Chapter 4

After I leftmy family home, I took a detour to the nearest bar.

I"d rather be anywhere than back at the house with Marie.

Half a bottle of Jack Daniel"s later and I"m still not in the mood to deal with her.

The ground sways as I take the stairs to my new house one by one. Even in my somewhat inebriated state, I still have enough sense to check my surroundings. There"s a car in the driveway that doesn"t belong to me or anyone else that I know.

I shake my head, trying to get my eyes to focus as I pull my gun from my side. Was someone dumb enough to break into my place?

As fucked up as it sounds, I actually hope whoever the intruder is did away with my ball and chain. It"d be so much easier if she was just gone.

With a hand on the doorknob, I push the door open as quietly as I can. Marie's tinkling laughter is enough to let me know my morbid dreams won"t be answered tonight.

I hear a deeper voice but can"t make out what they"re saying.

A smirk climbs up my lips as I put the gun back safely into the waist of my pants. Did she really have the nerve to bring another man into my house?

I walk down the long hallway until I get to the landing of the step-down living room. Both Marie and the mystery man are sitting on the couch.

"Wife." I slur and lean my back against the wall.

Marie and her guest jump away from each other and hurry to get to their feet.

"Gian, I didn"t expect you home so soon. I thought you were with your father." Marie's face barely moves as she speaks to me.

Botox has made her face nearly frozen in place.

"I was, and now I"m here." I nod once before slowly dragging my gaze toward the man in my house. "Who the fuck are you?"

"This is Leo, he helps me with my not-for-profit organization. We were just-"

I wave my hand in the air and turn my back to her to make my way to my room. I don"t give a fuck about any charity, and I know for a fact Leo isn"t here just to go over numbers or whatever the fuck lie she"s about to tell me.

Behind me, I hear the door close and rapid footsteps come in my direction. I don"t slow my gait. I don"t care about Marie.

She catches me before I can make it to the confines of my room. Grabbing my arm, Marie spins me in her direction. The liquor in my body making it easy for her to do so.

"You"re not going to just walk in here and ignore me, Giancarlo."

"That"s exactly what I intend to do. If I could ignore your entire existence, I would. Now leave me be."

"No, you have a responsibility." She seethes.

"How about we give Leo that responsibility, he seems better suited for the job." I squint at her.

"How dare you! Leo is a friend and a colleague. You"re my husband." She steps up closer to my face.

In that moment, I look down at the fire in her eyes and will myself to fight back. To stand my ground. There"s nothing about the woman that lights that flame inside of me. I couldn"t care less about what she does and who she does it with. All I want from her is for her to go away.

"Get out of my face." I snarl and try to turn my back.

"I should"ve known that you wouldn"t be man enough-"

That does it. The inferno inside of me roars to life.

My hand snaps out, and I wrap it around her neck, fighting the urge to squeeze the life out of her. "Not man enough? Tell me, would a real man stand by as his wife fucks another man? Or would he paint the walls with her blood? You"re nothing to me, Marie. I"m man enough to be here but I"m not your man, don"t get the two confused. Now get the hell away from me before I make you regret it." I push her back hard, and she grabs hold of her throat, coughing.

Just as I"m about to close the door in her face, she speaks again, "I should"ve fucked Leo. But I won"t. No, I"ll have you whether you want me or not. Make no mistake, you belong to me."

Even with the tears in her eyes from my rough hand, I can see the determination there.

I close the door and lean my back against the cold, hard wood.

I refuse to give in, refuse to become just another pawn in my father"s game, no matter where I sit on the chessboard.

* * *

I wake up the next morning to the smell of baked goods.

With a groan, I roll over and grab the first bucket I can find to throw up the contents of my stomach. I"m much too old to drink as much as I did last night. My head is pounding and my tongue feels like sandpaper.

Taking a few deep breaths, I push myself up from the bed and go to the bathroom to relieve myself and wash up. One look in the mirror confirms the fact that I look exactly how I feel. Like shit.

Might as well get the day started.

I take a step out of my room and walk toward the kitchen.

"It"s about time you woke up. I thought you were going to sleep the day away." Marie smiles sweetly at me. Too sweet.

I look her over, my eyes lock on the bruise around her neck. She"s got nothing to be happy about unless, of course she"s got something up her sleeve.

"What do you want?" I croak.

"Want? Why do I have to want something?" She asks as she nearly floats in my direction with a cup of coffee in her hand. She extends it to me but I only look down at it as if it were poisoned shit.

"Fine." She rolls her eyes and puts the cup down on the counter before crossing her arms over her chest. "I want to talk."

"Talk to yourself. I"ve got things to do." I turn on my heel, ready to walk out.

"Damn it, Giancarlo. I"m not going away, no matter how long you run away from me."

She"s right about that. I"ve tried to run away for months now, and everyday she"s still here when I return. She"s like a rash I just can"t get rid of. Annoying and persistent.

"You want to talk, then talk." I turn back in her direction, and she releases a breath as if she were expecting me to fight her some more on the matter. I would but I just don"t have the energy.

"Neither one of us asked for this to happen. Our father"s thought we"d be a good fit for each other, and so they made it so." She shrugged.

"I don"t care what my father thought, I"m never going to be a good fit for you."

"Why not? You haven"t even given it a chance." She walks closer to me, dropping her arms to her side and looking up into my face. "We both have needs, Giancarlo. We both have similar backgrounds." Slowly, she lifts her hands and presses them to my chest in a faux loving matter. She"s trying too hard and I can tell. "I can make you happy, Gian, all you have to do is give in a little bit."

Give in. She"s right about that. All I have to do is resign to the fact that I"ll never have the life I pictured for myself, and I"m sure Marie would be the wife my father thought she"d be. Except I won"t. I can"t.

Everything Marie does, Rosie has done. Better.

I trained Rosie. I know all her mannerism and quirks. She"s the woman I want.

There"s one thing Marie did say that rings truer than the rest, we have needs.

If Marie can get her needs taken care of by Luis or Leo, whatever the fuck his name is, I should be able to do the same.

I look down at Marie and realize she"s waiting for me to answer her. She"s been talking while I"ve been lost in my own thoughts.

"I"ll be gone for the rest of the day."

Marie"s face falls, and she drops her hands from my chest, disheartened and disappointed. The talk may not have gone the way she wanted it to but it did give me a little hope for the day.

It"s been a while since I"ve checked up on my girl.

I walk out of the house with a smile on my face for the first time in a long while.