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“I could see it. My compliment made you uncomfortable, didn’t it?”
I nod. Whisper, “A little.”
His mouth at my ear makes me shiver. “I could do lots of things that would make you squirm, bella.” I gasp when he nips my ear. “You’re a natural, you know that?”
I shake my head. “Natural? Natural what?”
“Submissive.”
Submissive. Oh.
Oh God. That makes him… the dominant one.
“We’d do well together, you know.” He kneads the back of my head. “I’d make your body sing, sweetheart.” Then his grip tightens to painful, and he tugs my hair. I hold my breath when his lips touch my cheek. “Don’t do it again, Vittoria. When I give you a command, you obey.”
There’s a latent threat in his tone that makes my sex pulse. That makes me want to push him, to defy him, to see what he’d do. My skin burns where he kissed, and I unconsciously lean closer to him.
He releases me, and I nearly stumble, but he steadies me with his hand under my elbow. “You’ll come with me to breakfast.”
What will his brothers think? I don’t answer, my mind buzzing with questions and possibilities.
Voices come from downstairs amidst the clinking of glasses and dishes.
“Rome. Torri.” Mario stands at the foot of the spiral staircase and grins.
“Ah, yeah, don’t call me that, Mar, okay?”
He winces, and Romeo chuckles. Oh God, it’s the first time I’ve heard him laugh, all manly and deep and throaty, and it makes me want to make him laugh again.
Mario holds his hands up. “Oof. Mar. Yeah, I can remember that.” I don’t miss the way he looks from me to Romeo, then back again. “Papa’s in rare form, man,” he says under his breath.
Shit.
Romeo nods, then reaches for my hand and pulls me to his side.
“Listen to me, Vittoria,” he says in a low voice as the front door opens and Tavi comes in with Orlando. They both jerk their chins at us in greeting but walk past us to the dining room. Orlando’s gaze lingers a fraction of a second longer than Tavi’s, but neither stay long. Neither tries to get my attention.
They know Romeo wants me.
Will any of them try to marry me, like he will? Do any of them want to ascend the throne as badly as Romeo?
A glass crashes in the dining room, and Romeo says something under his breath in Italian.
“Hundred bucks says that was another food fight.” He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “I’ll beat the shit out of them.”
Oookay.
In the early morning light, the Great Hall’s lit up with brilliant beams of sun reflecting on the glass chandeliers, the flags hanging from the ceiling like a stately garland, but no one’s here. We head to the dining room instead.
No one comes to greet us when we enter, but it’s as if the whole room pauses for a fraction of a second before they resume their chatter.
Marialena and Rosa look my way.
“Uncle Romeo!” I start when a little ball of pink comes hurtling toward us and tackles Romeo at the knees. He’s ready for it, though, bracing and gathering her up in his arms. “Mama said you were here.”
Mama? She called him Uncle. Rosa’s daughter?
A pretty little thing with the same vivid blue eyes as her mother peers over Romeo’s shoulder. The man already had sex appeal written in every cell of his body. Great. Now that he’s holding a child, those massive, muscled arms of his wrapped around the little girl as he smiles at her, my ovaries begin to play a violin.
“Natalia,” he says warmly, clearly pleased at seeing her. “Your mama said you were here, but I haven’t seen you yet.”
She looks over his shoulder at me, her eyes wide in surprise. “Probably because you’re dating a princess?”
“A princess?” I say with a laugh. “You’re now officially my favorite person here, Natalia. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Vittoria.”
Romeo sets her down on the floor. “She looks like a princess, doesn’t she?”
Oh no he doesn’t.
“There you are.” A young woman who looks like she’s fresh out of college, her hair in a messy ponytail and with glasses perched on her nose, reaches us. When she sees Romeo, she stops short. Her brows rise comically high, and she snatches Natalia’s hand.
“So sorry, Mr. Rossi,” she stammers. “I—I turned my back for one minute, and she was gone.” She looks sternly at Natalia. “You were supposed to stay with me. She didn’t sleep a wink, sir, and the jet lag has her all hyped up.”
“Natalia! Give Uncle Tavi a hug, baby.” Tavi grins at her, kneels on one knee, and she throws herself at him.
He looks up at the nanny. “Thank you for watching her last night. I was whipped.”
She flushes bright pink and stammers, “Oh, no problem at all, sir. Anything you want.”
