“Not so bad. I feel like I should be offended.” But he doesn’t look offended.
“You haven’t been brutish, possessive?—”
“That’s your mistake, because once we’re married, you’re mine. You’d be wise not to forget that.”
I know I should find those words offensive, yet something about the heat in his eyes has the words flooding my body with heat. Like I want to be possessed.
“You said you’d respect me,” I find the words to remind him.
He nods. “I’ll respect you. I won’t oppress you until you’re a shell of a woman.”
Clearly, he’s met my mother.
“But don’t forget the world you live in.”
I offer a derisive laugh and exit the elevator. “How can I possibly forget when my father, brother, and now you are always there to remind me?”
As I take in the area outside the elevator, I realize we’re on the roof where a lovely garden and twinkling lights give off a romantic atmosphere.
I stop short. “Did you do this?”
“Yes.”
When I turn to him, he looks uncomfortable. Like he’s been caught doing something nice and is embarrassed by it.
I smile at him as I loop my arm through his. “Your form of possession is so much nicer than my father’s.”
“Your brother would kill me for this.”
I sigh, realizing this is just a pissing contest. One that Alessandro is currently winning because he now has me alone in a compromising position.
I remove my arm and walk to the wall and take in the glittering lights of the city. “That would be unfortunate. Perhaps I should save you by returning to him? Or perhaps you want to bring me down again and gloat.”
“Is that what you want?”
I turn to him. “If I’m only here so you can teach my brother a lesson in respect, then yes. I want to return downstairs. If, on the other hand, I’m here because you want to be with me, well,then… ” My breath holds as I wonder if I’m also a pawn in his eyes. If all this effort to get me alone is his way of telling my father and brother they have no power over him.
10
ALESSANDRO
I’m a man who takes calculated risks, but bringing Isabella up here isn’t a calculation.
It’s idiocy.
But in this dangerous game I’m playing with the Vitales, I plan to win.
They’ve offered Isabella to me, and while yes, propriety dictates that I don’t touch her until our wedding night, as far as I’m concerned, she’s mine. The deal is done.
“If I’m only here so you can teach my brother a lesson in respect, then yes. I want to return downstairs. If, on the other hand, I’m here because you want to be with me, well, then… ”
The directness of her question shouldn't surprise me. It's what draws me to her.
What surprises me is how much of an asshole it makes me feel.
She’s right.
When I arranged for this space earlier today, my motivations had been petty.
