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Dear God. What in the hell was I doing?
I waited as the two guests were brought closer, sipping on my wine and acting like the pampered princess I’d learned Maria truly was.
“Ms. Rossi. Mr. Thorn is here.” Leonardo’s voice was deeper, booming more than normal. I could almost smell the testosterone in the room.
I turned around slowly, doing what I’d seen Maria do countless times, giving the man a solid onceover while acting as if I was bored to death, even irritated he’d bothered me.
Unfortunately, I didn’t need to gather a glance at my nipples to know they were betraying me, my hardened buds poking through the thin material from extreme arousal. I was momentarily at a loss for words, forced even in tall heels to lift my head to be able to look him in the eyes.
“Mr. Thorn. How good of you to come.” I offered my hand, curious as to what he’d do. Whether Maria had men kiss her hand or shake we hadn’t gone over but some aspects of my role would be all me.
He accepted the handshake, a slight hint of amusement crossing his face. “Ms. Rossi. How good of you to come to America.” He was even more surprised when my handshake was almost as firm as a man’s. It was something I’d learned to do a long time ago.
“Leonardo, would you be so kind as to offer our guests drinks?” I asked, trying not to glance toward the man. That had been something I’d been taught and reminded of more than once. Thankfully, Maria hadn’t acted as if Leonardo was nothing but an employee while in privacy. I’d found more redeeming qualities in her than I’d originally thought.
“Of course. Gentlemen, what will you have?”
“I’ll have what my fiancée is having,” Daniel said. He held out his hand, a velvet box in it.
“What is that?”
“A gift.”
I shrugged as if I didn’t care about it in the least. That’s what Maria would do. He chuckled, tossing it on the closest credenza. “Have it your way.”
While I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, I had a feeling the muscular, perfectly chiseled man with bedroom eyes to die for was merely testing me.
Leonardo refused to take his eyes off me as he poured a glass for Daniel, ignoring the other soldier standing in the room, the unknown man carrying a smirk as if he already knew this was nothing but a ruse.
I felt so out of control my legs were shaking and as Daniel approached, I held my breath for fear of giving away anything, including the electrified attraction that had already gone screaming through every cell in my body.
The way he didn’t blink and the fact his jaw remained clenched were two reasons beads of perspiration were tickling both sides of my face. Barely two seconds later and he noticed one rolling ever so slowly down my cheek. When he slipped his finger through it, lifting his arm and staring at the salty bead, I was certain the game was finished.
But as he eased his finger into his mouth, sucking fervently, I was certain everyone in the room could sense the situation was ready to explode. The slight growl he issued kept me on edge, my heart thudding in my chest.
The sucking sounds he made as if savoring the only libation capable of quenching his thirst made me so sick to my stomach, I almost raced into the bathroom. But I stood my ground, giving him the same cold, hard glare that he was giving to me. We didn’t need to like each other. We certainly didn’t need to consider ourselves lovers.
We just needed to pretend that what we shared was real so that everyone else believed it.
“Who are you, Maria Rossi?” he asked, which caught me by surprise.
“I’m a woman required to remain loyal to my family, to do the right thing. And who are you?”
“A very bad man.”
“Is that a warning to stay clear of you?”
He laughed as Leonardo placed a glass in his hand. “It’s merely a promise.”
“I’ll take that under advisement. I only hope you understand you will never be someone I can fall in love with.”
My conviction sounded reasonable and certainly was something I would expect to come out of the real Maria’s mouth. I added a sexy yet coy smile after issuing the words before hiding behind my glass of cabernet, slowly taking a sip. When a single drop of the expensive wine trickled past my lips, he closed the distance, crowding my space with his massive, overheated, and completely electrified body and I found myself swooning.
As he’d done before, he slipped his index finger through the dark liquid, only this time shoving his thick digit into my mouth.
I was so shocked a slight moan rushed up from my throat, my knees now knocking. No. He wasn’t going to frighten or deter me no matter how much he attempted to break me. Fuck him. I already hated the man because of his attitude alone. Instead of spitting out the disgusting intrusion, his finger tasting of cigar smoke, I sucked on it fervently, making all the gloriously disgusting yet sensual sounds that were possible.
There was no doubt the other two men in the room was entranced by our tête-à-tête, which I found amusing. And Daniel’s eyes were open wide, his chest heaving from the wickedness of my actions.
