Salvatore moves closer, and I can feel the heat of him now. His scent is strong, and overwhelmingly dangerous.
"Sign it, and your family lives. Comfortable. Safe. Protected. You get to know they're okay."
He crouches down, bringing himself to my eye level, and the proximity makes my heart race for entirely different reasons.
His face is inches from mine. I can see the flecks of gold in his dark eyes. The faint scar bisecting his left eyebrow. The cruel perfection of his mouth.
The same eyes that looked at me in the library like I was interesting. Like I was worth lingering over.
I'd loved that feeling.
I hate that I remember loving it.
"Refuse," he continues, his voice dropping to something almost intimate, "and I'll start collecting your father's debt in pieces." "Your sister plays piano, doesn't she?" His gaze never leaves mine. "It would be unfortunate if she lost the use of her hands."
Tears burn behind my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I won't give him the satisfaction.
"You're a monster," I breathe.
"Yes." He doesn't even blink. "But I'm a monster who keeps his word. Sign that contract, and I swear on my father's grave that your family will be untouchable. No one will hurt them. No one will threaten them. They'll live better than they ever have. But most importantly, the debt will be cleared."
His hand comes up, and I flinch. But he doesn't strike. Just brushes his knuckles along my jawline.
"And what about me?" The question comes out barely audible.
His gaze drops to my mouth, lingers there, then returns to my eyes. Heat flickers there now, dark and dangerous and unmistakable.
"You'll be my wife. You'll live in luxury. You'll want for nothing."
“You mean except my freedom, my peace of mind, and love?”
His thumb strokes along my jaw, and my skin burns where he touches.
He drags his thumb slowly across my upper lip. The touch is light, yet possessive. My breath hitches and he notices.
"Careful, Valentina," he murmurs.
"You look like you want to be kissed."
His thumb traces my lower lip now, and I can barely breathe.
"Once you're my wife, you'll be mine. Completely. Permanently. Your loyalty, your time, your body." He looks down at my body before finishing. "All of it. All of you belong to me."
He leans closer still, until his lips are nearly brushing mine.
"I protect what belongs to me. Viciously. Permanently."
"I need time to think."
"No." His grip on my jaw tightens slightly. Not painful, but firm. Unmistakable. "You'll decide now. Sign or leave and accept the consequences."
I close my eyes. Think of Sofia, my little sister, who just turned nineteen and so full of dreams, still believing the world is beautiful and good.
When we were younger, we moved around a lot. She's too young to remember, but I remember clearly. One state to the next. Small towns, large cities. I could never keep friends because I was in a new school almost every year, and once we moved across the country in the middle of the school year.
I always knew something was wrong, but my parents seemed so... normal. So boring. When I begged not to leave the elementary school I attended in fourth grade because I'd finally made friends, my parents told me my father was in the military and had to move whenever he was reassigned.
So many lies. And I never bothered calling them out.
