I swallowed. Then ruined the moment. Because I was Aurora Ventura. And emotional vulnerability lasted approximately three seconds.
"Your secret is that you're sentimental?” I teased.
His expression flattened. "That wasn't the conclusion."
"It absolutely was. You wear your dead brother's watch,” I snapped. “You built an entire emotional support estate. You kidnapped a bride."
His eyes narrowed. I pointed triumphantly. "Exactly."
A long silence followed. Santino laughed. A real laugh. Deep. Warm. Unexpected. And for one impossible second... The grief disappeared. The Devil disappeared. The kidnapper disappeared. And all I saw was a man laughing at something stupid.
Which might have been the most dangerous thing I'd witnessed all day. The laugh faded slowly. Not all at once. Piece by piece. Until the room settled back into quiet. Rain battered the glass walls. The storm raged beyond the cliffs. And somehow the space between us felt different now. More dangerous.
Not because we'd argued. Not because we'd stopped arguing. Because for the first time since the cathedral, we'd accidentally been honest. I hated it.
Santino leaned against the desk. Arms folded. Watching me. Always watching me. Then a familiar look appeared in his eyes. My stomach sank. "I know that look."
"You know all my looks now?" he teased.
"I know the annoying ones, so yes,” I said.
"That narrows it down considerably."
I pointed at him. "The smugness is there again."
His mouth twitched. I sighed dramatically. "What's wrong with you?"
"That's a very broad question."
I groaned. Then he pushed away from the desk. Slowly reached into his pocket. And pulled something out.
Nestled in his palm sat a pair of diamond earrings. Breathtakingly beautiful and absurdly expensive. Each one featured a large flawless central diamond surrounded by smaller stones that caught the light like captured stars. They screamed old money danger and obsession all at once.
Santino watched me closely his expression unreadable.
"These were my mother’s," he said voice low and rough. "She wore them the night she married my father. Angelo and I usedto fight over who would get to give them to our future wives someday." A ghost of a smile touched his lips but it didn’t reach his eyes. "He lost that argument the day he died."
My throat went dry. "Santino…"
He stepped closer. The storm outside seemed to quiet as the space between us shrank. "I don’t believe in much anymore Aurora. But I believe in giving something that matters to someone who matters."
My heart slammed against my ribs. This wasn’t just a gift. It was a claim. A piece of his fractured past being placed into my hands.
He reached out slow enough that I could pull away if I wanted. I didn’t.
His fingers brushed my hair back from my ear with surprising gentleness. The rough pads of his fingertips grazed my skin sending a shiver racing straight down my spine. He leaned in so close I could smell his cologne feel the heat of his body cutting through the chill of the storm. His breath fanned hot across my neck as he carefully fastened the first earring.
The diamond felt heavy. Cold at first then warming against my skin like it belonged there.
"Beautiful," he murmured more to himself than to me. His thumb traced the shell of my ear lingering. "But they look better on you."
My pulse thundered wildly. I hated how my body reacted to him. The way liquid heat pooled low in my stomach. The way my breath grew shallow and needy. He moved to the other ear even slower this time like he was savoring every second. His body caged mine against the desk without quite touching me. Every inch of me was hyper aware of him the hard lines of his chest so close the scent of him wrapping around me like smoke.
When the second earring was secured he didn’t step back. Instead he tilted my chin up with two fingers forcing my eyes to meet his. Dark. Intense. Possessive.
"They suit you," he said voice dropping into that dangerous register that made my knees weak. "Diamonds and defiance. My favorite fucking combination."
I swallowed hard trying to ignore the way my skin burned where he touched me. The way my nipples tightened against my dress. The way I ached for more. "You can’t just… give me something like this."
