Brutal Vows (Queens & Monsters #4)(27)

“That’s because you could turn Father Christmas into the Grinch, woman.”

“What did I tell you about using the word ‘woman’ as a pejorative?”

“Something I couldn’t hear over how loud your resting bitch face was screaming.”

My smile dies. Breathing hard, we glare at each other in blistering silence.

After a pause that feels endless, he says tightly, “You don’t have to like me, Reyna. But you do have to show me respect.”

“Right back at you, Quinn. And let me make it perfectly clear for you in case it already isn’t: I don’t like you. And I especially don’t trust you.”

“And why is that?”

I answer without thinking, saying the first thing that comes to mind.

It’s something I believe absolutely.

“Because a man who’d marry a woman for any reason other than love has the soul of a monster.”

He clenches his jaw. He stares at me, visibly restraining himself from speaking, until finally he says from between gritted teeth, “You ever consider you’re not the only person on this fucking planet who’s been hurt before?”

“Of course I know that.”

“Aye? Because you’ve got a stick shoved so far up your arse about how bad marriage is that it’s blinded you.”

Exasperated, I say, “Blinded me to what?”

After a long, blistering pause, he growls, “Forget it. It’d be a waste of my fucking breath.”

“No. No way, Quinn. I’m not letting you off the hook so easily. If you think I’ve got a stick up my ass about marriage, you’re right. You know why? Because a man gains everything when he takes a wife. A maid, a cook, a housekeeper, a social manager, and a toy he can fuck whenever it suits his convenience. But for a woman, a wedding is where her life ends.”

“If you really believe that, you’ve been hanging out with the wrong women.”

I scoff. “I was raised in the Cosa Nostra. All the women are in the same situation I was. That Lili is. We’re auctioned off like assets to men who don’t know how to love.”

“Or ones who just can’t bear to be broken again.”

He lets that hang in the air between us, crackling like a live wire.

I stare at him, speechless. I simply can’t find any words.

Not only because of the raw vulnerability of it—something I never would have believed him possible of—but also because I know in my heart of hearts that what he said is the truth.

His truth.

He’s not like Enzo, or any of the other made men I know who take young brides in exchange for power, money, or family gain without a second thought to the girls’ feelings about it.

For Quinn, marriage isn’t part of a bigger game. It’s not about positioning his pawn on a chessboard like it is to my brother, or to have someone weaker to rule over with an iron fist like my husband did.

It’s about escape.

He wants to escape into marriage with the same longing I wanted to escape from it.

For me, marriage vows were the beginning of a long, horrible tumble into the dark.

For Quinn, they’re the end of it.

He’s been hurt so badly, he doesn’t think he can survive it again.

Everything I thought I knew about him was wrong.

I’m about to make another apology when he snaps, “Do us both a favor and get someone else to be Lili’s chaperone from now on. You’re too bitter a pill for me to swallow.”

He turns and walks away, shaking his head.

“Wait. Quinn, wait!”

I hop out of the SUV and hurry after him. He ignores me, striding quickly through the courtyard toward the front door. He throws it open, barging inside. I catch up to him in the foyer and grab his arm.

“For fuck’s sake, you stubborn Irishman, hold on! I want to tell you something!”

He whirls around, takes me by the shoulders, and pulls me against his chest. Staring down into my eyes with burning intensity, he growls, “Listen to me, viper. I’m marrying Lili, whether you like it or not. I’ll be good to her, whether you believe it or not. And I’ll thank you to keep your fucking opinions to yourself from now on.”

He pauses, nostrils flared and jaw clenched. He gazes at me with such searing intensity, it’s as if he’s trying to commit my face to memory.

“In fact, this is the last time I want to see you, ever again.”

Dear God, this man is impossible! “You’re overreacting.”

“Incorrect. If I were overreacting, I’d have Gianni throw you out of this house and onto your arse in the street for being so fucking disrespectful to me.”

My cheeks flame with heat. “My brother would never do that.”

“No? You want to bet on it?”

I’m about to say yes, but rethink it. There’s a good possibility Gianni would do anything Quinn asked. No matter how afraid of me he might be, he’s far more afraid of the Mob.

“That’s what I thought.”

I blurt, “I’m sorry. That’s what I wanted to tell you. I shouldn’t have—”

“Save your apologies. I don’t believe you, anyway.”

My hands are pressed flat against his chest. Underneath my palms, his heart pounds wildly. Instead of giving me the hard shake I know he’d like to give, he holds me captive against his body, glaring at me with the burning heat of a thousand suns.