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AVAILABLE: Tuesday, November 11th
Doormat!
That's the word Liana Marchetti heard her husband use to describe her as to his friends. She was a boring doormat that didn’t have a single thought for herself. He was so wrong. Being a mafia wife, she tried to play the role that she thought he would like. Now, he was going to see who the real Liana was.
And she wanted a divorce.
Diego did not want to be married. However, when his wife demands a divorce he told her there were only two ways. One, if she betrayed the mafia, he would kill her. The second, if she even dared to be with another man, he’d kill him and get rid of her. His wife had other ideas. Liana was going to make him work.
She had no interest in any other man. Because the truth was, Diego had hurt her. She had started to fall in love with her husband, but there was no way she was going to succumb to a man who thought she was a doormat.
However, Diego is completely blown away by his wife. He didn’t want a doormat, he relished the fire and passion burning inside her, and now, he was not going to let her go. He was going to keep her, and if that meant winning her back, that was exactly what he was going to do.
Swimming helped to clear her mind. At least, it used to help clear her mind, whereas now, it wasn’t exactly helping at all.
Liana had known the moment Diego had entered the room. Besides the fact the door beeped when someone entered the room, she could also sense him. Her father had installed the beep as a security measure. Several years ago, a couple of his enemies had been able to sneak onto the property, kill a few of the soldiers, and get inside the house. Every door beeped as you went in or out of the house. It was great, until someone wanted to go outside to sneak a cigarette. That was her brother, and it tended to wake her up when it happened.
Liana had actually been in the pool when the two men had broken into the house. It had been dark, and she had eased beneath the water so none of them could see her. She’d been the one to send the alert to her father and grab one of the guns from the secure case.
According to Enzo Jr., she did not have a kill, however, she believed she did. She had taken down one of the masked men, and her brother the other, but he had claimed both deaths. She refused to argue with him. They had killed bad men.
Not that death was easy to deal with. She acted all tough in front of her father and brother, but she had gone to the bathroom and vomited. Afterward, she also had nightmares, and thinking back to that, she had a feeling that was why her brother had claimed both kills. So, she didn’t have to deal with it. The truth was, she didn’t know if she had killed anyone or not. She kept replaying the whole thing in her head, but she didn’t know if she had shot her gun, or if her brother had shot more than one bullet. She was a good shot when the target wasn’t moving. Either way, that had been a long time ago.
“It’s time for us to go home,” he said.
“I’m not going to your house.” She didn’t move from her position in the pool. Diego, however, took one step, then another, until he was close, and within touching distance. “I want a divorce.”
Her brother had asked her to consider her options. He didn’t believe divorce was the answer. Liana had no interest in staying married to such a horrible man. She had tried to be married to him, and after six months, he was quite happy to laugh and joke about her. Not happening. She was not going to keep playing a part.
“Not happening,” Diego said.
“What?”
“We’re not getting a divorce.”
“I don’t want to stay married to you,” she said.
“Tough.”
She glared at him, and then when he reached down as if to grab her and pull her out of the pool, she kicked back away from the edge so he would have no choice but to either climb into the pool to get her, or deal with not being able to.
“You’re not listening to me,” she said.
“And you’re not listening to me. There will be no divorce, and seeing as I’m the one in charge, what I say goes.”
She couldn’t even believe the audacity of the man. “Well, if you don’t want a divorce, I suggest you leave. This is my father’s house, and you are not welcome here!”
He stood staring at her, and she glared at him, refusing to budge. He might be used to being the one in charge, but he was about to find out what having her as an enemy was all about. What surprised her was that he unbuttoned his shirt.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
Diego didn’t answer, as he removed his shirt, revealing his very heavily muscled chest covered in ink. She was not distracted by the view, but she continued to glare at him, and then he removed his pants and as he climbed into the pool. Liana started to swim to the opposite side.
Just as she got to the other side, she put her hands up and started to lift herself out, only arms banded around her waist and pulled her right back into the water. She let out a growl, because she felt the sheer strength of him and knew she was no match. Liana tried to wriggle out of his arms, but he just swam with her further into the pool until they were in the center, and neither at the small end or the deep end. They didn’t even go under the water.
Diego held her tightly.
“Let me go!”
“No.”
She tried to become a dead weight in his arms, but that was no good, because he held her up and the water actually helped him. This was a nightmare.
After a few seconds, she slammed her hand on top of the water, sending up a splash of water. “What will it take to get you out of my damn life?”
“Liana, we’re married. Nothing is going to separate us. You could be pregnant with my child. There is no way I am going to accept a divorce.”
“I don’t want to be married to a man like you.”
