She felt her lips lift in a smile as if in a daze. “I want to know what his intentions are today. And more than that”—shehesitated just for a moment when she realized the truth of the words about to roll off her tongue, but she trusted Santino would accept them—“I want him to see how wrong he was. About me. I want him to see that his greatest disappointment is about to be doing better than he ever dreamed.” The words hurt, and yet saying them was freeing, and she figured that was why one single tear finally dripped from her lashes.
Santino groaned low and swooped down, catching the droplet on his tongue before it could reach her jawline. He followed it backward, then angled his head to kiss her temple and murmured, “Then we’ll make him see, beautiful. You’ll show him what he’s missed, and I’ll give him what he deserves.”
She was smiling too easily by the time he straightened. “I really didn’t expect you to rush over, you know.”
He caught her hands in his as he took a step away and squeezed. “I’m sure we’ve been over this.” His brow dipped again and he immediately dropped his attention to one of their clasped hands.
She realized before he could speak the question what had caught his attention, and her face flared when she remembered her earlier, irrational thought.
“What the fuck happened?” He prodded lightly at the bottom edge of the bandage on her thumb. “What’s this from?”
“It’s nothing,” she said, a little too quickly. “I was testing to see if my phone was still usable and … determined it wasn’t worth the sacrifice. I washed it out, it’s fine.”
Santino’s nostrils flared and he peeled the bandage off without a word of explanation. He raised her hand, tilting his head to lessen the angle on her wrist, his stare burning into her skin as he examined the small cut. “I’ll fucking own the entire company if this gets infected.”
Reiko opened her mouth to argue, or insist he was overreacting.
He silenced her by pulling her thumb into his mouth and flattening his tongue over the wounded pad.
Her eyes blew wide and their stares collided again. Heat flashed through her as she felt his tongue slide along her skin.
He held her hand to his face and half-licked, half-sucked on her thumb for long, silent seconds before letting it slip free. Then, finally, he broke their stare and raked his eyes over her.
It felt like his fingers were dragging across her skin and she had to fight not to squirm.
“You look so pretty in that dress,” he said, his voice thick. “So fuckinginnocent.” He licked his lips. “I want to ruin it in the worst way. In every goddamn way. And then I want to put the soiled, tattered remains of it on fucking display where everyone can see the beast you bring out in me.”
Her mouth opened, but she had no words. No man had ever spoken to her that way.
No other man could have made it sound so appealing.
Santino pulled her close again and trailed nibbling kisses over the side of her face, until he had her earlobe between his teeth. “We don’t have the time, or the privacy, for that right now. But every man who looks at you today is putting his life on the line, so keep that in mind if you feel like drawing some other guy’s attention.”
Her arms curled around him as her chest warmed. “We still have about twenty minutes before my father’s car should be here.” Which wasn’t enough time for much of anything. She had lost her mind.
He huffed. “Like I said.” He straightened and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. “Not enough time.” Then he stepped back, caught her hand, and added, “We’re not waiting for his car. Let’s go.”
Chapter eleven
One Man’s Trash
Santino guided her tohis Rolls-Royce, pausing to indicate the extra car at the curb and make sure she understood the men crammed inside were his. He called them soldiers.
He wasn’t just going with her to her father’s office; he was coming armed for war.
The realization helped Reiko feel more justified in her inexplicable sense of panic, but at the same time, it reignited her nerves. What kind of trap did her father have laid out for her? How obedient did he expect her to still be after so long?
None of that matters.She had Santino, and Santino had made it clear he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.
Santino pulled her up to his side as the vehicle glided into motion, his arm locking around her. “Let’s talk about the future,” he said, his tone lighter than it had any right to be.
Reiko balked. “I don’t know if I can think about that kind of thing right now.”
“That’s why now is a perfect time.” He gave her a squeeze. “It’ll help distract your mind.” He flashed her a wicked grin. “And mine.”
Something inside her pulsed with an ache she was beginning to associate with him. It made her question her sanity. But if they hadn’t had time before, they most definitely did not now that they were in motion. So, she pushed the feeling down and searched her brain for a future-themed topic. And landed, of course, squarely on the one she’d been bouncing back to all morning.
“Okay,” she said. “You mentioned before about my employment being optional….”
