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As she toweled off and I asked from the other room, “Tell me, why do you hate me?”
She looked surprised at my question. “My brother was murdered because of your family.”
“And was I the one to shoot him?”
“No, but your father did.”
“Am I to be judged by the sins of my father? Am I to be guilty for a crime I didn’t commit?”
Bria clearly wasn’t expecting my response. Her eyes widened, and I took advantage of her surprise by taking a step closer to her. Water dripped off of her, and I was ready to pull the towel from her body and go for round two. I wouldn’t get enough of her dripping all over me.
I could swing it before being interrupted for my hourly update. Immediately, her eyes narrowed, and she took a step backward, putting space in between the two of us.
“So, you do think it, then,” she said simply, eyes trained on me as she waited for my next move. I raised an eyebrow at her, confused by what she meant. “You think the death of my brother was both a crime and a sin?”
“Did I say as much?”
“You did.”
“Well, I do think it was a crime,” I told her and watched as her breathing grew relaxed. She would be stupid to trust me, and I doubted her relaxed stance was what that was. She knew who I was, and hot sex wasn’t going to make her suddenly an ally. It was more of a perk at the moment.
“I think it was a crime that your brother was the only casualty.” My words made her take another step back, several emotions running rampant in her eyes. “Had it been me, I would’ve killed your father, exterminated the entire outfit like the pests they are. You call yourself a powerful family…” I scoffed. “You’re nothing but a cocky family whose head grew too big for the body. What my father did, warning you through his actions, was merciful. It’s a mercy that I wouldn’t have extended. We told your family what business could be done in our city, and they thought they could ignore our boundaries. Your father is the one to blame. When he sent out his soldiers and men to take what was ours, he signed the death warrant himself that day. Actions have consequences. You’d be wise to remember that.”
Her fists clenched at her sides, and I could see she was trying to hold in the tears. “You’re a monster.”
“I’m a lot of things, including your fiancé.” I took a few steps towards her, my stride long enough to reach her rather quickly. My hand gripped her chin hard enough that she couldn’t move.
I may not have admitted it, especially to Bria, but the fact that she was already biased towards me was a bit aggravating. To have a wife that looked like her, there would be no denying that I desired her and would want to bring her into my bed. But, how could I do that when she despised me, would all of our intimacy be laced with that underlying anger?
Our moment together today was hot like nothing else, but soon she would be the mother of my children. I would hope she wouldn’t have to raise them while holding a grudge against me. We needed a united front where our children were concerned.
Bria was right, however. I was a monster—but only to an extent. As anybody in this underbelly of the world would attest to. I may have committed murder but only when there was a need for it. I wasn’t a good man, but I wasn’t a rapist either. I wasn’t going to force her into bed with me again. So, for the time being, I would give her time to come to an understanding that her family weren’t the victims here. Her father had sold her to me for protection, with plans of me taking over his operation. Her father was not an innocent man, but I was getting the feeling that she was not an innocent woman either.
“Tell me,” I began, as I walked over to the chair that sat beside my bed area. There was a book lying down on the seat, and I gently picked it up and closed it before placing it on the table. Then I took a seat. I would have offered Bria one, but there was a certain satisfaction in seeing her uncomfortable and not knowing what to do about it. I still held the shirt I had planned to give her to wear. “This marriage, how do you see it and your future going?”
I wanted to know her opinion. The last hour with her had been nothing within the realm of what I’d expected, so the idea of what I had pictured for our marriage was changing.
When she didn’t answer, I began to grow annoyed at her silent games. “Answer me,” I insisted, my voice as gentle as I could make it—although the underlying threat was obvious. “I’m not a patient man, and if you’re going to get in the habit of making me ask for something twice, you will be punished.” I grinned at all the possibilities that brought.
Her fire was something I’d found insanely attractive, if one round of hot sex was all that took to extinguish that, I was going to be very disappointed.
“And you’re going to punish me?” she asked. She should have been afraid of my words, but Bria sounded far from it. There it was, that fire I wanted from her. Her eyes glazed over with it. She sounded a bit skeptical, as if the thought that I would do such a thing hadn’t gone through her mind. If she thought that I wouldn’t hurt her because she was another pretty face with an attitude, or even more, my future wife, then she was wrong. I would have taken her over my knee right then if I felt the need to display my authority over the situation.
“And what of it?”
“What would your father do?”
I raised my eyebrow at her. “And, what do you mean by that?”
Bria looked triumphant, as if she had done something remarkable. “The Romanos value family over all else. It’s always been that way, and everyone knows it.” She cocked her head to the side, a small smirk on her lips. “Once we marry and I take your name, I am your family. Those values now reflect on me, as well. My family is also your family, so if you’re asking me if I think this will work, then, yes. Unless you’re about to change how your family has operated for the last few decades. This marriage will protect my family, the ones remaining after your family slaughtered my brother who was just a child.”
For a moment, I just stared at her before I chuckled. Bria had some qualities about her that I liked. Nobody wanted a dumb or dull wife, and it seemed that I hadn’t gotten one either. She was actually intelligent, and I could picture her, in a formal gown of lace, commanding a room as a queen would, but also standing over the bodies of her enemies, willing to fire a bullet into the brain of any man who dared threaten her.
She was something else. I liked that. It was much better than having someone who did everything I wanted, when I wanted, and allowed me to walk right over them. I had asked for something, and, apparently, she’d seen fit to give it to me.
“You’re right,” I admitted to her. “Once you take my name, your family, and you, are under the protection of the Romano name. But, two things you forgot.” I stood back up. “You’re not a Romano yet, are you? We haven’t married and many of our family haven’t even heard about the engagement. So, if I were to kill you and throw you into a lake, it would really be no harm done.”
Bria’s eyes narrowed into slits, as she looked over me. There was no fear in her eyes, she seemed nothing but calculating, considering what she would do if I threatened her life. How would she handle the situation? Her reactions made me wildly curious as to how she’d gotten the mind of a soldier in the graceful body of a beautiful mafia princess.
