Fight Me Little Pearl

Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

FRANCESCA

I return home later that night to a furious Valentino. He’s pacing the living room, and when he sees me he stops and looks me up and down, his eyes like daggers. I make for the stairs, ignoring him.

“What the fuck, Francesca?” he growls, coming after me. “You’re just going to walk past me like you don’t see me?”

“Good evening, husband,” I force cheerfulness into my voice.

“Good evening husband? Are you fucking with me?”

“Nope. You’re my husband and I’m wishing you a good evening.”

I sprint up the steps and hear him following me. As I reach the top of the stairs his hand grabs my arm and whirls me around. I smile manically at him. “Had fun today?”

“Where are you coming from?” he asks, a black scowl on his face. “And what the fuck are you wearing?”

“It’s called a dress,” I say innocently.

“I can see the outline of your breasts, Francesca.”

When I chose this dress, I knew the fabric was clingy and sexually suggestive, but I didn’t care then and don’t care now. “Relax, Boss. I just went for a walk.”

Valentino pinches his forehead and takes a deep breath, then raises his head. “Francesca, please, you cannot disappear without letting anyone know where you are. I was worried and-”

“Worried? Awwww…” I mock.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You know what, you should let my enemies get to me. Then you’ll be free of me, have your precious piece of land, and you’ll be able to openly fuck as many women as you please.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What the fuck are you talking about?”

I shrug. “You’re smart, figure it out.”

I turn to go into my room, but suddenly he is between me and the door. I freeze.

“Please, step away, Valentino. I don’t want you in my room now or ever. Stay away from me.”

Valentino grabs my arm. “I’m not in the mood for games, Francesca. I was worried sick when I came home and didn’t find you here. No one knew where you were. I don’t want to have to worry about that while I’m out there-”

“Fucking?” I spit.

“What?” he explodes.

“Where were you on our wedding night?”

He frowns. “Gambling.”

I begin to laugh sarcastically. “That’s a new name for it.”

“What the fuck?”

“I told you I smelled another woman on you. And I was right. That brazen hussy came to see me today.”

His eyes widen with astonishment.

“Yes, that’s right, Casanova. That whore you were fucking on our wedding night came to visit me. But don’t worry I’m not mad about that, honestly. However, if you’re going to sleep around, can you please tell them all to stay away from me?”

He frowns. “I never cheated on you with Nina.”

“You know I didn’t need to know her name.” Placing a name to the beautiful face causes fresh hurt to spring up in my chest, and I decide to lash out at him and hurt him the same way he’s hurt me.

“I didn’t cheat on you,” he says. “I gave you my word this morning and-”

“Your words mean shit when you come to me on our wedding night smelling like another woman, and suddenly, the woman shows up at our house telling me about how you love fucking her and questioning how well I satisfy you in bed.”

He says nothing, but his face darkens.

“I was a virgin, but I really thought you were satisfied and happy with me and-”

“I am.” Valentino’s eyes shine with what I would normally have called honesty, but he is a liar on another level. He won’t fool me a second time.

“Since I set my eyes on you, I have never wanted another woman,” he declares. “And neither have I slept with anyone else. All you have to do is walk into a room, and I stop seeing anything else but you.”

Sweet words… and I can feel myself falling shamelessly for it. Oh, how I want to believe him, but I catch myself just in time. I push him away. “This is a transactional marriage, Valentino. I’d be foolish to believe you didn’t have someone else before you met me. I don’t care who you mess around with, but tell them to stay the hell away from me.”

“Francesca…”

“This marriage will soon be over. When it is-”

“Francesca!” His eyes flash with fury. “We made a deal in the house of God. Till death do us part. We are not-”

“Bullshit. You say that like you respect God. Those vows mean nothing to you. You’re a killer, a liar, a cheat!”

His eyes narrow dangerously, but I’m in no mood to stop. He turned my hate into love and back to hate.

“This marriage will soon be over, and when it is, you can go back to your women and I’ll go back to the man I love.”

His lips thin and his eyes become hard and glinting. “Thomas the cowardly maggot?”

“Correct. Cowardly maggot in your eyes, but quiet hero in mine. This morning was a mistake. Last night was a mistake. I should never have let you touch me. I don’t love you, and I never will.”

Valentino’s eyes become cold and blank.

It happens so suddenly I gasp. One moment he is standing between me and the door, and the next he has moved and I’m standing with my back to the door. He is so close to me I can feel his warm breath fanning my forehead.

“You let me touch you because you wanted it,” he says. “Don’t act like you regret it because you don’t.”

“I regret everything,” I snap. “You are-”

He yanks the top of my dress, ripping the soft mesh in two. His large hands cup my breasts, and I moan as a finger flicks my nipple softly. Instinctively, I lean into his body, and he rips the dress down my thighs, touching my wet sex. He slips one finger inside me, and I moan again, hating myself.

“I don’t give a fuck who your heart belongs to. Your body belongs to me.” He pulls his finger out and coats my lips with my juices. “And maybe you’re right about this marriage being over soon. Without trust, it’s as good as dead.”

With that, Valentino walks away from me.