“Yes, sir,” the staff member says.
“And find me a replacement for his job.”
After they’re done carrying the body out of the room, he replies, “Of course, sir. I’m on it.”
Franco enters the dining room too, surprised she’s still sitting here unbothered by the whole scene, and he stares at us with his jaw wide open. “Sir, do you want me to do something?”
I smile as her courage sinks into the floor, along with her resolve. “No, I can handle this.”
“But she just tried to poison you.”
I raise my hand. “I said I’ll handle it.”
Franco nods and walks off again.
“Leave us,” I tell the rest of my staff. “All of you.”
When everyone’s left the room, and the whole place has gone quiet after the doors have closed, I focus on her. She braces herself against the chair and then suddenly lunges for the fork on the table. She attacks me but misses, and I grab her wrist and pin it behind her back, pushing her up to the table with my body.
“Drop it,” I say.
Finally, she releases the fork, but her scrunched-up face and angry eyes draw my attention more than any weapon ever could. God, she looks gorgeous when she wants to kill me.
“You bastard,” she hisses while glancing at me over her shoulder.
“Now, now, is that any way to treat the man who saved you?”
“You didn’t save me,” she says. “You just made me your pet, the same as Lucio would have done. You’re no different from him.”
“He and I arenothingalike,” I growl into her ear. “Nothing, do you hear me?”
“No? Well, it sure seems like it. He’d have me pinned to the table just like you’re doing right now.”
I admit, shoving her up against the table made me hard as fuck. But this is not the man I want to be.
Sighing, I release her from my grip and spin her around so she can look at me while I plant my hands on the tablebeside her, so it’s still impossible to escape me and my wrath.
“You’re making it really hard for me to like you. You know that, right?”
“You think I care?” she replies.
“You should. You’re in my house now. You live under my rules. And you need to learn how to behave.”
“Fuck you,” she spits back. “No one can control me.”
“Is that so?”
I slowly push closer until her legs are parted and I’m between them. She shudders as she leans back while my hand reaches up to her face to caress her cheeks, and I can feel the goose bumps appearing underneath.
“You’re my wife now, for better or for worse. Whether you want to be or not, we’re married. And husband and wives don’t lie to each other. So tell me, Tesoro, did you try to poison me?”
“Yes,” she hisses through her teeth. “And I’d do it again.”
So brazen, so damn sexy.
I snort. “I’m impressed. I like a girl with spite.”
“And I like a Mafia don who’s dead,” she quips.
