“The room’s yours,” I told them with a grin. “Do what you will with your archaic little traditions. I’m taking my wife home.”
One more step and the brother—Luca—blocked my path, his jaw clenched hard enough to crack teeth. GiovanniDiRavello stood beside him, looking like I’d shat in his wine, and I couldn’t be happier about ruining his fucking plans.
“If you hurt my sister…” Luca began.
“As you can see, she’s in one piece. She needs to sleep this off.”
Luca’s eyes flicked to my throat, eyes widening, his nostrils flaring.
“You fed her,” he hissed, furious and possessive, rage shining from his dark eyes.
“I gave your sister what she needed,” I snapped, my gaze landing on Giovanni, the snively little bastard. “You should be thanking me.”
Luca took a step forward, anger rolling off him in waves. “I should tear your throat out, you fucker. If you touched her...” His eyes focused—not on me, but the room behind us, the bloody bed, the rumpled sheets, the crushed rose petals—and he went pale.
I let my fangs slide down, slow and deliberate.
The air thickened.
“You can try.” I leaned in conspiratorially. “But if I’d wanted to hurt her,nipote,you’d be mourning a sister, not glowering at me in a hallway. Now, get the fuck out of my way. I’m taking my wifehome.”
“You’re not taking heranywhere.” The boy stood his ground, the little shit.
“Don’t try me right now, pup. Your sister isn’t some porcelain doll, easily broken.” I turned my evil glare on Giovanni. “I’m not the one who’s kept her weak and sheltered from the world. You want her back, come fucking get her, but be ready for a fight.”
Giovanni put a hand on Luca’s arm, fingers tight. “Now is not the time,” he warned softly. “Your sister is fine, as you can see. We should head back to the palazzo.”
The house was filled with family, soldiers, and half the Draconi Brotherhood. I stalked between them, shirtless, Ember’s weapons stowed in my pocket, until we were outside, where Don Marcello waited, a ruffled-looking Gabriel and pissed-off Nico flanking him like twin bookends.
“Ah,” Marcello scoffed, voice smooth as oil. “The newlyweds grace us with their presence.”
“Would you prefer we’d stayed in bed? Because that can be arranged.” I dragged my nose through Ember’s glorious hair. “In fact, it was all I could do to drag myself away from my beautiful wife.”
Gabriel’s expression turned even colder. Nico was studying me like he was trying to decide where to start carving me apart. I adjusted Emberline in my arms, her eyes drifting open slightly. Fresh blood leaked from the bite on my neck, dripping down my chest, and her nostrils flared, her tongue darted out, like she was remembering how I tasted.
I entertained the very real possibility I might be in over my head.
“Your wife?” Marcello hissed. “A wife you stole from your brother.”
“I claimed what you and Enzo promised me long ago,” I reminded him. “Let’s not rehash the past in the…” I looked up at the still-dark sky. “Not so bright light of day, Father. It only makes you look weak.” I took a breath and let my voice carry so the rest of these bloodsuckers heard.
“The union is sealed; my vow is complete. Speculation about the legitimacy of our marriage is a waste of everyone’s time.”
“He speaks the truth.” Zia Elisabetta conceded, a frown on her face, but even she couldn’t argue with the evidence. “The marriage was consummated by our laws. Their bond is valid.”
Marcello’s gaze scraped over us, searching for cracks in our story. And when he found none, his face… changed.
For a heartbeat, I saw past the iron mask, the ruthlessness, to the male underneath. To the vampire who would do anything to hang onto his title and his power.
“Careful,Padre,” I cautioned over the head of my sleeping wife. “Whatever you are thinking right now, consider having me as your sworn enemy. Imagine the damage I am capable of.”
“I am well aware of the destruction you can wreak, Dante. Very well,” he conceded. “You may have won this round, but remember—accidents happen. Ships sink. Houses burn. Wives… wives sometimes disappear.”
For a moment, I couldn’t see for the rage, couldn’t breathe for the urge to set Ember down and twist my sire’s head off his shoulders and be done with this.
“If anything happens to her,”—my voice came out low and deadly—“if so much as arumorreaches me that you raised a hand against my wifeorher kin, I will not come for you in courts or council rooms. I will come to this island, I will hunt you down like a dog, and Iwillfind you. And when I do, I will show every male here why they used to whisper my name in the pits like a curse.”
Nico flinched.
