I rose, the movement smooth, unhurried.“I know I am.”
His laugh was hollow, the sound of a man calculating risk.“You never cease to entertain me with your propositions.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Stay for dinner,” he offered, tone too polite to trust.“The least I can do after our discussion.”
“I suppose I can stay for a bit.”
We might fight the same enemy right now, but he would protect his daughter.Something told me he was happy the contract was now voided.I hope he knew it was too late to go back on the deal though.Mia had taken a piece of me long ago and no other woman would fill the void.
It’s her and I against the whole fucking world.
I followed him to the dining room and took a seat.The food arrived, but the conversation didn’t.Mia met my eyes more than once.She might pretend, but I saw the fractures spidering behind her calm.Time would do the rest.She wanted me.Everything about her body language gave her away.The crossing of her legs.Biting her lip.Fuck.All I could imagine was how long she could resist if my hands were on her.
Guests dwindled.Polite excuses drifted away until it was just us.
“Enjoying the evening?”She was wound tight.When was the last time she had an orgasm?It might do her some good.
“Always,” she said, the word thin as glass.
The world beyond the room ceased to exist.Every breath between us hummed with challenge.I closed the distance.My hand pressed to the wall above her head, my body a breath from hers, caging her in.“You must know there’s nowhere you can go that I won’t find you.I’ve been waiting, my love.And the girl of my dreams doesn’t get to just walk away from me.”Color rose in her cheeks.She glanced anywhere but at me.“Your pulse is racing.”My thumb grazed the soft line of her throat.“Is it fear… or something else?”Her back arched slightly, and when she went to bite her lip, my restraint snapped.
I kissed her—fierce, unapologetic.Heat roared through me.Her fingers caught my jacket, our bodies aligning.The kiss was a claim.She was mine.I broke away, breath unsteady.Her eyes were wide, dazed, alive.“Every time I think of our wedding night,” I said, voice rough, “I argue with myself—savor the anticipation or end this hunger now.”
Her lips parted, words lost.
“Tell your father I had to run,” I added.“Business calls.Later, love.”
The Moretti gates closed behind me.I peeled down the drive and didn’t look back.Hell, I couldn’t afford to.Her lips were heaven and only made me wonder just how soft other things were.Right now, I needed to be thinking with my head, not my dick.
By the time I reached the Di Fiore estate, the fire in my veins had cooled into focus.
Catrina stood in the foyer.
“Enrico?”
“Come on.Don’t ruin it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know you are worried about Mia, but yo don’t have to be.I had her against the wall,” I said, a smile pulling at the corner of my mouth.The pleasure in the memory wasn’t subtle.I didn’t bother to hide it.
Her brow furrowed.“You don’t think that might drive her away?”
“Fear?”I echoed.“No.It’ll draw her closer.She’s already in my orbit.”
“Be careful,” she warned.“A heart won by force can still beat with resistance.”
“Then I’ll enjoy the challenge of taming it.”I’d waited years.“Protecting Mia isn’t just desire—it's a necessity.And if I have to embrace every shadow I’ve ever tried to outrun to keep her safe, then so be it.”
She hesitated.“Enrico?—”
“Enough.”I lifted a hand.“Leave me.I have plans to make.”
She nodded once and left me to my solitude.
The house was silent again.I sat before the window; the city spread beneath like a kingdom of ash and light.My reflection stared back—unflinching, hungry.
