my waist and around my lower back. He rested his hand an inch away from my ass as he pulled my body towards him. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest as our bodies pressed together. “Understand?” he gritted out, but I didn’t answer. “Do you understand, Nirah?”
“Just so you know…” I trailed off, holding his stare. “Pushing women around who are half your size doesn’t make you a tough guy. It makes you a fuckingpussy.”
The muscle under his right eye twitched as though mentally, he was scurrying around, trying to understand the words that just left my mouth. Realization slammed into me instantly. No one’s ever spoken to him like that before.
A normal person would’ve ended things there. Given up. Waved the white flag. But I couldn’t, because I didn’t come this far to let somemanpush me around. “And youdon’tscare me either.”
“Do you know what happened to the last person who said they didn’t fear me?” he asked and his entire body pressed up against mine.
“Let me guess you hurt them—”
He cut me off by wrapping his hand around my throat—making my eyes shoot open.No.
He lowered his lips to my ear, tightening his fingers around my neck. I could barely swallow with his firm grip around my neck, and suddenly the walls were closing in on me.
“Damn right I hurt him,” he whispered. “I broke every bone in his goddamn body and used a blow torch to burn my name into his flesh.”
