The maid bowed and blushed, calling himpadrinoseveral times—and making me brutally aware that every single person on this island was at his beck and call… No wonder he expected me to be at his beck and call, too. That he hadn’t refused my request, though, felt huge.
‘Gabriella will show you to one of the guest suites…for tonight,’ he announced.
‘Thank you,’ I murmured, grateful for the respite, at least until the morning.
When she went to lead me away, though, he grasped my wrist and tugged me back to face him. ‘A domani, Mia,’ he said, sweeping his thumb over my rampaging pulse.
Until tomorrow.
I didn’t speak much Italian, but I understood that much.
I could see the challenge in his eyes, hear the warning in his voice, and feel the inevitable surge of awareness, despite my tiredness… His eyes darkened when I nodded and tugged my hand free, and I knew he’d felt it too.
I followed Gabriella to a stunning, lavishly furnished suite with its own terrace. The hazy light of dawn glowed red on the horizon. But as I collapsed onto the bed and sank into oblivion, I was well aware that even if I had won this small battle, I had in no way won the war. Because my sex was already aching with emptiness again—and my emotions were still in uproar.
Chapter Eleven
Vito
‘Don Vito, I am sorry to disturb you, but we have a problem…’
I glanced up from the report I was reading over lunch on the syndicate’s money-laundering operations in Europe, to find the head of my household staff standing on my private terrazzo. Allegra’s flustered expression did not bode well, nor did the panicked look of the girl behind her who had been assigned to care for Mia late last night.
I paid Allegra well because she did not get flustered.
What the fuck has Mia done now?
I slapped the laptop closed and stood up, the familiar punch of temper and awareness flowing through me.
‘What problem, Allegra?’ I demanded, but I could already guess.
I should have known Mia’s subdued behaviour last night after the scan had been a ruse. Why had I trusted her?
‘When Gabriella went to check on the signorina five minutes ago, she was not to be found.’
Annoyance came first, swiftly followed by the hollow feeling in my chest that I despised—and which I had noticed again last night, when Mia had told me of herbastardoof a father with a beseeching look in her eyes.
‘I am so sorry,padrino. I searched everywhere, but there is no sign…’ The girl behind Allegra began to babble, terrified at having displeased me.
‘Va bene.’I held up my hand to cut her off before she became hysterical.
My staff knew I expected their loyalty, always, and that if I gave an order, it must be obeyed. But it was not this girl’s fault Mia had chosen to defy me. Or that she had somehow managed to lull me into believing she would do as she was told from now on.
She had been exhausted and emotional in the doctor’s office. In truth, I had been struggling with a reaction I had not expected myself at the sight of the child growing inside her.My son.The fierce feeling of connection, of protectiveness towards that tiny, defenceless life, and the woman who nurtured it had shocked me. Enough that I had let my control slip and been softer than I should have been with her.
I should not have let her have her own suite last night. But the desire to hold her, to possess her again, to mark her as mine, had been so visceral, I had chosen not to indulge it. I could see she was tired.
The doctor had assured me penetrative sex was perfectly okay—it was one of the reasons I had wanted to have Mia checked before we arrived on the island. I was a big man, and I had been concerned my need for her might hurt the baby. But I had not expected to see the child so clearly in those images.
As we had flown to Isla Donna, though, I had decided it was normal to feel a connection to my own flesh and blood—as I had told her, I was not a monster. But when she had told me of her father, I had let sentiment weaken my resolve. I would not let it happen again.
Yes, my world was dangerous. That was simply a fact of life. And as I had tried to make her understand, to survive in this life—the rewards of which were great—I was prepared to be ruthless.
All that talk about her choices, her freedom, had no place here, and the sooner she accepted that, the better. In this life there was only money, strength, sex and death. Everything else was a luxury I did not care to indulge.
I had loved my mother as a boy, and it had not improved her lot or mine one iota. I had also loved Dante as a brother, but it had not prevented him from attacking me. Nor would it save him when my men captured him.
Mia had chosen to have my child, but it was past time she understood that was where her choices ended.
