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Vinicius casts me a smile and smooths his tie. He knows that for any sane girl the choice is between him and me, and he’s better looking.
But looks are the least of what’s important. I’m the smart choice. Theonlychoice. I’ll have her no matter who gets her in the end, but I want my name on that dotted line.
I wait, eyebrows raised.
“What? You want me to choose now?”
I want to hear who shewouldchoose. It won’t be up to her, but I’d like to hear her say my name before the inevitable happens. It will make the whole business of marrying her less tearful and irritating if she doesn’t need to be forced.
The silence around the table stretches. The ticking of the clock on the wall fills the room.
“I won’t.” Chiara whispers so softly that her lips barely move. She’s staring straight ahead at us.
She dares defyus.
“Answer the question, Chiara,” says Mayor Romano.
My eyes narrow. The only place a woman should put up a fight is in the bedroom. When she’s ordered to do something, she needs to obey without question.
Chiara stands up, her chair scraping on the floor. Her face is flickering with powerful emotions. Without another word, she hurries from the room, her head down.
Mayor Romano starts to get to his feet, but I stand up first, buttoning my jacket. “I’ll talk to her. She just needs some persuading.”
I catch Vinicius’ amused expression and Cassius’ smirk. What? I can seem nice. Of the four of us, I’m the most convincing in that department, assuming the charade doesn’t get dragged out and my patience worn through. Lorenzo twists his knife over his tattooed knuckles, and his eyes burn in the candlelight. His intent is clear. If I don’t bring her to heel, he will.
The house is built around a central courtyard with a huge swimming pool lit up in the darkness. It’s a mansion fit for a Hollywood movie star or Wall Street financier. A mayor shouldn’t be able to afford this. It’s almost as palatial as my own house, which should send alarm bells ringing among Mayor Romano’s constituents, considering my fortune has been built on spilled blood.
I find Chiara in a sitting room, the doors pulled back to let in the warm evening air. The room is dark, but she’s luminous in her white dress. She has her back to me, head down, small fists clenched.
Silently, I come up behind her and stroke my fingers across her bare shoulders. Her skin is warm and smooth and feels electric against my own. “You ran out on your dinner guests, Chiara.”
It takes all my self-control not to slide my hand around her throat and squeeze until she understands never to do such a thing again.
She turns to face me with a gasp, her eyes are huge and troubled. “I wish you’d all leave, please. There’s been a misunderstanding.”
A little child, hiding under her blankets and hoping the monsters will go away. My smile widens. “But I’ve got a present for you.”
Chiara closes her mouth and swallows. “If it’s another kiss I don’t want it.”
No? She might fear me, she might fear us, but she responded the moment I kissed her. Fear and desire twined together. It’s an intoxicating blend.
I step toward her, enjoying how she steps back. This girl is going to make me fight for every inch of her body. I can’t wait.
I take a flat velvet box out of my pocket and open it, revealing the diamond necklace within. It catches the light and sparkles enticingly.
She turns her face away. “No, thank you.”
“It’s your birthday present. I bought it especially for you.” Bought it. Took it from Vinicius as my cut from his last heist. He posed as the pilot of a billionaire’s private plane and held everyone at gunpoint on a remote Venezuelan runway. He needed my international contacts to pay off the airport authorities, and so I got the necklace. I had to wash the blood off, first.
“If I accept your present, I’ll be in your debt like my father is. That’s it, isn’t it? He owes you money and that’s why all this is happening.”
“If your father owed me money, I’d be coming for his blood, not his daughter, and I’d be brandishing guns, not diamond necklaces.”
I move behind Chiara, drape the necklace around her neck and stroke her hair aside. My lips close to her ear, I whisper, “You have a lot to learn about the way the world works. When you marry me, I’ll teach you.”
I fasten the tiny clasp and admire the way the diamonds sparkle against her skin. Chiara has a beautiful, slender throat, and as I lean over her I want to run my tongue over her delicate skin and feel her pulse beating wildly. I imagine her face down on black sheets, naked except for this diamond necklace and completely at my mercy.
“I don’t want anything from you. I don’t want to be in your debt. I feel like you’ll ask for things I won’t want to give you.”
