Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
DARIO
The slap makes my blood boil because she can’t do that in front of any member of the Cosa Nostra.
But she did. She disrespected me in front of people who would never dare even dream of raising a finger against me. And now, they expect me to punish her for it.
Fuck. Grabbing her arm, I start walking toward the back of the place.
“Let me go!” She thrashes, trying to break free and drawing attention to us.
“Don’t do that.” I stop, giving her a look that would make any of my men tremble.
But Sophia isn’t one of my men, so she keeps trying to pull away.
Behind her, one of the guards looks at me, silently asking if he should intervene. I shake my head.
This is going too far. Losing my patience, I crouch down, grab Sophia and throw her over my shoulder.
“Put me the fuck down!” she yells, pounding on my back and making it harder to get her to the bathroom.
She keeps cursing me out the entire way.
Inside the bathroom, my guards make sure it’s empty before I step in with her and set her on the floor.
Half-stumbling, she leans on me before throwing up, staining my jacket.
Fuck. In under a minute, she’s managed to ruin an image I’ve spent years building: slapping me, cursing me out, and now puking on me.
I strip off the jacket while she staggers back, bracing herself against the wall.
“Check if there’s a suite in this fucking place,” I order, handing the jacket to one of them. “Now. The rest of you wait outside.”
Alone with Sophia, I can see she’s so drunk she can barely stand.
I’m furious with her. Why the hell is she doing all of this?
“Sophia…”
“Go away.” Her voice is slurred.
“Come here.” I pull her against my chest. She tries to push me away, but she’s too weak.
“Leave me… alone.”
I hold her tight, stopping her from pulling away. A minute later, she’s already dozing off, and I have no choice but to pick her up.
One of the guards comes back to confirm there’s a suite upstairs. I climb, carrying Sophia with me.
Once in the room, I lay her on the bed and pull off her dress to make her more comfortable, ignoring every single instinct.
I cover her with the sheet and decide I need a shower, not just to cool my head but to clean off the vomit that also hit my suit.
After the shower, I sit in a chair and watch Sophia sleep, thinking about how I’m going to deal with her when she wakes up.
I’m still furious, but I can’t even punish her for everything she’s done. And it’s not easy having her this close without being able to take her the way I want.
I’m trying to be patient, but it’s getting harder and harder to keep control. Maybe I should just push her until she breaks.
Sophia shifts slightly in the bed, making me glance at the watch on my wrist. A little past midnight.
When my eyes return to the bed, she’s already sitting up.
After looking at her own body, her gaze eventually finds mine.
“What the fuck did you do to me?”
“You really think I’d ever hurt you, sweetheart?”
“Where am I?” She looks genuinely scared, and that makes no sense.
Why is she afraid of me? Did she find something out? No. Impossible.
“You’re safe,” I say, standing up.
“No.” She recoils, pressing herself against the headboard.
Fuck. She really is scared of me.
“I’m just going to turn on the light.”
Once the light is on, I can see her expression better. She looks tense.
“You don’t remember what you did?”
“Where’s my dress?”
“You really think I did something to you?”
“Where is it?”
“I think I left it in the bathroom. I’ll get it for you, but only after you tell me what the hell is going on.”
“I want to leave. Now.”
“You’re not going anywhere until you talk to me. Do you usually drink like this? To the point of putting yourself in danger and forgetting what you did?”
“What did I do?”
“Where should I start? First, acting strange at the university. Then tonight: you called me crying and then slapped me. I think you can still see the marks of your fingers.” I step closer to the bed, showing the spot where she hit me. “And finally, you puked on me. Oh, and let’s not forget the insults. I really hope you have a good explanation for all of that.”
“Please, I just want to go home.”
“Stop it. I would never hurt you. Why are you scared?”
“Then tell me where we are.”
“In the bar’s suite.”
She blinks, confused.
“How?”
“I know the owner,” I lie. “Now tell me what happened. Why did you act like that at the university?”
“I saw you with Julia.”
“Julia? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t care. You don’t have to deny it.”
“Which Julia are you talking about?”
“Professor Parker.”
“I still don’t get it. What did you see?”
“Do I really need to say it?”
“Yes. You do.”
“I saw you fucking her.”
“What?” I have to hold back a laugh.
Where the hell did she get that from?
“Well, I don’t remember fucking anyone today. And if I recall correctly, Julia’s a married woman. Why are you making this up?”
“You don’t have to lie. Can I go now?”
“Wait… You said you saw me fucking her? You saw me, or you think you saw me?”
“I heard you.”
“When was this?”
“You know. You were there.”
“Sweetheart, when you walked into that office, I had only been there a few minutes. So it wasn’t me you heard fucking Julia. We were just talking before you came in.”
When I stepped into the office, Julia wasn’t alone. There was another professor with her. So Sophia isn’t making it up.
Is that why she’s mad at me? For something I didn’t do? She really deserves to be punished.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters. I would never play with you, sweetheart.” I climb onto the bed, pressing my body against hers. “But I’m still pissed about everything you did, and I think I deserve some compensation for that.”