If Nora was going to cry on anyone, it would be me. I’d earned those tears. Her scream of pleasure had been for me, not him.
My hands closed around her shoulders, and I had to pry her away from Luca. She sobbed and thrashed, fighting me so that she could stay with him.
I pulled her into a tight embrace, trapping her smaller frame in my confining arms.
“Hush now, little bird. We’re done here.”
I frowned when she cried harder, twisting in my grip.
Maybe using her like this was a mistake. Maybe I should flay Luca, after all.
I looked over at him, and I knew I had no better path open to me. His eyes shined with a murderous glint and something more vulnerable. Nora wasn’t the only one reduced to tears, although Luca’s seemed to be more from impotent fury than hurt.
A cruel, triumphant grin stretched my lips, and I lifted Nora up in my arms. She covered her face with her hands and cried, so I tucked her closer to my chest, comforting her.
My wife would come to accept my sadistic needs. She would learn to love the dark pleasure I offered her. One day soon, she’d beg me to fuck her in front of Luca, and he would know who her true master was. He would know that I’d claimed his bride, his birthright. I had taken everything from him, but he would pay even more dearly.
He’d murdered my brother. For that, I would shatter his soul.
And I would use Nora to break him.
In Their Power
Chapter 1
Dante
Nora’s delicate body shook in my arms, so I pulled her closer to my chest. A sour tang coated my tongue, but I swallowed it down.
“Don’t worry, little bird,” I murmured. “Remember what I told you in the woods? I promised that if I break you, I’ll always put you back together again.” No matter how deviant my games with her became, I would protect her.
She simply shuddered in silent response.
I firmed my resolve.
She would learn to love serving my darker needs. She would be happy with me.
“You don’t understand yet, but you will,” I said firmly. “You can trust me. I’ll prove it to you.”
We would be a family, and our children would have a safe, stable home. As the Boss of our organization, I could give them everything they could possibly desire. I wouldn’t settle for anything less in life. I’d earned this position of power and security with pain and blood. I’d spill a lot more if it meant getting what I wanted.
My victory wasn’t quite complete. Many of Luca’s allies had escaped from my estate, retreating from the firefight when he’d come to take Nora from me. I’d let most of them go; I would need their allegiance. The Russians were circling like sharks, and I intended to rally all the men I could command to defend our territory.
I just had to break Luca first, and then they would all be mine. He would order them to pledge their loyalty to me by the time I was finished with him.
Then my wife, my future family, would be safe, protected. The power to provide that mattered to me more than anything money could buy.
Nora was the key to his undoing. He cared for her. I’d seen the anguish in his eyes when he’d watched me touch my pretty wife. He’d torn his wrists bloody in his futile attempts to break his chains and save her from me.
But she didn’t need saving. She was safe with me, safer than she’d ever been with him. He was too weak to protect her. He’d never been worthy of controlling our organization. He’d never been worthy of pretending to be her husband.
My arms flexed around her. She pressed her hands tighter against her face, as though she could hide her pretty tears from me. I didn’t like the violent shudder that wracked her willowy frame. Ever since I’d known her—ever since the day I’d noticed that she’d matured into a stunning woman hiding in her father’s shadow—Nora had possessed a quiet strength and elegant poise. Now, she quivered and sobbed even though I held her with tender care.
I firmed my jaw and ignored the slight twist in the pit of my stomach. I’d given her my word: I would put her back together again. I always kept my promises, especially the vows I’d made to my wife.
I carried her away from Luca, back to our bedroom. I would make her forget all about him, flood her with so much pleasure that she had no room in her mind for thoughts of him.
Or fear of me.
