When I get out of the shower, I wrap a towel around myself and look through the drawers under the sink for a comb. But I find something much more interesting: the round compact of birth control pills.
I stare at it for a long moment, thinking. Then a slow smile spreads across my face.
Perfect.
I dry off quickly, carrying the compact into the bedroom, and grab my phone. I pull up Dr. Rossi’s contact and call.
He answers on the first ring. “Mr. Demonio.”
“I have a job for you.” I snap a picture of the pills and send then put the phone on speaker and set it down so I can pull on my clothes. “I need you to create some placebo pills that look exactly like the ones in the picture.”
Dr. Rossi is silent a moment. “It’s a thing that is possible, yes.”
I huff out an exhale. “What’s the problem, Rossi?”
“You’ve worked hard to avoid any unwanted pregnancies.”
“Can you do it or not?”
“I can do it.” His voice is careful. “I’m just ensuring that you know what you’re asking for.”
“I know exactly what I’m asking for.”
I’m going to breed this woman. Knock her up with a Demonio baby and watch her father lose his fucking mind. Watch Sophie realize too late that she should have stayed very fucking far away from me.
25
Sophie
The osso bucco is steaming hot, filling my car with the scent of braised veal, red wine, and saffron risotto. It’s Siena’s favorite, and I made extra, enough for Matti, Giovanna, Tommy, and then some, because cooking is easier than thinking about Vin.
My hands tighten on the steering wheel as I navigate toward Dragovari Tower. The rage simmers just below my ribs, hot and acidic.
There is almost nothing I would deny Vin. He can do whatever he wants to my body and I’ll beg him for more. But when he messes with my food, food that I have prepared with care, working hard to achieve the perfect texture and flavor—that’s where I draw the line.
Telling him about Aurelio was a mistake, but he needs to know what I’m capable of.
When he left, I didn’t know what to expect. For all I knew, I’d never see him again. But he was at my house when I got home that night. He slept in my bed next to me. For days, we’ve been moving past each other, going to bed at different times, coming and going without speaking, without touching. I don’t know where he’s been eating. I tell myself I don’t care.
Dragovari Tower rises against the twilight sky, all steel and glass with its giant concrete front doors. The lobby is marble and security cameras, men in suits with dead eyes who nod at me as I pass. They know me now: Siena’s cousin, the one who brings food.
The private elevator hums as it takes me up to the penthouse. I balance the insulated carriers carefully, my mind far away.
“You’re nothing but my fuckhole, aren’t you?”
“I love being your fuckhole, padrone.”
I did love it. I do love it. The way he takes me, uses me, pushes me past every boundary I thought I had. The wooden spoon against my skin. His fingers in my ass while his cock pounds my pussy, fucking me into oblivion. The words that pour out of me, begging him for more, when he fucks me into a state of bliss.
But disrespecting my food? In my own kitchen?
No. Absolutelynotokay.
When the elevator arrives, Siena whips open the front door to the penthouse immediately and claps, her eyes bright, when she sees the containers.
“I could smell that osso bucco from the moment you hit the lobby!” She takes the top tray from me, and ushers me into the penthouse she shares with Matti.
Giovanna is sprawled on the enormous sectional in the living room, her pregnant belly round with twins curved under a loose sweater.
