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I wanted to be free. I wanted to enjoy my life as I saw fit and not as others did. I wanted to take my life into my hands and figure out what made me happy—to find what I needed.
To make that happen, I had to get out of here.
Which meant I needed to take down Valentino—or at least give myself a big enough distraction so I could escape. I had to either play to his conscience, or find a way to bring him to his knees so that I could control him somehow.
A man like him would probably recognize the signs of somebody trying to control him. This wouldn’t be easy.
I grasped the railing, and closed my eyes, letting the breeze fall over me.
I was a survivor. I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t going to give up so readily to Valentino or anyone else that came into the picture, especially not if I wanted this life to be mine.
Right now, all I had done was trade whoever was going to be my husband for the mysterious Don Valentino that I knew nothing about. Truth be told, either option would probably have taken on the same course of events as last night.
So where did I stand? What was I dealing with? What could I turn to my advantage?
One, as much he affected me, he was equally—if not more—affectedbyme. Hewantedme last night. The way he filled my mouth and emptied himself down my throat told me everything I needed to know right there.
Two, he didn’t want me to touch him. Now, that was curious. I wanted to say that it was because he wanted that sense of control, to show me how powerless I was. But the way he practically jumped when my fingers brushed his cock.
Almost as if he was about to lose control.
My eyes flew open, and my lips curved in a smile.
Maybe that was the answer.
If I could touch him when he was exposed to me, then that could be the moment where I’d find my chance. The moment where I’d find his weakness.
Would it work?My heart raced with my shuddering breath.Could I make him lose control? Did I reallywanthim to lose control?
My monster purred at the thought, and I felt a flush rise to my cheeks.
What choices did I have?
“You can do this,” I whispered to myself.
Valentino was going to rue the day that he came up against Leda D’Agostino.
And when I was done, I’d put him onhisknees.
Chapter 18
Lucas
Rocco opened the door for me, and I stepped out, my gaze going directly to Leda’s room as I did so. There was business back in New York City that I couldn’t put off any longer, so I had left Leda in the care of the guards.
She, of course, never knew I was gone, and that was how I wanted it. I wanted her to have that measure of uncertainty to keep her in her room until I was ready for her to cross the threshold.
The problem was, she hadn’t strayed far from my mind today. It didn’t help that the client I was meeting with had brought up the fact that I had D’Agostino’s daughter in my grasp, the glee in his eyes now far too common. The rest of the Dons thought that I was going to kill her and make a spectacle out of owning her. And maybe I was.
But it would be on my terms, not anyone else’s.
“She’s been in her room,” Rocco supplied as we walked to the side door of the house. “Hasn’t caused a scene or tried to kill herself by climbing down the balcony again.”
My grin was quick. “I didn’t expect her to have the balls to do so.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Rocco admitted. “She’s not what I would have thought.”
I welcomed the cool air in the house. That was one of the many reasons I had thought about Leda today, and the object of my thoughts disturbed me greatly. I didn’t think about anyone like that, especially not anyone where I could paint a vivid picture of what I wanted to do to her.
