"All because she didn't want to marry me," he muses. I can't tell if he's indifferent or just really good at hiding his emotions. Probably the latter.
He's still holding my wrists, and I have no more answers to satisfy him. "Are you going to hurt me now?"
"Hurt you? No, I won't hurt you. I'd much rather spend the night pleasing you," he replies with a devilish look.
"You plan to rape me like Rocco wanted to do, is that it?"
His demeanor shifts instantly, from teasing to cold anger. "Don't insult the one man who's on your side right now."
Without another word, he walks me back into the office where the other men wait. Armando blows out a relieved breath when he sees I'm not bleeding.
"That was very fucking fast," Rocco mutters. "She's still fully dressed. If you don't have the stomach for-"
The tension in the room skyrockets when Carlo pulls his gun this time, leveling it at Rocco's head. "Finish that sentence. Please," he says in an eerily calm manner.
Rocco throws up his hands in surrender, slithering back to join his father. Carlo then shares what I told him with the others.
“Find your daughter, De Luca. Meanwhile, Ronan Donnelly must be hunted down and made an example of,” Carlo's father decrees. I know better than to voice any protest, but I pray they never find my brother.
My uncle stares at me with pure loathing before turning away, forced to bow down to his Don. "My son will lead the chase."
“There is one more thing I’d like to add, Father,” Carlo says, holstering his gun again. I can't say why my stomach flips watchingthat. “I, too, wish for Sofia’s safe return. However, I was promised a bride from the Las Vegas Trio two years ago, a girl from the De Luca family… and I mean to have her, whether or not Sofia is ever found.”
“But Gia is already married, and I have no daughters,” Uncle Enzo stammers.
Carlo doesn’t acknowledge Enzo. He’s too busy staring straight at me.Oh, holy shit.
13
Francesca
I’m completely drained, too exhausted to even shrug off the proprietary arm he’s got wrapped around my waist when Carlo walks me to a guest room very late. “You can rest easy, Francesca. No one will harm you in my city. Now, as you are an unwed girl, honor forbids me from escorting you inside tonight, so I must leave you at your doorstep,” he says, almost playfully.
“You asked this unwed girl to be your mistress a couple of weeks ago.”
“A grave mistake.Perdonami, per favore.”
I scowl at him, confused by his tactics. “I thought you’d be furious with me like the others.”
“I should be, but you told me I wouldneverhave you in my bed. I’m going to enjoy making you eat your words… while I eat you.”
Cursing the way I shudder at that promise, I try to make him see reason. “People will laugh at you if you marry me, Carlo. More than they ever would’ve over Sofia standing you up at the altar. They’ll think you bewitched.”
“No one with a shred of self-preservation will laugh at me, our union or question my mental acuity.” His brown eyes soften. “Though perhaps I am bewitched. From the moment I saw you again and heard you sing, all my thoughts have been bent on having you.”
“Then how come the following night you had a couple of pros sucking your-”
“I didn’t want them, goddammit,” he growls. “I wanted you. I wanted to feel you taking my cock in that hallway, wanted to capture your whimpers with my mouth as your sweet pussy took me in for the first time.” I gulp, shocked but also weirdly turned on. “I knew I couldn’t have you. That I could never have you while being engaged to your cousin, but I thought if Sofia found out about the other women…"
"You wanted her to catch you?!"
"I would've preferred it if she'd simply heard of it instead." I slap him hard across the mouth. He doesn't even flinch. "Why does it turn me on when you do that?" he husks.
"You're insane."
"True, it wasn't my best plan. When you know me better, you’ll understand how rarely such feelings guide my decision.”
“I don’t want to know you better,” I snap. “You’re a cheating asshole, and I hate you.”
