Married to the Bad Boy(91)
“You know you’re a shit liar, right?”
“Tony—”
“You left me in the middle of the night.”
“I had to go.”
Thick eyebrows narrow dangerously. “Lie again, and I’ll bend you over my knee right here.”
An involuntary shiver runs through my body at the image of that. Tony seems to sense how it makes me feel, and a heart-stopping smile tiptoes across his face.
“Fuck.”
His thumb sweeps across my bottom lip right before he crushes his mouth against mine.
He’s watching you right now.
But right now I don’t care. I’m in Tony’s arms, and when I look at him I can’t help but feel that everything’s going to be all right.
“I think you better tell me where the fuck you were.”
He drags me to the table and we sit down together, his eyes never leaving my face. Fuck, I can’t breathe when he looks at me like that.
Tony makes an impatient growl at the back of his throat. “You better start talking, or I just might make good on my fucking promise.”
“Just hear me out. Okay?”
Tears well up in my eyes, consumed with the vision of me behind bars. I swallow them down, trying to free that knot in my throat. Gentle fingers touch my cheek.
“It’s him, isn’t it?”
Tony’s eyes widen as it dawns over him. Fists clenched, he stands up from the seat and stares into the crowds of people. “Where is that piece of shit? I’ll kill him right now.” He looks around the mall. “Is he here, watching us?” His fist slams into the table separating us. “Talk to me, Goddamn it!”
“He’s here. I lured him here for you.”
I don’t expect him to be happy, but I expect him to be pleased, at least. His eyes are red-hot as they scorch through my skin. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Tony, you don’t understand. I can’t—we can’t—”
He yanks me back down on my seat, his snarling face right up against mine. People around us are starting to stare, and a man behind Tony gives me a concerned look. He digs his fingers into my hair.
“Tell me what happened.”
“I met him at a motel. He said I’d go to jail if I didn’t. I just wanted him to believe he had me under his control, so we could finally get rid of him.” My voice cracks as I finally break in half, folding in on myself.
Tony’s eyes smolder as his lips tremble, white with rage. “You went to a motel with him. Alone.”
I know what he’s thinking.
“I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking—”
“He says I’m going to jail, Tony. I shot him. I needed to do something.”
I stand up again, hating how furious he is with me. He grabs my waist again and a flash of anger sears up my throat, which dissolves when he gives me that look.
“Then why not fucking tell me about it? Why the hell would you go off on your own?”
“I’ve already done enough to you.”
It hurts me that he can’t see that I was only trying to save him from whatever hell Rafael has planned for him.
“I can take care of myself, Elena.” His eyes smolder. “How dare you make this decision without me? We’re married, and that means you involve me in every fucking decision.”
Tony looks somehow shadowed, even in the bright lights inside the mall. His black, flyaway hair hangs over his face, the stubble on his cheeks overgrown, but his eyes are cold. A chill emanates from them, and I wonder if I’ve crossed some boundary with him—if I’ve gone past the point of no forgiveness. He takes my face in his hands as my breaths quicken to short gasps that hardly give me any air.
“I don’t know for sure if it’s yours. And if it isn’t, and if I’m in jail, then he gets custody—then he raises my kid.”
“Elena, that’s a lot of ‘ifs.’ And it’s not going to happen.”
“You c-can’t be sure.”
“That baby inside you is mine and when I find him, I’ll make the bastard pay for everything he’s done to us.”
“But, Tony—”
“I don’t give a fuck what he told you. You should never have left the apartment. It was stupid to put yourself in so much danger.”
It stings to hear the truth lash across my face like that, even worse to see the pain fracturing his eyes.
“Don’t you trust me to keep you safe?”
Of course I do.
“I just wanted to take care of him myself.”
How can I tell him that I’m trying to be a better person? I don’t want to have to rely on anyone. That’s what I did before, with Dad. That’s all.