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I draw in a sharp breath. "You don’t have to always live up to your persona of an alphahole, you know."
He doesn’t reply.
"I overheard the two of you speaking, and I tend to agree with what he said. You can’t be hunting down the idiots who kidnapped me and managed to knock you out and haul you into that room on your own."
"No one asked for your opinion," he drawls.
"I am your wife-to-be," I retort.
He lowers his voice, "Fakewife-to-be."
"What you did earlier didn’t seem very fake to me." I lower my voice to match his, "What were you thinking, carrying me down the steps from the aircraft, anyway?"
"Trying to make an impression." He glances over to where Massimo is driving.
"You may have overdone it," I whisper. "Everyone’s going to know you were overcompensating for the situation."
"You don’t know us Sovranos. We’re given to grand gestures," he mutters under his breath. "I needed to pull out all the stops so I could distract them enough that they would look beyond what was in front of their eyes."
"Don’t overdo it, else it will be too obvious what we’re up to," I reply in a low tone.
"If I didn’t know better, I’d think you want this little charade to work." His lips twist and a pulse of heat flares to life low in my belly. Oh, my heart! That smirk of his is so wicked, it’s surely going to push me to do something illegal. Like crawling into his lap and licking his lips so I can taste the meanness that seems to cling to his every word.
"Of course I want this charade to work. You brought me back to Palermo in time for my premiere, haven’t you? It’s time for me to keep up my end of the bargain." I cover my mouth with my hand and cough. "At least, for now."
"I heard that." His grin widens. "You like to live dangerously, don’t you, Angel."
"I wish you wouldn’t call me that. Also, I think we’re going the wrong way." I lean over and tap Massimo on his shoulder. "My home is to the left. I think you need to double back."
Massimo glances at the mirror and meets Luca’s eyes. Something passes between them.
"No mistake." Luca tilts his head. "You’re coming to my place."
"What? Your place? But we aren’t even married."
"Relax. I’m not going to jump you. But whoever took you is still out there. It’s safer if you stay with me. I have round-the-clock protection."
I bite the inside of my cheek. "This isn’t something you mentioned earlier. I’d prefer to stay at my place."
"Out of the question," he says in a casual tone, as if it’s not my life he’s talking about, but some business transaction he’s negotiating.
"You can’t tell me what to do."
"Think again, baby. You’re marrying theCapoof the Sovrano family; from here on out, your life is mine."
"Is that so?" I tip up my chin. "I may have agreed to help you out. Doesn’t mean I’m going to agree to everything you suggest."
"You’re coming with me. End of discussion." He pulls out his phone, the one Karina handed him, and begins to type out something on it. What the— he’s ignoring me? Well, I’ll show him what happens when he snubs me.
I roll down my window, lean over, grab his phone and fling it out, then roll up the window again. I lean back, fold my hands in my lap.
There’s not a peep from him. No movement, except the waves of anger that radiate in my direction from him. I stare straight ahead through the windshield. Massimo glances at us in the rearview mirror, then goes back to driving.
The tension between Luca and me spikes. His entire body is motionless, but there’s no mistaking the tension trapped in those coiled muscles. It feels like the Hulk gathering himself, pulling on all his internal stress and agitation and anxiety before he explodes.
My mouth dries. Sweat gathers in the hollows of my underarms. I risk a sideways glance, and his blue gaze instantly latches onto mine. In the depths of his eyes, silver sparks blaze. It’s like he’s eating me up with his stare. The car goes over a speed bump and I slide closer to him. Without taking his gaze off of mine, he reaches over and clamps his fingers around the nape of my neck. "You shouldn’t have done that."
His cold, hard voice scrapes over my sensitized nerve endings. His blue gaze intensifies, until it feels like they are chips of ice so dark they’re almost black. His fingers are so long, they meet around my throat. He presses his thumb into the hollow of my neck, and I can feel my pulse jackhammer against his touch.
