Forced To Be The Mafia King's Bride (by Oma Green) novel Chapter 201

Dante's POV

The second the bedroom door shut behind us, Gianna walked straight across the room toward the bathroom.

"Don't walk away from me."

She kept walking.

"Gianna."

She reached for the bathroom door handle.

"I said stop."

My voice thundered. She froze, her hand on the handle, her back still to me.

"Turn around."

For a second, she didn't move. Then slowly she turned. Her eyes met mine, and I could see the defiance burning there.

"Get back here."

Her brows pulled together, but she didn't move.

"Now."

She walked back toward me and stopped a few feet away, her arms crossing over her chest.

"What?"

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her in that bikini. Water dripping down her skin. That bastard in the pool. His hands on her waist. Her body against his as she smiled back. The image burned in my head, making my blood boil.

"What the hell was that back there?"

"What was what?"

"Don't play with me, Gianna." I stepped closer. "I leave you for one second and you're in another man's arms?"

"He was teaching me how to swim."

"Is that what we're calling it now?"

"Oh my God." She threw her hands up. "Nothing happened."

"You expect me to believe that?" I closed the distance between us. "His hands were all over you."

"He was keeping me from drowning."

"You looked pretty comfortable to me."

Her face went red. "Are you serious right now?"

"Do you have no shame at all?" The words came out harder than I meant. "No awareness that you're married?"

Her eyes went wide. Then they narrowed.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that."

"Then act like a wife."

She took a deep breath, her chest rising.

"Act like a husband first."

That stopped me.

"Where were you, Dante? Hm?" She stepped closer, her voice rising. "You want to spend our entire honeymoon avoiding me? And God knows what other shady mafia business has you so busy and wrapped up that you can't give me any time or attention? Fine. Then I'm going to go to a pool party with Vera and do whatever the hell I want."

My hands curled into fists.

"You're forgetting yourself."

"Am I?"

"Don't forget who holds all the leverage here."

She laughed, but there was no humor in it.

"Leverage? That's what you think this is?"

"Just because I allowed you to add your own terms to the contract doesn't change anything." I stepped closer, my voice dropping. "I'm the husband. I hold the power. You don't get to do whatever you want. You don't get to challenge me."

"You don't control me." Her voice shook, but her eyes stayed locked on mine. "You don't own me. I'm not going to be your stay-at-home wife and just sit around playing house waiting for you all day."

"That's exactly what you're going to do."

"No." She shook her head, her damp hair swinging. "I'm not. Maybe if that's the wife you want, you shouldn't have married me. I don't fit the profile."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut.

I pulled back, breathing like I'd run a marathon.

Her eyes opened, confused and glazed. Her lips were swollen, her cheeks flushed that perfect shade of pink that made me want to mark every inch of her skin.

"Why are you stopping?"

My eyes searched hers, looking for something I wasn't sure I'd find.

"I'll only take you when you vow to give all of yourself to me."

"I'm ready for us to have sex." Her voice came out breathless, needy. "That's what the other night was about."

A scoff escaped before I could stop it.

"Trying to seduce me into making love to you instead of talking about the real reason why you rejected me on our wedding night. That's quite manipulative, don't you think?"

Her jaw dropped.

"Stop acting like I did something out of this world. Seducing you wasn't a crime."

She pushed against my chest, her palms burning through my shirt.

"You're no different. Using my body, teasing me, bringing me to the edge and not letting me finish, just to prove your sick need for control over me."

My teeth ground together, heat flooding my veins.

"Because you fight back all the damn time. It's one of the ways I know how to get to you, how to make you feel something real instead of hiding behind those walls."

"I'm not a..." Her voice shook with rage and something raw and vulnerable. "I'm a human being with feelings. You need to communicate. Talk to me."

"And I'm not?" The words came out harder than I meant, cutting through the space between us. "Fuck, Gianna. I'm trying here. But you make it so difficult sometimes, breaking every single rule, pushing every boundary like you want me to lose control."

She moved closer, her hands cupping my face, her touch gentle despite the fire in her eyes.

"You haven't tried hard enough. These past few days, after our wedding night, you completely changed into this man I barely recognize."

Your rejection did this. It shattered something inside that I didn't even know could break.

The words sat on my tongue, begging to come out. But I held back.

She was already taking advantage, already flaunting my orders like they meant nothing.

If she knew how much power she wielded over me, how one look from her could bring me to my knees…