“Did you hear me?”
I open the door and look at her. “I heard you fine and yes, you are doing it. Let’s go.”
“No.”
I sigh, close the door and go to her. She doesn’t move away, and I grasp her arms, rubbing up and down, then close my hands and squeeze just a little.
“I understand the circumstances you’re coming from, but you need to think now, Scarlett.”
“I am thinking.”
“What are your options?”
“You can let me go. That’s an option.”
“Let me rephrase. What are your realistic options? Sit down.” I don’t wait for her but walk her backward and sit her on the edge of the bed. “The way I see it, you have two and both roads lead to the altar.”
“Is this all I’m ever going to be? A pawn for men’s games?”
“This isn’t a game. Not even close. You marry Rinaldi and you become a party to the flesh trade, not to mention drugs and probably in time, arms dealing. If you stay alive long enough, that is. And that’s not even taking Noah into consideration.”
“Leave my brother out of it.”
“I wish I could.”
“You may not deal in flesh, but those other things are just as bad, Cristiano.”
“Yeah, but here’s the catch.” I have never said what I’m about to say out loud. Not to anyone. Not my uncle or brother or Charlie. Not even to myself. “I don’t care about it. Not any of it.”
Something must change on my face because her expression shifts. Becomes confused then almost worried.
“What do you mean?” she asks more quietly.
I decide I can’t say it now, either. Shaking my head, I pick up the box on the nightstand that contains the engagement ring. I open it and look down at it.
“I mean I just want Rinaldi. That’s it. I want to know what he said to my mother after he—” I break off. I can’t say the words. “And then I want to kill him.” That’s what I want. It’s the reason I survived. And it’s all I have been living for.
I turn the box around to show her, but it takes her a very long moment to drag her shiny eyes from mine to the ring. She spares it a quick glance. If she’s impressed, she doesn’t let on. But she’s not the type to be impressed by something like this.
“What happens to you after?”
Smart girl.
“That doesn’t matter. You’ll be free. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of, financially I mean, and any other way I can to help you disappear if that’s what you want or need. You and Noah both.”
“But you said he’d be a soldier.”
“You’re both mine until this is done. When it’s done, when I know what Rinaldi said to my mother and when I’ve killed him, then and only then are you free.”
23
Scarlett
I study him. He’s got a cut high on his cheek but it’s nothing compared to his chest and back. He looks like he rolled around in shards of broken glass.
I remember my panic when he’d passed out after the doctor reset his shoulder. I remember exactly how it felt like my heart stopped for a moment. I try to tell myself it’s just because if he died, it’d be worse for Noah and me. But I know that’s not the whole truth.
“Scarlett?”
He gestures to the ring. It’s beautiful, a Princess cut diamond set amidst jagged blue stones.
“Sapphires?” I ask.
He nods.
I study the jewels. Remember how my brothers had plans to deal in diamonds too. Nothing was off the table for them.
I know I don’t really have a choice in the matter here. He is right. This is a better option than Marcus Rinaldi would offer me. But if I have any room to negotiate, I’m taking it.
“I want Noah upstairs tonight. No, now.”
“Tomorrow. After you’ve said I do.”
“Tomorrow? This is happening tomorrow?”
“We’ll surprise Noah with our happy news.”
“We’re getting married tomorrow?”
“Problem? Time is of the essence.”
“No. No problem.” I mean, what does it matter. If Marcus and my brothers had had their way, I’d already be married.
“Good. Anything else?”
“No sex. I sleep in—”
“You’ll sleep in my bed and we will consummate the marriage.”
“I want my own room and no on the last part.”
“You can have your own room, but you will sleep in my bed and the consummation of the marriage is non-negotiable.”
“Why? We can just say we consummated the marriage, it’s not the middle ages. No one will check for blood on the sheets.”
“No.”
“What? You’re not comfortable lying? Please.”
“No, actually. I’m not.” He takes the ring out of its box and palms it. Then he traps me. He leans his weight on his fists on either side of me, face so close I’m breathing him in, and the scruff of his five o’clock shadow scratches my cheek. “Besides, all I can think about is how you’ll taste when I lick your pussy. How you’ll feel when I sink my cock inside you.”
“Jesus.” I turn away, my heart racing. I find it hard to breathe when he’s so close like this. Same when, just a little while ago, I felt him beneath me.
It was stupid to straddle him. That was my bad. I meant to keep him from moving while I rubbed in that ointment I knew would sting like hell.
But he turned the tables on me, didn’t he? I get the feeling Cristiano Grigori will always turn the tables on me.
I put my hands on his broad chest, feel the hard muscle beneath warm skin. Feel his heart beat against my palm and remember what it felt like to lie beneath him, all his weight on me. His hard cock between my legs.
Butterflies flutter their wings inside my belly, and I can’t help but feel the skin of his chest, touch the scars, press against the hard muscle. Even bruised and cut and stitched, he’s a powerhouse. Formidable.
He could be safe for me. For Noah. He could protect us. He took a bullet for me that probably saved my life last night.
But I can’t pretend this is good when it is all forced on me.
Shaking my head to clear away stupidity and a naïve desire to want this, I push against him, but he doesn’t budge. Only when I stop pushing does he step away. I guess he wants me to know this is on his terms. That everything will be on his terms.
I already know that, though.
He takes the ring between thumb and forefinger raising only his eyebrows at me.
“If I say no, you’ll drag me to the altar?”
“Probably.”’
“And then what?”
His jaw tightens, his eyes narrow. “Yes or no, Scarlett? I’m getting tired of this conversation. How are we doing this?”
“Sex once. To consummate. Period.”
He watches me, blinks, expression steady and unwavering. “How are we doing this?”
He’s not negotiating.
But I hold out my hand anyway, turn the palm up to take the ring because we both know I’ll agree. It’s the only option.