“Asshole,” I muttered, turning my face away from him.

“I never denied it.” Simon’s thumb circled my aching clit, causing a desperate sob to escape from my lips. “But you’re the one who came back after I set you free. After I told you I wasn’t the type of man you deserved.”

He started thrusting again and brought me to the cusp of release two more times before he pulled out of my body, licked his fingers, and released his hold on me.

I braced myself against the railing and gasped for air as tears streamed down my face. “Simon, let me come.”

“No. You don’t get to come. Only my wife gets to come. And you don’t seem to want that role.”

“That’s not true. I fucking married you.”

“But now that it’s about to go public, you’re getting cold feet.”

“You have no idea what it feels like to get a taste of freedom and then have to give it up again.”

Something passed in his eyes before he masked it. “You’re right. I don’t. But you forget something. None of us are truly free, least of all me.”

He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his wedding band, the one I’d given him during our secret wedding.

“Did you know the only time I’ve ever had any freedom is with you? So here, I’m just returning the favor.” He set the ring on a table near him and left the terrace.

Chapter Three

I arrived at the Morelli mansion with my emotions running the gambit of worry, trepidation, and heartache. I’d fucked up, and I had to fix it. Simon was right, there had never been an escape for him. The fact he’d managed to spend any time with me in Vegas over the last year was a feat in itself.

The hours since Simon had left me and arriving in New York had solidified what a colossal mistake I’d made by sending him my rings. They represented something private we shared, something that bonded us without the world interfering, and I’d hurt him with my need to fight for my independence.

He was right. He would have let me walk away, but I’d picked him. Now I had to own my decision. And I had to fix the hurt I’d caused him.

“Okay, Silent Night, what gives?” The eldest of my four brothers, Tyler, asked as he studied me from across the car. “All you’ve done is brood since you landed this afternoon and haven’t said more than two words in the last twenty minutes.”

Sometimes, I regretted picking that as the name of the poker club. It always worried me that one of my brothers would find out, and it was what had led Simon to my underground activities in the first place.