“That’s not what I’m asking!” he thundered.
Frustrated, I shouted, “Then, what are you asking?!”
“Why didn’t you tell me your friend was in trouble?!” he asked, still shouting. “Why didn’t you ask for my help? Hell, not even mine. Why didn’t you ask for Ciro’s or Luca’s?!”
I tightened the robe around my waist. “The text said to go alone,” I pathetically explained. “She mentioned being intimidated by everything that was going on with discovering who I was to you guys, I thought she was just being…she said she didn’t want to borrow trouble.”
Phoenix let out a harsh laugh. “Jesus fucking Christ, Francesca.” I knew I was partly at fault here, so I remained quiet. “Do you have any idea who we are? Who you are?” he snapped. “You are best friends with the most powerful man in Morgan City. Hell, in this entire fucking state. Your brother is one of the wealthiest and deadliest men walking the planet. And you’re married to the most prolific hit man in goddamn Mafia history. Do you get that? Do you understand that?”
“Of course, I do,” I spat. “I’m not fucking stupid.”
“Then quit acting as if you are!” he roared, and, this time, the house phone flew across the room.
“She needed help, Phoenix,” I repeated. “I wasn’t not going to help her!”
“I don’t give a fuck that you wanted to help your friend,” he tossed back. “I give a fuck that I almost lost you! I give a fuck that you are so cavalier about your status as my wife that you put yourself in danger! That’s what I give a fuck about!” Phoenix rushed me and, without any regard to my injuries, his large hand clamped down on my arm. “And you better believe I give a fuck that you put someone else before what is best for our marriage,” he hissed.
I could feel my eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
“Believing that Robbie was uncomfortable being around us, you chose to submit to her conditions rather than tell your fucking husband that your friend was in trouble, possibly placing you in trouble as well,” he clarified. “You ever chose someone else over me and our marriage again, and it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
“Meaning?” I asked, boiling with anger that he would treat me as if I didn’t have my own mind.
“Meaning that I will handcuff you to the goddamn bed and never let you see the light of fucking day ever again if you ever think of stepping outside this building again without me, Ciro, Luca, or a guard.”
I yanked my arm from his grasp, and I knew I was successful because he allowed me to disengage from his person. “I am not some mindless, simpering female who is going to let you dictate her life!” I yelled, wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into. This man yelling at me wasn’t the Phoenix I grew up with. This man was clearly The Ghost.
“I’m not trying to dictate your life, Frankie,” he argued. “I’m trying to keep you alive. And for that to happen, you have to take this shit seriously. You are in danger every minute of the fucking day. And just as Luca, Ciro, and I have to, you have to constantly be on guard. You have to be smart, Francesca.”
“What if I decide this is too hard and I don’t want this life?”
Phoenix advanced on me until my back hit the wall. His hazel eyes were flames of lethal rage as he growled, “You think I was talking with my dick the first night I fucked you?” My body started shaking because I knew where he was going with this, and a small part of me believed him. “While I’d admit, it’s hard to think straight when your pussy is strangling my cock, I meant what I said, Francesca.” He leaned in closer and I could feel the rage coming off him in waves. “I will fucking see you dead before I ever let you leave me again. It doesn’t matter if Ciro and Luca come after me either because my life wouldn’t be worth living without you, anyway.”
“Phoen-”
He slapped his palms on the wood behind me, one hand on either side of my head, causing me to jump. “I give you my word, if you ever think of divorcing me or leaving me again, it’ll be over both our dead bodies,” he threatened.
I knew he meant every word he said, and maybe it made me stupid that I wasn’t repulsed by his offensive threats, because any normal woman would be. These were not sweet words of love and devotion. They were serious death threats should I ever try to leave Phoenix.
I looked him in the eye despite the shivers that ran down my spine. “I will not cower, Phoenix,” I told him. “I’m not going to be some scared, sniveling shadow of a woman who has to live by a barrage of rules that you set forth for me.”
He shook his head. “You still don’t get it, Frankie,” he bit out. “I don’t want you to be some weak, simpering female. That’s not what or who you are. What I want is for you to own your role. Be the woman strong enough to be in this life. You need to become one of us.”
I raised a brow. “Really?” I drawled. “Because if one of you got a message like the one Robbie sent me, you would have done exactly what I did. You would have taken control of the situation.”
Phoenix straightened to his full height. “That’s where you’re wrong,” he replied. “None of us would have taken off into a situation like that without letting the other two know what was going on. And you didn’t take control of the situation, did you? You became the situation, Francesca. A situation we had to come in and handle.” He
