Chapter 3

Cole walked in and stopped when he saw my swollen eyes.

“Did I hurt you last night?”

I shook my head.

“So it's just eating at you.”

He came over and rubbed my back. “That's on me. Don't cry.”

I grabbed his sleeve and cried harder. When I finally stopped, I noticed I'd wrecked his shirt.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“Don't worry about it.” He didn't seem to care. He wiped my face with a towel instead. “I'll make things right for what happened last night.”

Once I was calm, he asked, “You want to get some air on deck? I'll have someone go with you.”

I nodded.

The someone was Rio.

I hated him on sight. I grabbed a handful of ice from the bucket and threw it at him.

He didn't even flinch. “You're the Don's woman now. Your life just got a lot easier. You should be thanking me.”

“Thanking you?” I was shaking. “You ruined everything I had with my fiancé!”

I knew he wasn't wrong. Leo and I were probably done, no matter what I did now. But I needed someone to hate right then.

So I went for the one thing I knew would hurt.

“You destroyed my engagement. Don't think your fiancée is ever going to marry you either.”

His face went cold in an instant.

He grabbed my throat, eyes sharp enough to cut. “Say that again and I'll kill you.”

I couldn't breathe. I glared at him anyway. I wasn't backing down.

Something in my stare stopped him. He let go.

I lost my footing and dropped straight into the ice on the deck. My palm split open on the way down. It stung.

Rio looked at me, no expression at all. “You glare just like her. I'll let it go this time. Don't count on that twice.”

I wasn't done with him. I stormed straight to Cole.

He cleaned the cut carefully, gentle about it. “Don't let it get to you. He'll be punished.”

Then his tone shifted. “But don't bring up his fiancée again. She's the one thing that man cares about.”

“He's put his life on the line for this family more times than I can count. The only reason he's still standing is the thought of marrying her one day.”

That surprised me.

A man that cold, holding onto someone that hard.

“What's her name?” I asked. “What does she look like?”

Cole thought about it and shook his head. “Never met her. I think her name's the same as yours, though.”