“Please.You should know, growing up in the same world I did.You think I had any say in literally anything that’s happened?If I had a say…” she mutters, “… would I be here locked in this house all day and night?”
“You are more than welcome to leave anytime you want.I didn’t ask to marry you, and I didn’t want to.”
Her head falls back before she fills the first floor with her laughter.“But what would you tell Papa Santoro if I did?”she asks.
That’s all it takes for something inside me to snap.
This little bitch.Nobody talks to me that way.
Don’t do this.Pump the brakes.The voice of reason screaming in the back of my head with every step I take around the island is too easy to ignore when my blood is racing, and the part of me I’ve spent so much time and energy pushing deeper into the darkness is a heartbeat away from bursting free.Finally, after so long, this is the chance to let go.
She doesn’t back down.Giorgio taught her well.Instead, she plants her feet and lifts her chin defiantly as I draw closer.“You’re going to have to do better than that, Dante,” she murmurs with a slow smile once I’m close enough to see her pulse fluttering in her graceful throat.“You think I could grow up a Vitali and be intimidatedthat easily?You think I’veneverbeen bullied?”
“I don’t give a shit what you’ve been through before now.You’re my wife.You might not have liked it any more than I did, but you signed the license the way I did.Didn’t you?”
I can’t believe I’m doing this, moving even closer until she has no choice but to back up until the countertop stops her.When she tries to slide along its length to get away from me, my arm shoots out, and I pin her on one side, then the other.
The soft, frustrated grunt she lets out pleases me almost too much.
“That means you do as I say.I think when you look at the big picture, you’ll see it could be much worse than having to put on a dress and smile for a photographer.”
Looking her up and down, I murmur, “Unless you want me to show you the kind of husband you could’ve gotten if you weren’t so lucky.I could claim what’s mine no matter how you try to stop me.You know that, don’t you?Little tough, jaded girl, you act like you’ve seen it all.”
Lowering my head, I catch a hint of the shampoo she uses—sweet and floral.I can’t identify it, but the scent makes me want to close my eyes and inhale deeply.I barely keep myself from doing just that before asking, “Do you want me to show you what you haven’t seen yet?I’m a busy man, but I would be more than happy to take the time to educate you.”
“I don’t thinkthatwill be necessary.”She pulls her head back, scowling, and I’ll be damned if the fire in her eyes doesn’t do something to me.Something nobody has managed to do in years.The kind of thing that has nothing to do with logic, planning, or reason.It’s something animalistic and primal.My dick twitches in the seconds before loathing comes dangerously close to becoming lust.
Releasing a shaky breath, I whisper, “Good.Make sure you have a nice dress ready, then take a look in that overstuffed closet upstairs.You’ll find something.”Now I have no choice but to push away from the counter since I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to control myself much longer if she’s this close.
“Running back to Papa?”she asks when I head toward the door.
“Consider yourself lucky,” I fire back.“Unless you want me to stick around so we can keep getting to know each other.”
“Thank you, but I already know enough.And I’mnotimpressed.”
She would be impressed if she knew how hard I fought to keep from snapping her neck or consummating our marriage, whether she wanted to or not.
6
SOPHIA
Ifeel like Cinderella.
If Cinderella had to pay ten thousand dollars for a seat at the ball.
“Charity isn’t cheap,” Dante murmurs as we enter the grand ballroom arm in arm.The children’s foundation went all out tonight, turning the room into an enchanted garden filled with flowers and small trees strung with tiny, twinkling lights.Yes, I could be a fairy-tale princess sailing in on the arm of her handsome husband while wearing a strapless Prada, its cream-colored silk gleaming like a pearl in the candlelight.
If fairy tales were real.
I’ve been to a hundred events like this one, ever since Mom decided I was old enough to go out in public with her and not be an embarrassment.By the time I was sixteen, she figured out I was much better at playing the game than her.It helps that I know how to talk to people without embarrassing myself.
Just because it’s familiar, doesn’t mean there’s not a tiny thrill when I first set eyes on the room and the glittering people inside it.“It’s beautiful in here,” I breathe out.
Dante clicks his tongue quietly as we wait in line to exchange words with a few of the foundation’s board members before continuing to our table.“The foundation could’ve used this money for the kids instead of blowing it on one night.”
A romantic?He is not.
I need to stop trying to be real with him if all he’s going to do is say something snide.Snide, yet annoyingly accurate.At least the line moves fast, and I take advantage of Dante’s strong personality as an excuse to stay quiet.
