Break All Ties

Chapter Thirty-Three

Mind made up, Assante dragged me back through the woodland to the roadside, where his car laid abandoned, the front completely smashed up. The bonnet had crumpled in on itself, shrivelling up on the side of the road. He paused by its side to reach down and grab the dog tag I'd snatched off and thrown aside in a rage. He shoved it down into the deep, dark depths of his pocket as I stood nervously.

"You're really not mad that I crashed your car?"

"I'm fucking furious," He seethed and grabbed my hand once more. "But I'm subdued knowing you're not hurt."

"What did you think happened?"

"My original thought was that you'd been attacked and taken. Then I saw your footsteps in the mud leading that way."

I nodded slowly.

"And your car-"

"Drop it with the car Bellezza. I don't care about the car. I can get another car. I can't get another wife. Shut your fucking mouth. We're not arguing this."

But I could remember his face when he saw it in my garage in the UK. The look of relief there. This car was his world and I'd recked it.

He led me over to his motorbike as I swallowed back the rest of my complaints. He didn't want to hear them. They'd only dig me into a deeper hole.

I stood back and watched him as he threw one leg over the motorbike. "Come on Charlie. I have some files to show you."

"You swear."

"I swear. Come on. We'll get you into dry clothes and then I'll show you all of my secrets."

With a heavy sigh, I made for the back of his bike and crawled onto the back of it. I joint my hands around his waist and leaned into his wet back.

The journey back felt much faster. I held him tight and closed my eyes, leaning whenever necessary.

I was coming down from the anger, chilling. It was probably the water and the night, but the argument wasn't invalid. He needed to start trusting me. To tell me the truth. There was only so much effort I could put in if he wasn't going to meet me in the middle.

A relationship is a two way street.

By the time we reached the mansion, everyone else had cleared out. Even Turtle. I wasn't sure where they were staying, but Assante had been making the rules perfectly clear to them. I knew why.

He wanted me to be comfortable in the place I lived.

For God's sake, his codes were my birthday. He knew what I liked and what I didn't like. He knew what to say to make me feel good. At the same time, he knew what would irk me.

He cared. That much was obvious. He listened and he learnt. Hell, even if I wasn't there, he'd known that fast food was the key to my heart.

I followed him through the mansion to our shared room where he headed straight for the closet and started throwing his clothes at me.

"Come on Bellezza," He said, pressing a kiss to my bared nape. "We'll shower later. I have to get you in the know now."

He hurried into his own clothes, chastising my slow pace. Then, when I reached for the cold fast food, he slapped my hand away. "I'll get you something later. We're getting on the same page now."

He took me by the hand and started dragging me back down the hall, then up another flight of steps. In his office, he dragged me down to his lap and pulled his chair closer to his desk.

"I'm not keeping secrets," He muttered, more so to himself than to me. "I just didn't want to tell you."

"Isn't that the same thing?"