He Will Hurt Me,And I Will Hurt Him

Chapter Twelve -- He will hurt me, and I will hurt him. 

Florence's Point of View

This is the first time the entire family is having dinner at my home, and I don't necessarily want make sure everything is perfect, I am just not interested in listening to my Mom and Darla rant about how I should have done certain things. We do not have any staff in our home, because I prefer the privacy and I don't trust any of those staff, so I had to make dinner for everyone on my own, Carolina helped a lot and we ordered half the things.

Yesterday, at the club, Vuk told me we were going to sleep in separate rooms and it was a slap to the face, because I looked forward to our time together every night, there is a certain safety that he makes me feel, which is ridiculous because I never talk to him, ever since he insulted me at that Gala, perhaps I should have spoken to him.

As the Don's wife, there is a role to fill, a duty to act even if I am just having dinner with my family, which is why I am in a beautiful and short black dress, with long black tights, my hair is in a styled bun, and I look wonderful, but when I walk out of the bedroom, I see my brothers, Roman and Vuk, except, Vuk is bleeding from his nose, a lot.

"Oh my God, what happened?" I gasp and rush to him, I pull out a tissue and hold it to his nose, I stand in front of him and glance at my brothers "Why the hell is my husband bleeding?" I growl, angry, I planned today, down to every detail and now, it is getting ruined.

"He said some nasty to you." Marco speaks and I frown "What? What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry, Flo, I told Dante what Maxim said to you, it just came out, I did not mean to, and I did not expect him to act." Carolina apologizes and I exhale, confused "So, who exactly hit Vuk? Donnie?"

"I would have, but Dante did." Donnie smiles and I stare at Dante in surprise "Why did you hit him?"

"He was rude to you and treated you like a hoe." He snarls and I slap him. In hindsight, I should not have, but I am really angry and they need to stop treating me like a kid.

"This is my husband, you should know since the entire family made the decision and I married him, two months ago. He is my husband, I am a Visconti, but also a Romanova, and you don't freaking hit him again." I say, deadly and lethal, he tries to talk and I give him a look, shutting him off.

"We are married, of course, we are going to have arguments and be rude to each other, and he certainly did not treat me like a whore, Carolina must have exaggerated it." I clarify and turn to Vuk, confused "Why did you not defend yourself?"

"What?" He frowns and I try to understand this "You are Maxim Romanova, your reputation precedes you and I have seen you train, you are fit enough to protect yourself, why did you let him hit you, why did you not hit him back?" I ask and he frowns at me "T - they are your brother, I - I can't hit them back." 

"Well, you are my husband and my brothers do not have any problem hitting you, so maybe you should hit them back next time." I scold and he glances at them, and nods. 

"Florence." Marco says and I glare at him "Shut it, Marco, I can take you in a fight. Maybe that is what I need to do, I need to fight my brothers, so they stay away from my brothers." I decide and Carolina chuckles and I smile softly, still angry.

"You need to understand that I am not your little girl anymore, and Marco, we are almost the same age, so don't you dare. I am married, I graduated from Harvard Business School, I can protect myself and I have. I don't need my brothers interfering in my marriage. I find it hard to trust myself some time, and it would mean a lot to me if my brothers trust me. You are like old, Dante, so, can you have sense and stay away from my husband?" I ask, smiling and he nods, reluctantly.

"As long as he does not hurt you again." Nikolai adds and I groan "He will hurt me, and I will hurt him. We may not be in love, but we are married, and in marriage, people hurt each other, but they stay together. If you ever interfere in my marriage again, I will snap your necks. I can protect myself and you need to mind your businesses, focus on Carolina, Dante and Donnie, focus on the mysterious woman and leave my husband alone." I snap, angry and exhausted.

"I will not hurt her." Vuk says and I look at him, feeling so much. "I'm gonna go clean my husband up, thanks to you all. You can all go to the dining room and entertain our parents when they show up." I tell them, turn to Vuk and I lead him to our bedroom.

When we are in, I pull out the first aid kit and I start working on him, thankfully, his nose is not broken and he will be fine. He has so much scars so I am sure this was like a cake walk to him. I wait and look away when he changes into something different and I freeze when I feel his hand around my body, I turn to him, and he runs his hand down my back, over and over, soothing me, which is ironical, because he is the one in pain.

"I won't hurt you, again, Florence, and I am really sorry for what I said." He avows and I don't touch him, but I relish in his touch for a moment before stepping away "Don't make promises you can't keep."