But how?
Challenging him and his view of me as someone he could make submit to his will was the only way forward now. Because escaping from him—from this whole situation—was next to impossible without his help. Perhaps it had been doomed from the start. His determination to not only claim his child but protect it was something I had not expected, when I should have.
I’d always considered myself pragmatic and practical and smart. To discover I had a side of me that wanted the thrills Vito could offer me was scary enough. But far worse would be giving him control of my safety and security—a man who was about as far as it was possible to get from safe and secure.
But attempting to fight this attraction was a lost cause, because every time he touched me, I responded.
I had to figure out how to make him see me as more than someone to be manipulated and owned. The only problem was, I didn’t know anything about him, other than that he could be totally ruthless…
Perhaps the baby was the key. And understanding whether he had a genuine connection to it, or the baby was just another thing he now considered he owned…like he felt he owned me.
This could just be another power trip for a man who already held all the power in this relationship. Somehow or other I was going to have to find a way to get some power back. And the only hold I seemed to have over him was his hunger for me… Unfortunately, I had absolutely no idea how to use that to my advantage the way he could so effortlessly.
Vito
As I slammed the cabin door and snapped the lock, I was furious.
My cock throbbed—so engorged it felt as if the slightest touch would send me over. The sight of her eyes, round in her expressive face as she’d stared at me, the dark desire in the mossy green telling me she wanted me too, had nearly undone me completely.
How could I control this situation if I could not control myself? I had never been so on edge before, never undone by a woman. But the mound of her pregnancy, the feel of her lush flesh quivering with want as I stroked her thighs, those raw cries as I had licked her to climax.
Dio, I could feast on those sounds, that taste, for the rest of my life. Even though she had done the worst thing she could do to me…tried to keep my child a secret from me. The way my mother had done to my father by running from him as soon as she discovered herself pregnant—and then never finding the courage to escape from the man who had made both our lives a misery.
Had Mia known how close I was to burying myself inside her again?
I raked my fingers through my hair and strapped myself in for the plane’s nighttime descent into the secret airfield I owned on the outskirts of Naples.
Surely my loss of control was just another manifestation of our extraordinary chemistry. Because there was no doubt seeing her slender body round with my baby felt as if I had branded her as mine in the most elemental way possible—and her refusal to accept that, no matter how much she wanted me, had left me feeling raw and angry.
The plane banked over the city, descended towards the airfield, then landed and taxied to a stop. After unsnapping my belt, I strode to the front of the plane and charged down the steps. My men were already gathered, guarding the runway’s perimeter, a line of SUVs waiting to transport us to the heliport at the Naples estate. But I had other business to attend to first. Business I had arranged as soon as the plane had left London.
Lorenzo approached.
‘Is the obstetrician waiting?’ I asked without preamble.
He nodded. ‘Si, padrino.He has been paid an exorbitant sum as you requested to open his surgery tonight. But Gattuso thinks it is too big a risk—he is concerned we have not used Dr Garabaldi before, and Dante is still at large. He suggests you wait until the maternity team you ordered has arrived on Isla Donna.’
My already volatile temper flared. I had no intention of waiting days to have Mia checked over. This wasmychild.
‘Fuck Dante. If he comes anywhere near Mia, I will shoot him myself,’ I said.
‘Gattuso also says that Garabaldi speaks English, and Mia might…’
‘She will do what I say,’ I snapped, losing the last of my patience at Lorenzo’s continued questions. ‘Find her a pair of shoes and escort her to the car. I wish to be on Isla Donna before dawn breaks,’ I added, knowing I could not get her myself or I would lose what was left of my sanity. I was still aroused, and I needed to get that reaction under control before I dealt with her again. Ironic, given that I had intended to use her desire for me against her, but now I was the one on a damn knife edge.
Lorenzo nodded, but before he could carry out my orders, I added, ‘Don’t question my authority again, Lorenzo. And do not restrain her. If she refuses to obey you, call me.’
But as he headed to the plane to collect Mia, I knew it wasn’t his disobedience that was making me so edgy. It was the woman whose scent had haunted my senses for months now, whose safety was now my responsibility. And who refused to do a damn thing I told her. That would have to end, but the way she had looked at me with challenge but also hurt in her eyes had stirred something in my gut that felt dangerous.
Whatever the hell that emotion was, I would not give in to it.
And Mia would accept her new reality…or she would remain tied to my bed until she did.
Chapter Ten
Mia
As the limousinedrove through the nighttime streets of Naples—with Vito brooding on the other side of the car, ignoring me as he sent a series of texts, his thumbs flying over his phone—I had the brutal recollection of the last time I’d been with him in the city. The helicopter ride to his estate, the gun battle at dawn, that feeling of exhilaration, of being more alive and terrified than I had ever been before or since.
