He grinned. “Make that noise for me again.”
“Later. It distracts you too much.” I wiped my eyes, then I came back to reality. That small touch of freedom he always gave me never lasted long. I always knew what happened next. “It’s a good arrangement. B—”
His finger came to my lips before I could finish. I looked down at it before I met his eyes. They glowed amber in the light of the fire, his hair onyx.
“Yes or no, Mia Bellarosa. No hesitation. Do we have a deal or not? I won’t ask again.”
“YESH!” I answered around his finger.
A beat passed and his laughter rocked me to my core.
“Yes,” he said.
“Yes!Sì!”
He took my face in his hands and went to kiss me. I pulled away.
“I need a toothbrush—”
“Fuck that,” he said, and without giving me a chance to recover, claimed my lips. He kissed me until I couldn’t breathe. He wiped the tears from my face when I pulled away to catch my breath. I put my hands on his wrists, about to ask him what we were going to do about my other arrangement, when I noticed it.
“Yeah,” he said, following my eyes. My ring was already on my left hand, third finger. Glistening with the soft light in the room. “That’s where it’ll stay.”
“Always,” I said.
“Per sempre.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead.
His watch lit up for a second before it faded. It brought me back to the theater. Right after the glass…I remembered seeing the brightness of it before it faded. Like he had set a timer and—
“Oh my God,” I said, meeting his eyes. “You were going to—” I started to say kidnap, but that didn’t seem right. I wasn’t a kid. “Steal me! You were going to make the lights go out so you could get me out!”
He grinned a little but sobered up when he realized how serious I was being. “I was. I didn’t even tell Evelina. The lights were only supposed to go out for a few minutes, enough time to get you out, but Bykov’s men did it first.”
“You were going to take me here?”
“Yes.”
“You were going to keep me hostage.”
“We needed to talk. Away from everyone. I had a deal to make.” He shrugged. “I know a thing or two about them, and you seemed motivated.”
My eyes narrowed. “It would have been a fight.”
“Not at first. I was betting on it after.”
“Wait!” I said, my hand outstretched. “Where are you going?”
He slipped a t-shirt over chest. His skin was smooth and bronze and looked so warm from the fire. “To get Rocco.”
“For what?”
“The arrangement. I want it finalized.”
“We don’t—I mean, I thought we were just talking. Imagining how good this could be.” I was honestly in shock—could I really have him forever?
He got that caveman watching a butterfly look in his eyes before he shook his head. “No. I meant every fucking word. You want me to take you out at least once a week on a date. We stay put for a year.” He shrugged. “Simple enough.”
“Yes,” I whispered, in shock that this was happening. “And I don’t want to dance.”
