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Francesca scoffed in disdain, as if remembering the way we almost consumed each other against that damn tree was an unpleasant ordeal. “I’m sorry if I bruised that fragile man-ego of yours by not sleeping with you. You’ll just have to find someone else who’s willing to lower their standards enough. Happy hunting.”
“Cute. We both know that’s a bunch of bullshit.” I leaned down, setting my lips on her ear because my words were for her alone. “I could have fucked you in the middle of those woods if I wanted to, and we both know that you’d be begging for more by the end.” I pulled back to a safe distance. Her scent was too reviving of the taste of her perfect lips, and I was craving seconds. “I never thought you’d be the umm… I can’t call you a gold digger because the Amatos do have their wealth.” I stretched my hand out, waiting for her to take it in a silent invitation for a dance. “Are you going to refuse a dance with your future brother-in-law?” Fuck, those words cut my tongue on their way out.
Francesca reluctantly placed her hand in mine, and I pulled her body flush against me before continuing my previous thought. “Maybe… status leech?”
Finding out that she was the mafia princess my brother was forced to marry was like a nefarious joke. I’d been thinking about the woman at the shooting range more than I’d like to admit, knowing I’d probably never see her again. And then, just like that, she falls into my lap. I mean, Liam’s.
It shouldn’t bother me, but for some strange reason, it did, and I craved to punish her for it.
“Wow! Spoken like a real gentleman. Again.”
“Oh, Honey, there’s absolutely nothing gentle about me.” I smiled, even though what I truly wanted was to bite into her flesh, just like my fingers were at the moment.
“That sounded incredibly like gloating. I might not have explained myself correctly. Disregarding the fact that you just called me a whore, twice, without knowing the first thing about me, I was calling you ignorant, just like every one of your fellow Made Men. Somehow, you men made the damn deal and shook on it, while I’m the one condemned to live out the sentence, but I’m still the status whore. Be careful, Mr. Battaglia. Your misogyny is showing.”
“You want me to believe that this arrangement, to marry into one of the most powerful cosche in the entire country, doesn’t suit a little mafia princess like you?”
“Your brother could be the damn king of the underworld, and I’d still refuse to marry him if I had a choice. But you and I both know that women in this little men’s world only have a voice when it’s complacent with your needs.”
I looked at her for a moment while we swirled around the dance floor, searching for a crack in that lie, but Francesca held her shoulders squared and her head high. Her breaths had remained steady, her nose flared in disgust. Nothing in her expression gave away that she was playing me.
“It’s hard to believe that’s true.”
“Believe whatever you want, Matt. It doesn’t matter anyway, does it? My life will never be entirely mine, so who cares what I am? As long as I serve your purpose, it doesn’t matter what or who I am.” Her tone had nosedived from carefully crafted and rehearsed to blunt and even hurt.
Somehow it made me believe her, and I wanted to kick myself in the nuts for being such an asshole.
“So if we were to cancel this whole deal right here and now, you wouldn’t go crying to your dear uncle?”
“I’d take the win like the prize of the century and leave this hideous city the next second.” Her reply came quickly and unwavering, and that fact alone was more than enough to appease me. She wasn’t at all what I pegged her to be.
There was a strange relief at the notion, and all of a sudden, all I wanted was to keep her here, dancing with me, and not allow her to leave like she’d suggested.
“What? And let that dress go to waste?”
“Maybe I’d find someone who thinks it looks better on the floor. Celebrate my freedom. That’s what whores do, right?” She shrugged as if it was no big deal, but that fucking image left a trail of fire in my veins.
“No, you’re not a whore. I’m just bitter as fuck because you’re promised to my brother and decided to take it out on you.” The truth slipped through my lips without permission. “Either way, it’s a good thing it’s hypothetical if that’s what you’d do.” I tried my best to say without gritting my teeth in anger, but my hands had a different perception of control.
The one on her back slid down a few inches, bordering on a dangerous curve that I so badly wanted to explore, while the other squeezed her fingers possessively.
If Francesca was playing me, she was damn good at it, but the way her breath quickened with each inch my hand descended showed me that everything she had said up until now was the truth. She would be able to mask her reaction to my intruding touch if it were otherwise. Because more than being labeled as a status whore, this truth, allowing me to see and feel how much her body responded to my touch, was a much more valuable card to hide.
“The deal being off, you mean. As for the rest…” Francesca swallowed hard after speaking, as if she was pulling back words that threatened to leave her throat upon impulse.
My fingers curled around the loose fabric of her dress, fisting it tightly while crushing Francesca’s body further into mine, hoping they would both fucking mold into each other. Her breathy moan in response had my cock twitching into a semi-hard as I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled the most incredible scent of French perfume and trouble.
“You’re not going to find anyone, Francesca,” I grunted into her ear while red hot spots clouded my vision in jealousy. “He’s already found you.”
Jesus fuck, what was it about this woman that had me in a damn chokehold ever since I first saw her?
Before she could reply, all Hell broke loose. I heard Liam yelling at the top of his lungs while some of our soldati ran towards the back of the hall.
“Stay here. I’ve got two men with eyes on you. I’ll be back.” It came out as a threat, but it was meant to be protective.
That commotion in the back pulled me away from her, and while I wanted nothing more than to make good on my words, I didn’t think Francesca would be so keen after what I had called her.
Hearing Liam’s shouts from the corridor buried in the back had me quickly recovering from the haze Francesca had me in. I ran towards him, only to peel him off a bloodied man with half a ticket to Hell already.
