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“I thought Catholics didn’t believe in abortion?”
Luca frowns. “There are—other concerns that take precedence over any religious ones. But that’s not your concern. Nor is it something you’ll need to worry about.” He taps the paper. “That’s something else. Father Donahue said that you were baptized, but never confirmed in the church?”
“Um—no. I was baptized as an infant, and took first communion, but my father died before I was confirmed. And my mother only converted for marriage, she grew up Russian Orthodox, so—”
Luca waves his hand, cutting me off. “Father Donahue will expedite that, then.”
“But I think there’s a process—”
I can see the irritation plainly on Luca’s face. “Father Donahue knows the family well, and he knewyourfather well, also. He’ll do what we ask.” Luca rubs one hand over his mouth, and I see a hint of exhaustion in his eyes. “There’s no delaying this, Sofia. The wedding will be Saturday.”
“Is there anything else in the document I should know about?”
Luca shakes his head.
“Did you includemystipulations?”
“Sofia—” The warning in Luca’s voice is clear.
“So the contract has everything you demand, but nothing that I—”
Luca slams one hand down on the table, getting to his feet so quickly that I flinch backwards and almost topple the chair. “My agreeing to yourconditionsis nothing but me being a merciful husband, Sofia. I don’thaveto agree to anything. One phone call, and you are dead! Do you understand me? So instead of insisting that I have all of this typed up again to suit your desires, you’re just going to have to trust me.” His jaw is clenched as he leans over me, his green eyes blazing. “Or you can tell me that’s impossible, and I’ll call Don Rossi and let him know the marriage is off. It’s your choice, my lovelybride.”
He hisses the last word, and I can see in that moment the toll that this is taking on him. I don’t feel sorry for him, not even a little bit, but my heart is racing as I look up at his chiseled face, at his green eyes blazing like emeralds, his gaze hard as flint. He reaches out, a hand on either side of the back of my chair, and looms over me.
“I could demand anything I want of you,” he murmurs, his voice dropping an octave, low and deep. I feel it shiver over my skin despite myself. “I could demand your body, your submission, every part of you given to me without question, in exchange for your life. But despite the man I am that disgusts you so, despite the blood on my hands, I won’t. Do you know why, Sofia?”
“No,” I whisper. I’m shaking like a leaf, but my skin is humming with something I’ve never felt before, some electric sensation traveling over me until it feels as if every hair on my body is standing up. Luca’s full lips are hovering over mine, every inch of him rigid with anger, and I know without a doubt that if I reached down, I’d find him as hard as he’d been last night. There’s something between us that I don’t understand, some chemistry in our undeniable hatred of each other, and a twisted part of me wants to arch upwards, to press my lips against his and wrap my arms around his neck, bringing him down to me until we topple onto the gleaming wooden floor of the dining room together.
Luca stays very still over me, his gaze fixed on mine. “Because I’ve committed a great many sins in my life, Sofia, many of them mortal. But I’ve never forced myself on a woman. I’ve never taken one who didn’t want me.”
He pushes himself away from my chair then, his jaw still clenched. “And I’m not about to start with my wife.”
My hands are shaking. I’m not sure if I can even manage to sign the papers, but Luca shoves them towards me. “Oh,” he says coldly. “There is one more thing.”
“What?” I try to stop my voice from trembling, but I can’t.
“Your hair color. I don’t care what it costs, or what a stylist has to do, but that ghastly dye will be out of your hair by Friday, and you’ll be as close to your natural color as she can manage. It looks ridiculous on you.” He spits the last words out, sitting back down in his chair. “I’ll have my secretary send a stylist up tomorrow. And when we’re finished here, someone will be coming with a new wardrobe for you, something that doesn’t make you look like a whore.”
I know that he’s being intentionally cruel, undercutting the desire of a few moments ago with anger instead. But it doesn’t make the words hurt any less. Nothing he says should hurt me, but it does, nonetheless.
The sooner you can get this over with then, the better. Soon, you’ll hardly even have to see him.
Letting out a long breath, I reach for the pen.
* * *
An hour later,I’m standing in one of the guest bedrooms in the penthouse, looking at an array of clothing, undergarments, shoes and jewelry scattered across the bed. There’s a garment rack with more clothing against the wall. It’s the most overwhelming display of wealth I’ve ever seen in one place, because every single item has a designer tag.
I’m still reeling from the paperwork. In the end, none of it had been anything that I could find a reason to argue about. The part in the marriage agreement about children had bothered me, but as Luca had pointed out, since I was insisting that I would remain a virgin—what was there to worry about? And evenifI changed my mind, or he changed his and forced the issue, would I really want to have a child with him? Or would I want to take care ofthatparticular problem as soon as possible?
I’d never thought it would be something I’d even consider. But the thought of giving Luca a child sends a shudder through me, and not a good one. I can’t imagine raising a child in this life—after all, my father had hoped thatIwould escape it for exactly that reason.All the more reason to stay out of his bed,I tell myself, running my fingers over a silk shirt. If I don’t sleep with him, it’s not even a possibility.
The rest of it was just standard prenuptial agreements—nothing that I hadn’t expected, and nothing that I took issue with. I don’t want Luca’s money, or his property. I don’t even want this marriage, and he’s made it clear that there’s no way out. And if Idomanage to exploit the tiny loophole I think I’ve found, I won’t be stopping to try to take half of his possessions in court.
I’ll be running for my life.
“Mr. Romano was very insistent that you should pick anything you like,” the prim blonde woman standing off to the side tells me. The bedroom that we’re in is more like a hotel suite, with a massive king-sized bed, a wardrobe, dresser,anda walk-in closet, and a fireplace with two wing chairs in front of it. I haven’t even explored the bathroom yet, but just a glimpse of it told me that it’s as big as my entire bedroom in my own apartment.
