“If you’re still thinking of running, don’t.” My voice was low and steady despite the storm beneath it. “I will find you, and I won’t be gentle when I bring you back.”
Her body shuddered. Heat flared where our bodies met, sharp and unmistakable. My thumb brushed deliberately along her skull.
I felt her swallow. There was a tremor she couldn’t hide. The music crested, a perfect cue, and I tilted my head.
I didn’t give her time to prepare for it.
One second her breath was warm against my jaw, the next my mouth crashed down on hers.
The kiss was hunger. Our teeth grazed first, a warning before I took more. Her lips parted for a sharp inhale, and I seized the opening, tasting the peppermint, her nerves, and something sweeter underneath. She made a small, startled sound that vibrated straight into my chest.
I felt it everywhere.
My balls were heavy, and my dick ached to sink into her. To feel her warmth flush against me. That body would yield as it did now.
That did something vicious to me. I broke the kiss to whisper against her lips, “Fight me all you want, Gabriella, your body already knows who it belongs to.”
Her pulse fluttered wildly beneath my palm. I stroked the vein in her neck with my thumb, pressing on it in the smallest warning. Not giving her a chance to respond, I covered her mouth with mine again. As I inhaled her, the ballroom ceased to exist. There was only her mouth, her breath, the way she trembled when I deepened the kiss. I tilted my head, angling her where I wanted her, and she followed—too easily. Her fingers fisted in my jacket, nails scraping lightly, not pushing me away.
She fucking clung to me.
The knowledge that she wanted this as badly as I did turned me savage.
My gloved fingers dug harder into her back, anchoring her there as I cradled her head and kissed her like I meant to devour the lie she’d wrapped herself in. Like I wanted the truth of her—fear, fire, defiance—all of it bared for me alone. I felt the heatof her desire, felt the soft give of her mouth as she responded despite herself.
Applause roared around us. For the first time all bleeding day, both sides came to an agreement. Their voices rose in unison at the crass display.
I broke the kiss only when I had to, when the need to breathe outweighed the urge to take more. My lips lingered near her mouth, and my forehead nearly brushed hers. I stared at her.
Her eyes were dark now, molten honey and full of a temptation I was powerless to resist.
Something feral settled in my bones. We were only staying for supper, because my little bride needed the sustenance for what was to come.
Chapter 14 – Liam
The meal was seven bleeding courses.
It was Deluca’s way to show respect to his don with the added bonus of impressing my father. But the boss of the McDonagh Clan didn’t look impressed. No, Da looked…exhausted. His smile was thin. Those strong hands shook as he held his fork. The food? He’d barely picked at it.
He’s just drunk.
But I hadn’t counted how many glasses of wine he’d had. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen him with a whiskey this whole fucking time.
Shite.
I cut a look to my mother. Her smile drooped. She cocked her head to listen to something Signora Morelli said, but her gaze kept shifting back to Da.
She was worried.
That was a knife straight to my gut.
Da started some kind of immunotherapy this week. I hadn’t gone with to the hospital. Part of me still thought it was somegrand joke, and I didn’t have time to accompany my parents to hear the punchline.
This week.
This week I would go to the appointment and see if this illness was real.
I’d wracked my brains trying to come up with a reason why they would fake something like this. The only thing that made sense was to put me in the top position of authority, make me rule, while they watched. Then they would come back with notes on how to do it better.
