“Well, we were both the kids of crime lords and I certainly didn’t fit in with the scions of business magnates or European aristocrats.” Dimitri kept his eyes out on the water and shrugged. “It isn’t too crazy to think we had a lot in common.”
“We sure do now, like an address or a tax form,” I added.
“Such a romantic.” He rolled his eyes.
“You’re the one who wanted to marry me,” I deadpanned before my eyes widened. “So is that why you said yes to my dad? Your little crush from a decade ago?”
“I’d be lying if I said that didn’t play a part in it, but I owed your father, too.” His eyes darted from the horizon, zeroing in on mine, still shimmering with the tears he hadn’t shed. “He had to talk me into it.”
“Now that’s what every girl wants to hear,” I snapped with mock indignation.
He held his hands up, surrendering. His head shook and he barked a laugh. That wasn’t the reaction I had expected and my eyes narrowed. Was he mocking me?
“I was doing pretty good, and your father’s plan put a target on my back, on your back, too.” He pointed a finger gun at me and mimed the recoil from shooting it. “We had three meetings before he wore me down, convinced me to help.”
“So what was it that convinced you?” My voice hesitated asking the question.
“You,” he replied, all hint of humor on his face disappearing. “He thought a lot about the future, especially after he got sick. He wanted to make sure that you were protected.”
I opened my mouth to object. His hand rose and gently pressed against my lips. When my eyes narrowed, he continued.
“Now I know what you are going to say, ‘I don’t need your protection, hell someone’s already taken a shot at me,’” his imitation of me just rose his voice, he didn’t add a mocking tone so I stayed quiet and let him finish, “but you’re a smart woman. You know what would have happened without a strong hand behind you. The Castello family would have fallen into a civil war. You could have gotten killed in that, or worse, been married off to someone like Pirrello.”
“Enrico is older than my father!” I gasped, my shoulders shuddering. “When you put it that way, I guess I lucked out.”
“You didn’t have any complaints last night.” His hand in front of my mouth cupped my chin, thumb brushing against my lips. “Maybe tonight, we should stay in your room so we don’t have to worry about the morning sun.”
“Someone’s presumptuous, aren’t they?” I teased, but when his thumb pressed against my lips, I didn’t move away.
13
Dimitri
Olivia’s eyes on mine, she parted her lips and sucked my thumb. My breath shuttered when her mouth closed around my digit. Her tongue darted against the pad of my thumb, tickling it. I couldn’t help but imagine how that’d feel against another part of me.
“The last time we got frisky in the kitchen, we ended up spilling some wine,” I whispered with a smirk. “Maybe we should move this party elsewhere?”
She fell into giggles. Her head jerked back, leaving my thumb cold and wet as she stared at the ceiling shaking her head.
“Get frisky?” Her giggles continued but her eyes found me. “That sounds like what a grandmother would call it. My college roommate and I used to watch old episodes ofThe Newlywed Gamefrom the 70s, they talked like that. You can just call it fucking, you know. You aren’t going to offend my delicate sensibilities.”
“Fine,” I grumbled as I pushed myself to my feet, “when I threw you down on the kitchen counter and fucked you the other day, we spilled wine all over the floor. Maybe we should retire to your bedroom?”
I held out my hand. Her giggles died in her throat as I spoke. Red dappled her cheeks. She watched me, lips parted, already breathing deeper. Those eyes fell to my outstretched hand before her own reached up to grasp it.
Once I pulled her to her feet, I let go of her hand. She frowned but I made my next move too fast for her to react. My arms shot behind her. The right swept the back of her knees, the left stayed higher.
She squealed when her feet left the floor. Her arms flailed before they snatched around my neck. When she realized how securely I held her, that hold relaxed. Her head pulled back from my shoulder. The withering glare almost had me frozen before it fell into a grin.
“What the hell?” She swatted my shoulder. “A little warning, next time.”
“We never did the whole carrying the bride over the threshold on our wedding night,” I said before stepping toward her bedroom.
“If you’d tried something like this on our wedding night, I probably would have gutted you with one of my hairpins,” she said. Her head dropped back to my shoulder. “Never realized you were such a traditionalist. The whole threshold thing seems paternalistic to me.”
“Would you prefer I let you down?” I teased. Given the way she’d pressed herself close, teased my neck with her breath, I knew she enjoyed it, despite her protests.
“I never said that,” she grumbled and wrapped her arm around my shoulder tighter. “A girl could get used to this. You’re like a one man Sedan Chair, carrying your empress wherever she commands. To the bedroom, slave.”
