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The lies. The hatred. The guilt.
“We need to talk.” I abruptly stood. All eyes were on me as I walked around the table. The fear on her face gave way to confusion as I grasped her arm and lifted her from the chair.
“Be right back.” My smile was tight as I dragged her from the room. I summoned all the control I had. I didn’t want to hurt her or scare her, but I couldn’t sit in that room for another goddamn second.
Watching as she slowly deflated. As she drowned in fear and worry. I might be a fucking monster, but it was too much for me. My cousins wanted this alliance with the Gallos, but I couldn’t do it.
I couldn’t watch the woman I loved marry another man. Not again.
My chest stuttered with an unsteady breath as I closed my office door behind us. I released her before I lost my goddamn mind. Why did she have to feel this good? Why did I have to feel this way for my brother’s wife?
Jealousy was eating me alive as I slapped my hands down onto the desk, my back to Grace as she stood by the door. I pulled another deep breath into my lungs, trying to steady myself, but it was filled with her scent. Roses with something else. Something that was all her.
My brother’s wife. His Wife.
I repeated the words in my head, hoping they’d stop me from doing something crazy. Like kissing his wife.
Or was she?
My head shot up. I turned to look at her. She was so fucking beautiful. Her pink dress made the blue of her eyes seem deeper. The twist in her hair drew my gaze to her delicate neck and her pounding pulse. Just looking at her made me ache for her sweetness. Her softness that would reflect my harshness.
Grace tilted her head as she examined me. I had no idea what she saw. But when I looked at her, I saw my future.
My brother’s murder had been sudden. We’d never discussed what would happen to Grace with his death. But I knew he loved her. That he’d want her taken care of. Want someone who would give her everything she needed.
At least, that’s what I told myself to relieve this guilt in my chest.
I could do that. I could give her money, power, kids. Love.
I was the only one that could. Because I wasn’t letting her go. I was an asshole wanting what wasn’t mine. But I was bastard enough to take it.
I didn’t care that it was wrong. That she was my brother’s widow. In my soul, she’d always been mine. And it was long past time I made that a reality.
“Marry me instead.” The words shocked us both, but I kept the reaction from my face. I’d made a decision. I was taking what I wanted. What I craved.
“I- I can’t. You’re my brother.” Grace’s brow furrowed. I knew that expression, too; she thought I was crazy. Everyone would think so when I presented this plan.
But it wasn’t a well-crafted idea I was working with, it was instinct. Desire. The all-consuming need to make her mine.
Insane or not, I didn’t care.
Not when it could be the same guilt that was holding her back. Maybe she felt the connection between us. I thought she had that first night. Did she fight it like I did because the guilt was too much?
I pushed off the desk, taking a step closer to her. She took one back. The darkness inside me liked the feel of her being my prey. Of stalking her. I probably was a stalker with how much I watched her over the years.
I knew the exact sound she made when something frustrated her. Knew the scent of her perfume. That she preferred green tea to coffee. I knew every detail of her.
“Brother-in-law, and you’re widowed. I think the connection is severed in death.” I whispered as the tip of my polished shoes met the toe of her high heels.
Her back bumped the door as I placed my palm next to her head. She had nowhere to run. Like me, she had no choice but to confront the electricity between us.
I savored her gasp as her breath caught in her throat. My eyes roamed over her gorgeous features as she tipped her chin up to look at my face. The freckle on her lip screamed at me. I fought the urge to put my mouth right there.
“What would people think?” Her voice was soft, caressing across my skin.
“I don’t really care what they think.” I reached out to grab a strand of her red hair that had fallen from the twist she had it in. For the first time ever, I touched her affectionately. “And neither should you. If you want to get married, if you want a child, you’ll marry me.”
I rubbed her silky hair between my fingers, stifling a groan that wanted to escape my chest. Shit. This slight touch and I was losing it. She was so goddamn soft pressed against me. So sweet. She was everything.
