“I don’t.” The answer was immediate, without thought or hesitation. I wasn’t my sister. Power had never once crossed my mind in the way my father, Gaven, or others in this life craved.
He smiled at that. It wasn’t a condescending smile, but it was one that I expected to be given to a child who’d said something ridiculous. I scowled. “What?” Before he could answer, though, a waiter entered the room and set down two glasses of water as well as a basket of ciabatta.
Gaven cut a look my way as if to tell me to remain silent. I ground my teeth in irritation but didn’t say a word. We’d actually been getting somewhere with that conversation—or at least we had started to—and I didn’t want to have him fall back on his gentlemanly façade. The more I knew about the man, the better I could plan.
Biting my tongue, I sat fuming as the waiter took our orders—or rather, he took Gaven's before glancing at me. “And for the lovely lady?” the man prompted, poised to jot down whatever selections I made.
Before I could even open the menu or ask for something for myself, though, Gaven’s rich baritone filled the space. “Rigatoni Fra Diavolowith a side salad and a glass of your best Chianti.” Gaven gave the order without even looking at me, and my hands clenched beneath the tablecloth. My desire to demand to order for myself was strong, but I couldn’t fault the order in itself. How he knew I tended to like a bit of spice with my meals, I had no idea, but I could guess at least a few ways. My father very well may have told him. He could have questioned the family chef. Or he very well could have just ordered without actuallyknowing—orcaring—what I actually liked.
“I’m not twenty-one,” I said quietly long after the waiter had left. “Technically, I’m not supposed to be drinking.”
Gaven lifted a brow at me as his lips curved into a smirk. “A glass of wine is hardly a crime, considering the world we live in, Angel,” he replied. “Plus, I suspect you’ll need it if you’re to enjoy this date.”
My insides tightened.Is this what he considered a date?This was nothing, I told myself. Just a simple meal. I turned my face away from his. Let him order for me then if he so wanted. He was right in his own way. A glass of wine wasn’t much to quibble about when he was just like my father. A killer. A monster. A mobster.
It shouldn’t have been anything to get upset about, but the thing that truly pissed me off was that this was a stark reminder that my life was no longer my own. This was a look into my future if I couldn’t get out of this marriage. As soon as this man slid a ring on my finger and I said the eternal words 'I do,' he would own me.
As soon as the waiter was out of earshot, Gaven's full attention returned to me. I expected him to begin speaking immediately, but he sat back and stared at me instead. "You're angry," he said after a moment.
No shit,I thought, but I merely nodded. "I'm irritated," I clarified.
He tilted his head to the side, and I felt pinned by his gaze. "You're a curious thing." His tone was thoughtful. "What are you thinking?" Gaven suddenly asked, and with the way my thoughts were rolling through my mind, all it took was that one question for them to come tumbling out from between my lips.
"Why me?" I demanded, fixing him with a confused and frustrated look. Frankly, I didn't understand this whole thing. It truly didn’t make any sense. Jackie was the one most suited for the life of a mob wife. She was intelligent. Cunning. Beautiful.But no, for some reason, this man had chosenme. My father had offered me even knowing that I wanted to leave. I didn’t want to throw Jackie into what I was currently facing, but shewantedthis life. If the way she’d responded to him the first time she met him was anything to go by, she would’ve been happy to be his wife.
“I’m not sure I understand your question,” Gaven replied.
"I’m inexperienced,” I pointed out, lifting my glass of water to my lips.
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Gaven said. “If anything, it’s good. There will be no question whose children you’ll bear.”
Children?I choked and sputtered on my water, setting the glass back down with a hard thump. “I’m eighteen,” I reminded him. Far too young to be considering children.
“Your father told me that you’ll be nineteen soon.”
“How old are you?”
Gaven leaned forward and steepled his fingers together, resting his elbows on the edge of the table as he considered me. “Far older than you, Angel,” he said. “Although you shouldn’t worry, I won’t let you be completely deprived of your freedom. Once you’ve got my son in your belly, you’ll be free to make your own choices. You can even attend college if you want to. Your father told me that’s what you were planning before he made his offer. Though, I recommend you do so from the comfort and safety of our home.”
A mixture of horror and an unwanted tightness in my stomach rolled through me. Not only was this man planning to marry me against my will, but he also wanted to impregnate me. “No.”
Gaven shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He leaned away from the table and reached for the glass of red wine the waiter had set before him. Something that I couldn’t drink because I wasn’teven twenty-one yet. Too young to drink, only not too young to have his child, apparently.
“I’m not going to have a child,” I snapped.
Gaven carefully sipped his wine and waited until he’d savored the singular gulp he’d taken before he replied. “You will.” Those two words were spoken so boldly, so matter-of-factly.
How the fuck could he say something so awful?
“Why not Jackie?” I asked. Despite my earlier thought that I didn’t want to throw my sister onto this path, the words spilled out. She was far more agreeable and knowledgeable. She was made for this role. I was not. Perhaps my father hadn’t offered Jackie …No, even as the thought occurred to me, I knew the truth. This man had definitely chosen me on purpose. It was there in his heated gaze, in the way he stalked me with his eyes. The look he gave me sent chills down my spine.
Gaven eyed me, his cool deep blue gaze analyzing me from my head down to where my lower half disappeared beneath the table. All at once, I felt pinned in place. As if a giant predator had found me and was debating on whether to devour me whole or piece by piece.
“You’re a beautiful prize, Angel,” he said quietly. “You need not fear the things I can give you. Your future is secured with me. I assure you, I will never hurt you.”
“You are hurting me,” I snapped back. “You’re destroying my future, not securing it. Why the hell would you choose me?” Fear surfaces. It washes over me, a tiny whispering thrill weaving through my body. I swallowed nervously as Gaven leaned forward, one elbow resting on the table as he lifted his hand toward my face.
I held perfectly still as that hand of his neared closer and closer. When his fingers touched my cheek, grazing down to my jawline, it felt like a bolt of electricity had shot through me.Awareness, keen and so very fucking there, lifted me out of the fog of confusion and catapulted me straight into unfamiliar territory.Fuck. No. I cannot be attracted to this man. It isn’t possible. He’s the enemy.As if making fun of my thoughts, the place between my legs throbbed. My thighs clenched, and my chest swelled as I unintentionally leaned into his touch.
