14

Carmine
I don’t need to reach for her to know she isn’t there. I felt her get out of bed, but I thought she was just using the restroom. I let my guard down. I became so comfortable in bed with her, loving the feeling of having someone there to warm the usually cold and unforgiving side that I didn’t think she wouldn’t return.
Furious doesn’t begin to describe what I feel, or worse; it’s nearly nine in the morning. I never sleep in that late. Business doesn’t get done, and money doesn’t get made, but right now, I don’t care about any of that.
Where. Is. Delilah.
Throwing the covers off, I swing my legs over the bed and slip on my sweatpants, barreling out of the room and down the hall.
“Well, good morning, sunshine,” Ari greets, crunching on a piece of bacon. “Marie made a wonderful breakfast-”
“I don’t give a fuck about breakfast. Where is Delilah?”
He hides a smile as he eats, and that’s how I know he knows something.
Biting back my anger, I glance at Matias and take a deep breath. “Can you please pull up the security footage? I need to know where she is.”
“Sure. Let me get done-”
I roar into the kitchen and startle Marie. “Now!”
“All right, Carmine. I’m going. I’m going.” He places his fork down, scrambled eggs still attached, and pulls out his phone and taps the security app we have installed.
“No need for that. I know where she is.”
I run around the table and grip Ari by the back of the neck. “I don’t know what games you’re playing here, but I am getting fed up with them, Ari. Where is she?” My entire body shakes with rage, and I’m seconds away from slamming his face into the counter.
“I’ll tell you what you want to know, brother. I planned on it. You never give me a chance.”
“Because you never take the chance to tell me immediately. You like to get me angry.”
“She climbed the gate.” Matias shows me his phone, and I watch as Delilah, my clever little Sweetling, climbs the steel without any issues. “And this dumbass,” he points to his twin. “Let her out the door.”
My temper rolls through my shoulders, and I have to take a deep breath, grinding my teeth together to keep myself from killing him.
I take a step away, my chest rising and falling in dangerous pulses. I flex my fingers, staring at my injured hand, the fresh scabs across my knuckles remind me of how Delilah took care of me last night, how she tended to my wounds, and how I liked it.
I liked her attention.
“Why?” I seethe, my vision clouding as my anger rises. “Why would you let her leave?”
“Why won’t you?” he asks, not bothered by my fury. “She’s a human being, Carmine. The more you treat her like a prisoner, the more she will resent you. If anything, I helped you. She wants to have her own life too. You need to remember that. Her wants and dreams won’t go away because of you. And if you try to take them, she’ll hate you. By the look in your eyes, I don’t think you want that.” He takes a bite of his biscuit and groans in delight. “Marie, this is fantastic. You did such an amazing job. Thank you so much.” He takes another bite of the biscuit and licks his fingers. “So good. Carmine, you want one?”
“No. I don’t want one. I want to get Delilah. I need to know she’s safe.”
“I think you should take your time. Get ready, have breakfast, and then we will go. The more time you give her alone, the more it will work in your favor,” he suggests.
And I hate him more when I know he is right.
I pull a stool, harshly dragging it across the floor, and sit down.
“You’re like a child in a tantrum,” Ari says, as if his life isn’t already on the line.
“Your fiance didn’t escape you. She didn’t leave in the middle of the night because she’d rather be anywhere else but with you. So, you’ll excuse me if I don’t have the temper to handle that.” I clench the silverware in my hand as Marie sets a plate full of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of me.
I’m not even hungry.
Do I repulse Delilah so much that she needs to escape me? Is she afraid of me? I would have given her whatever she wanted if she had talked to me.
Not if it meant leaving.
My brother is right.
I would have never allowed her to leave the house, but it’s only for her protection, and now she’s out there all alone. No protection, nothing. Anyone could take her. Anyone could use her against me. Anyone could hurt her.
“Where did she go?” I ask, defeated. The fight has left my system.
He wipes his mouth and takes a sip of his coffee. “She went to school. She has class.”
That’s right. My Sweetling is intelligent. She’s missed the last few days of school because of everything with her father, and because of me.
I nod, wishing I was by her side. She needs to be always in my sight. After today, this will never happen again. If she needs to go to school, I will take her. I will sit with her, help her study. She will not be able to get rid of me.
But her little stunt today will have consequences. It may not be today or tomorrow, but when she initiates sex, I will not go easy on her. She needs to know it is me in control. Her disobedience, her reluctance to give in to me, has my cock hardening in my sweatpants. I love a strong-willed woman. She’s going to fight me every step of the way.
It will be worth it for me, but will it be worth it for her? I can only hope.
I pull out my phone and bring up the tracker I have on hers. It takes a moment to load, and I chew on a piece of toast, then take a bite of eggs. Marie does make the best food. I need to give her a raise.
“She is at school,” I’m surprised. I figured she’d be halfway across the state by now.
“That’s what I just said,” Ari says, swinging his fork around and throwing the egg onto the ground without realizing it.
“Clean that up. Marie dusts and vacuums, but she is not our mother. Clean up after yourself.”
He glances at the floor and winces. “Shit. Sorry.”
He takes a paper towel and scoops up his mess. Ari has never been hyperaware of his surroundings.
I zoom in on the map and notice she’s in the library. Why didn’t she tell me? I could call her, but I want my presence to be a surprise.
Then my mind takes a turn. I have been almost patient.
Almost.
Then, I wonder who the fuck she’s with.
Were there other men there? Men her age, men flirting with her, touching her…
I growl low in my throat, my fists clenching at the thought of another touching what is mine. I grip the edges of the plate as I’m assaulted with images of her in someone else’s arms. Some faceless stranger with greedy hands, grabbing at her, their lips touching. She gives into him.
Gives him everything.
Everything that is meant to be mine.
Her sounds, her orgasms, her virginity, it’s all meant to be mine.
The plate breaks in half and yanks me from my vile thoughts. Ari and Matias are staring at me. Matias looked concerned. Ari is grinning.
“You have anger issues. Anyone ever tell you that?” Ari asks, leaning back and drinking his coffee. “They have therapy for that. You should consider it, brother.”
I snarl at him. He’s right, though, and that’s what angers me most.
I clean up my mess and throw it in the trash. Marie minds her own business, humming a song she’s listening to as she chops vegetables. This is why I like Marie. She ignores us for the most part, does her job, and works around our brutal natures.