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“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” I rinsed my hair and stepped from the shower.
“Allegra—”
I wrapped a fluffy towel around my torso and handed a second towel to Marco. He stripped out of his soaked underwear. Oh my. Only a glimpse of his erection gave my heart palpitations. Then he wrapped the towel around his hips and secured it with a tuck low on his abdominals.
“I want from you the same as you’ll demand from me. Loyalty, fidelity, and trust.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Loyalty is rare, fidelity is expected, and trust is earned.”
“But you expect it of me without having earned it.”
“Yes.” The word was hard and final. “I’ll be your husband.”
“If you want a meek, quiet wife, you’ll want to marry someone else.” I’d been prepared to pretend, to be the wife he expected. But his callously spoken words beneath my balcony had brought clarity to my future.
I could be loathed for being the mafia bride my mother had groomed me to be, or I could be hated for challenging his definition of wife.
My cage wouldn’t be gilded. I’d fallen in love with the idea of him, and he’d suffered the idea of me. Both of us were trapped, but I was the only one who had to fight for what I wanted.
“You aren’t going to be in my bed if you’re fucking Francesca or sharing Giada.”
He growled and raked his fingers through his dark, wavy hair. “Agreed.”
“What?”
He shrugged. “I won’t fuck Francesca. You have nothing to worry about with Giada.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t look at him and not feel an answering pull between my legs.
Marco closed the space between us. He tucked a tendril of my damp hair behind my ear. “My brother was the negotiator, but I can compromise. If possible, I’ll give you what you want.” His thumb traced my lower lip. “And you’ll give me no arguments. I expect you to obey me.”
I took a breath to speak.
“No arguments. You won’t challenge my authority or defy my orders in public or in private. You’ll have all the power that comes from being my wife. You’ll answer to no one except me.” His palm slid along my jaw. I shivered as he collared my throat.
I desperately wanted to look down, to reach between us and curl my fingers around his cock. I wanted to touch him, to feel the hot, velvety skin of his shaft in my hand. Fear held me in her grasp.
“Don’t ever betray me.”
I couldn’t imagine anyone would betray this man. Maybe Iwashis topolina. A little mouse under the paw of the lion. I shuddered with his touch. I wanted to believe him. I wanted my fairytale.
“I’ll be your wife.”
Marco
I tugged on the towel tucked between her breasts. “You belong to me now.”
This woman, innocently fierce. Yes, she was beautiful, but the world was full of beautiful women. Something about her reflected something in me. I needed her to be mine. If she’d have asked for a blood vow, I would have sliced open my heart and bled for her.
Her pulse fluttered in the column of her neck. Nipples hardened and darkened. I bent my head, gently bit the sweet tip, and sucked her flesh into my mouth.
Allegra whimpered, and her knees weakened. Scooping her into my arms, I carried her to the bed. Her tangles of wet hair brushed against my arm. As I held her, I kissed her again, sliding my tongue into her mouth.
Her lips were hesitant. I laid her on the bed, dropped the towel, and climbed on beside her. I stretched out next to her. Eyes, darkened with lust and inexperience, stared into mine.
I traced the sharp angle of her brow, skimmed my touch along her face, onto her neck, and skated gentleness across her shoulder. I stilled as her chest lifted with a deep inhale, and then I slipped my fingertips around the swell of her breast.
A sharp exhale had her arching into my touch. Leaning over her, I sipped her lips and traced the feminine contour of her quivering belly.
