When I turn back to Louis, the outline of his body and the look of his dark eyes send a wave of heat through me. But I purse my lips and force myself to stand straight, focusing on his eyes only. Shit. I really should’ve thought this through before barging into his room in the middle of the night, still in my wedding dress, but whatever. It doesn’t matter. I won’t let him touch me again.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Louis says with a note of confusion as he lingers by the door with his arms crossed. His gaze darts over my body, as if I came here offering myself, and for some goddamn reason, it makes me feel hot.
It’s too bad that I know how good he is in bed-but no, Sasha, focus.
“Don’t think that I want to be here,” I say, just to make sure that it’s clear: I did not come to his damn bedroom to have sex with him.
But Louis only chuckles and shrugs, and it doesn’t look like he actually believes me. “Sure. What do you want to talk about, then?” Isn’t it obvious?
“I want to know what happened today. Why did the Mexicans attack us? How did they get into your territory in the first place?”
Louis’s expression darkens, and he looks away with a frown. “I wish
I had the answers. Matteo and Paolo will check our border patrols. The Mexicans probably knew about the wedding and used it to sneak past our guards.”
What? I frown in confusion. But it doesn’t make any sense. “Aren’t you friends with them or something? I’m pretty sure I saw Gerardo’s daughter at the wedding.”
“Yeah, Jacinta was there, but…the deal didn’t work out as we planned.” Louis scratches the back of his head with an unsure look on his face. “The Escarra people have betrayed us, even though they refuse to admit it.”
“What do you mean they refuse to admit it?” I frown and cross my arms, trying to understand him. “The Mexicans attacked us in your territory, isn’t that enough proof?”
“Well, we can’t prove that it was the Mexicans who did it-that’s why they wear their masks. Did you see them?” Louis gestures at his face, and I nod. Yeah, it was weird, but it didn’t change the fact that we all knew who they were. “I know, it doesn’t make sense, but Gerardo will claim that we were mistaken and it wasn’t his people. And if Riccardo openly accuses him of planning an attack against us, it will start a war, and-”
“Nobody wants a war,” I repeat the words I’ve already heard a hundred times and sigh out loud, covering my eyes with a hand. Goddamnit. The Messinas are just as weak as Yuriy. “And here I thought we would finally be safe…”
“Oh, but you will.” I hear Louis step closer and immediately glare at him over my fingers. “You already are.”
“Yes?” I laugh bitterly and gesture at the torn sleeves of my dress.
“Doesn’t look like it.”
Louis pauses in his step and sighs, nodding. “I know, it was my fault that I drove straight into their trap, but…trust me, I will never let any harm come to you or your son.”
Oh. His words make something in my chest warm up-but I know it’s all empty words. Louis looks so goddamn noble, standing here and swearing to protect me, but where was his honor when he gave the order to kill my mom? Where was his decency when he looked me in the eyes and told me not to be so dramatic? Yes, it’s been years, but the scar in my heart has never healed.
I purse my lips and straighten my shoulders, looking him in the eyes with a squint of contempt. “Oh, look at you. A knight in shining armor.
Since when do you care about us?”
“Since today,” Louis replies with an absolutely serious frown, and I can’t help but chuckle. He can’t be silly enough to think that our marriage is gonna make me forget about everything he’s done!
But it looks like that because, a moment later, Louis steps forward and reaches for my hands, but I snatch them out of his reach before he can even touch me. He purses his lips, looking up at me with a stern look in his eyes, and it looks like he finally understands that I don’t care about his charms.
“Sasha, you are my wife and my partner, and both you and Misha are a part of my family now. Of course I care about-”
“God, can you stop this nonsense?” I finally blow up and step toward Louis, pushing his chest so hard that he stumbles backward. “How dare you talk about care and trust after everything that happened? You are a jerk, Louis Messina.”
His eyes widen for a moment before he clenches his jaw, glaring at me with dangerous fire in his eyes. But it’s too late for me to care about the consequences. His closeness makes my heart ache and my body burn with the desire to either have him or kill him.
“You have no shame and no fucking heart, and I don’t care what you think about me, but I will never ever be your partner again!”
I stop just a couple of inches from him, breathing heavily and glaring at him with my head pushed back to see his face properly. God, I hate the height difference between us. It used to do things to me when Louis was manhandling me in bed and basically doing whatever he wanted with my body.
I can still feel the strength and warmth of his body just from standing so close to him, and it makes my heart beat faster. Goddamnit. I
have to get out of here before I do something stupid. So I clench my jaw, straighten my spine, and raise my chin in a posture of confidence.
“Good night, dear husband. Hope you never wake up again,” I say with what hopefully sounds like disdain and move to walk past him-but suddenly Louis catches my shoulders and forces me back into my place. “What are you-”
“So you still want to pretend like you hate me?” he almost growls, looking at me with fire in the dark depths of his eyes, pushing me to walk backward.