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Seeing how brave she’s being, and how she stands up for herself against me even when I’m twice her size, makes me care for her even more. This is the future mother of my children, and I know she’ll be a lioness to protect them when she needs to be.
Her stance softens at my touch. I take the choker from her hands and clasp it around her neck, triumph swelling in me when she tilts her chin up to accept it. There. Now no one can deny that she’s mine, even if she hasn’t fully come to terms with it herself.
“It looks perfect on you,” I say honestly, my hands lingering on her neck, drifting down to her collar. “As if you’re meant to wear it.”
Flustered, she lets out an airy laugh, cheeks going pink. “Thank you.”
“Now, do you want to know what we’re doing tonight?” I let my hands fall away, and Clara sighs at the loss.
“Sure. But this is the weirdest thing ever, you know that right?”
I level her with a serious look. “Sweetheart, it might be weird to you, but it isn’t to me. This is how the Giordano men treat their women, like I said. We belong to them body, mind, and–” I reach out and lay my hand over her quickly beating heart. “Soul. You and I both know things have evolved past us just pretending to be connected in order to protect you, and from here on out, I consider you mine. If you want to leave when this is all over and done with, so be it, (Not fucking likely, I thought internally.) But as of right now you’re my woman. That means I’d kill for you, die for you, Clara. All I ask is a little obedience.”
She swallows hard, but her small hand comes up to cover mine where it rests on her chest, her eyes as wide as saucers. Her gaze doesn’t waver from mine as she licks her lips, and finally, she gives a tight nod. “Okay. Okay. That’s a lot, can we table it for now? Maybe go back to talk about our, er…date?”
I take her hand in mine and pull it forward to kiss her knuckles before releasing her. “Of course, sweetheart, but take those words to heart, alright? I mean every one of them. Now, follow me and I’ll tell you the plan for the rest of the day. But first, you’re going to need to go change. I had Marissa sit out exactly what you need to wear. I’ll meet you by the front door.”
* * *
Clara lookslike an angel when she comes to meet me, the gauzy, nearly-transparent dress I had chosen to cover the emerald green string bikini, to match her eyes, flows around her as she approaches. I expected some sort of argument about the clothing, especially how small the bathing suit will be on her luscious curves, but instead there’s anticipation in her expression.
“Do you like what I’ve chosen for you?” I ask as she nears, plucking the skirt of the dress playfully.
“Well, it isn’t what I would have chosen, but considering that you made me wear a collar, I figured that this outfit was conservative as far as you’re concerned.” She smiles, and I hope that means she’s come to terms with my declaration earlier. I had meant to give her some time before letting her know that I already considered her mine, but she complained to the point that I had to lay more of it out on the table than I intended to.
“You’re correct that I’d have you wearing less if I had my way, but we do have to go out in public to get where we’re going, and I don’t want anyone else seeing you like that, so it was quite the conundrum for me,” I slip my arm over her shoulder, cupping the back of her neck in a possessive grip as we walk out into the sunshine. While she stiffens at first, Clara melts into my hold after a moment.
She’s happy and chatty on the way across Naples, looking beautiful and amiable sitting beside me in the Tesla. I’m shocked by how willing she is to roll with all the punches her life is throwing at her right now, and to do it with a smile at that. Clara has that silent strength about her that a lot of women have, and I’m glad to see it. Giordano wives can’t be fainting daisies.
When I park at the Marina, grabbing the small cooler with our refreshments out of the backseat before offering Clara my hand, she takes it gladly. Her gaze is curious as she scans the areas, no doubt trying to figure out whatever it is I have planned. Every time she tries to ask, I shush her, until she’s huffy as she follows me down to the docks, and finally, to our destination.
My yacht waits for us at the end of the dock, bobbing merrily in the water. It's 65 feet and a dark navy blue with a pale wood upper deck. Below deck, the yacht is like a small luxury home, but that isn’t where I want to spend my time with Clara. I want to take her on a cruise along the Naples shoreline, giving her the experience she didn’t get to have in Italy once her friend abandoned her.
It doesn’t take Clara long to figure it out once we’re face to face with the yacht. She claps her hands together in excitement. “Is this yours!?”
I chuckle. “Yes, love, it is. Though it’s a big beast, so I won’t be able to give you much attention while we’re underway, but there is a special place I want to dock where you’ll have my full attention. What do you think?”
“Yes!” She exclaims. “Oh, this is going to be so fun. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my time here locked away, either in my rental or your villa.”
“You never have to want for anything as long as you’re my guest, Clara. Let’s board, and you can pour us some champagne while I take us out into the open water. What do you say?”
She nibbles her bottom lip. “I’m not old enough to drink champagne… in the States, I mean.”
“This is Italy, Clara, you’re fine. I think you’ve proven that you’re old enough to do anything you want,” I rumble, giving her a heated glance. Once she realizes what I’m referencing, her cheeks go pink.
“Ah, well, I suppose you’re right.”
I assist her over the small walkway onto the yacht, leading her to the raised helm where the steering wheel is located. I wish I could have just hired a driver and spent my time with Clara, holding her close as we cut through the water, but I have plans for her later that involves complete privacy between the two of us. So, I have her perch on my knee once I’ve done the more complicated maneuvers to get out of the marina, and while it makes it a little more difficult to drive, having her round bottom wiggling on my lap is more than worth it.
It’s late afternoon, and the sun is still hot overhead, making me even more thankful for the champagne that Clara pours us in metal wine glasses. I show her all the sights that I love about the area as she savors the chilled fruit I packed, occasionally reaching back to offer me a piece that I take from her fingers with my tongue. There are rock formations rising out of the sapphire blue water, half-submerged caves that divers frequent, and beaches with sand so white it looks like sugar. We go slowly, in no rush to see everything, and I’m happy to answer all the questions that Clara has.
It’s a perfect day, the kind of day that makes me wonder why I’ve dedicated my life to blood and violence when there is a world like this out there, but with little Clara here with me, I can see a second chance on the horizon. The chance to be a new man.
We don’t talk about how she came to be here with me. There’s no discussion of her father, his debts, or his thus-far failure to pay up. I checked the account right before we left–nothing.
What an asshole.
She does open up some to me, though, about her life back in the United States. Clara is in college to be an early childhood educator, and she loves children. Her mother wasn’t much in the picture, and she had always thought her father was wealthy by the way he financed her life after she moved out, plus the relatively comfortable childhood she had. Apparently Clara had spent a lot of time with a live-in nanny while Paul worked, which made sense, considering how aloof he was treating her now. But none of that made her any less bright and kind, which made her a stronger person that I ever would have thought.
