AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The dream comes back viciously. I see fire. I feel the flames of it licking my skin. I hear her cries against my shoulder; I feel her shaking in my arms. My palm flares with the memory of pain. I flinch and my breath chokes.
“Micheal?”
I pull away from her. My chest is heaving with breath. My blood is pounding like a drum.
“Micheal, what—”
“Where did you get that?” I choke.
There’s no mistaking it. It’s too ornate and too detailed in craftsmanship to be anything but one of a kind. And I know the design by heart. I’ve looked at it every day for ten years, etched in the scars on my palm.
My eyes snap to her. My reality pauses. It can’t be true. But I know it is.
“My locket?”
I nod dumbly.
Katrina shrugs. “My parents. I’ve had it for years.” She frowns. “Is everything okay…?”
“No,” I choke. I back away from her. “No, it’s not—”
There’s a heavy knock at the door. Katrina gasps and slides off the vanity. She quickly shoves her dress back down, smoothing it as she turns away from me. I’m still numb. But I turn as I fix my tie. I push my hair back and glare at the door.
“What!”
“Mr. Genovese?”
Shit. It’s Dominic again.
“What is it?” I snap.
“I’m sorry Mr. Genovese, but Don Salvestro is looking for you. He’s anxious to start.”
“We’ll be…” I growl to myself. “I’ll be right there.”
I hear Dominic leaving. I turn to Katrina to see her trembling, blushing deeply. But she’s also looking at me curiously while she laces up her gown.
“Micheal, I don’t understand.”
This was fucked up before. It was scandalous and unseemly when she was merely a woman twenty years younger than me, being forced to marry me. But I know who she is now. I remember the girl from the fire.
The girl. Not the woman. Thegirl.Suddenly, this isn’t just scandalous. It’s not just unseemly. It’s indecent. This is vulgar.
“Micheal, I don’t… did I do something?”
I shake my head slowly. I’m numb as I stare at her. “No.”
“Then what?” She sounds hurt. “I don’t understand what—”
“This,” I snarl. I jab my hand out, palm up. “This is what’s fucking wrong, Katrina.”
She looks down at the burn scars on my palm. She frowns. But then it hits her. Oh and it hits her hard. She balks. Her mouth falls open and her eyes widen. She slowly drags her gaze up to mine. Her eyes are so wide, and her face is pale.
“You…”
I turn, and I stagger for the door. The world seems blurred and crooked as I stumble through the gardens to the wedding. She’s not just a woman who is arguably too young for me. She’s the girl from the fire. I’ve thought many times of the innocent angel I saved from that building ten years ago. But that’s how I’ve thought of her: an innocent angel. A kid. A lost little bird I rescued.
That’swho I’m marrying. Today, in maybe ten minutes. That’s the tempting little vixen who’s been sleeping under my roof. Provoking me. Testing my control. That’s who I just made come against my mouth, and who’s pussy I can still taste on my lips.
