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The next day, I stood next to Marco on the portico as a line of SUV’s pulled around the circular driveway. My stomach tumbled with anxiety. The space between us whispered louder than the wind through the oak trees during a summer thunderstorm. The air crackled with electricity and chilled the skin.
Things had gone from good to terribly wrong so quickly. But I still felt the black butterflies in my tortured soul standing next to Marco. But I couldn’t escape the rush of blood, the needy ache in my nipples, and the pulse deep in my core reminding me of the ways he’d touched me.
Car doors opened. A woman slid from the vehicle. I’d expected his brother and sister. A little boy tumbled out of the vehicle after the woman with shoulder length hair. He scooted around her legs and ran up the stairs.
“My sister, Anna, and Savio.” Marco bent as Savio wound his thin arms around his neck for a quick hug. “It is good to see you looking so brave and strong,” Marco said in Italian and rubbed his palm over the boy’s black hair.
Savio smiled, revealing a gap in his front teeth. Then he glanced over his shoulder to the young woman with whiskey-colored eyes. She ignored Marco and approached me. A soft smile curled her full lips. She was as beautiful as Marco was handsome, her features striking. Her piercing gaze volleyed from me to Marco.
“I’m Anna.” She leaned in and kissed both my cheeks.
My fingers trembled as she took my hand in hers. She stood beside me as two more women approached.
My heartbeat ratcheted into a wild frenzy, like prey scenting a predator. Anna stood beside me, protecting me from a threat I couldn’t see but felt.
“Allegra, this is Giada,” Anna said. “A close friend of the family, and this is her son Savio. My most favorite nephew.”
He tucked in behind her legs.
Giada rested her hands on my shoulders and kissed each of my cheeks. “So good to finally meet you.”
Sweat trickled along my spine.Giada.Fear clawed at my throat, and a thick, bitter taste coated my tongue.
The other woman approached Marco. She slipped her hands onto the lapels of his suit coat. When she tilted her face to his, her long, straight mahogany hair with amber highlights draped to the curve of her rounded buttocks.
Marco dipped his head to kiss each of her cheeks, only the touch seemed too familiar, too intimate. His lips brushed the tender skin below her ear, a place he’d kissed me as he whispered how good it felt to have his fingers inside me.
My face heated. I didn’t need to ask to know. A coiling snake of betrayal twisted in my gut.
Anna’s fingers tightened on mine as she spoke to the woman. “Francesca, I’m sure you’d like to meet Allegra.”
She was stunning with penetrating eyes, and long feathering lashes. Blood red lips curved into a knowing smile. I hated that she knew the touch of his hand, the taste of him, the growl of pleasure just before he came. I’d never asked him. Now I wanted to know. Did he fuck her bare? Did he promise her a life by his side, under his protection? Did he promise her children?
“Of course.” An arrogant smirk tilted the corners of her lips as she glanced at me, then she lifted her gaze to Marco’s. “Thank you for inviting me. Are you going to introduce me to your fiancée?”
Marco’s jaw tightened as he stared through Francesca, refusing to turn to me. “It’s not necessary for you to be introduced. You’re not here to socialize with her.”
Two men approached.
“My brother Stefano, and our cousin Carmine Pirlo,” Anna said, attempting to be diplomatic in an uncomfortable situation.
My breath caught as the air around me thickened. Marco didn’t have to work at intimidation. He was a man of power. The determined glint in his eyes, the hard lines of his mouth, and his commanding presence made men cower.
But he wasn’t the most dangerous Bruno. Stefano moved with precision focus, cloaked in shadow. Calculated, cunning, he was a predator. His cold, deep-set eyes raked over me. Shivers of fear prickled my skin.
Orlando and Emilio hollered from behind me. In a flash, chaos erupted. Emilio crashed into Carmine. Orlando laughed and the three spoke to a few other men still standing next to the vehicles.
“Stef, you’re scaring her,” Anna scolded.
“I’ve wanted to meet the woman condemned to suffer my brother’s temperament.” Stefano kissed both of my cheeks. He leaned in and whispered near my ear. “But I see now why he was eager to return. Beautiful and deadly. Your blade work is nearly as good as my own.”
I snapped my gaze at Francesca. She remained close to Marco, her hair draping over her shoulder, dressed as if she stepped out of Italian Vogue with flare bottomed pants. No way was Marco not seeing the swell of her tits in her low-cut top.
“Excuse me,” I said, taking a step back. “I’ll see how lunch is coming.”
I extricated myself from Stefano and Anna. As I walked into the house, I fought the urge to throw up. I couldn’t do this. Francesca touched Marco. She had her hands on his chest. His mouth touched her flesh. He’d inhaled, drinking in her scent.
Mafia men. I hated him, hated that he returned with promises that he wouldn’t keep. I hated that I had to marry him while he wanted her in his bed.
