Cristian drops his phone into his lap and strokes his stubbled jaw. “Is that what he told you, huh?”
I nod.
“It seems he failed to mention that I paid him twenty-five thousand dollars to do so.”
“What?” I jerk back and hold my palm toward him. “You paid him for my friendship with Gigi?”
“My daughter liked you,” he says in a bored tone. “Gigi’s feelings were hurt when your father forbade a friendship with her, so I rectified the situation. I saw you as a positive influence.” His jaw clenches, and his voice is firm. “That is, until you became involved with the Lombardis.”
“Rectified the situation?” I shift in my seat to face him. “Do you think you own everyone?”
Cristian keeps a straight face. “If I want to own them, then yes.”
The nerve of this man.
I jut my chin out. “You don’t own me.”
He offers an amused laugh. “Not yet.”
“You’ll never own me.”
Cristian reaches out, his muscular hand cupping my bare knee, inches under the hem of my skirt, and I shiver.
His lips form a cunning smile. “I will own every inch of you soon enough, Natalia.”
“What are we doing here?” I ask when Rocky pulls into the rear parking lot of L’ultima Cena.
The bright side of our destination? It’s not a murderous alley.
The dark side? The restaurant is known for its Mafia affiliation, sketchy meetings, and missing persons last seen here reports. A place where you can get lasagna with a side of homicide. It’s not a safe space.
Cristian stretches out his arms and straightens a cuff link. “Lunch.”
Alexa, please teach this man how to elaborate.
My face burns with frustration as I jerk my thumb toward the restaurant. “This isn’t the lunch I expected.”
“Then, quit having expectations.”
“I was thinking more along the lines of a Big Mac.”
My breathing hitches, and I stupidly don’t pull away when he reaches out and rubs the pad of this thumb over my bottom lip.
“Rocky, get out,” Cristian demands before roughly digging the tip of his finger into my lip.
Rocky jumps at the order and is out of the SUV in seconds.
“Just like we’re improving your taste in the cock you suck, I’m upgrading your taste in lunch as well.” He roughly digs the tip of his finger into my lip. “Consider it a favor.”
My cheeks redden, and I bite into his finger with my top teeth. He doesn’t flinch, only presses his finger in harder, and I sink my teeth onto it.
One of us will kill the other before the sham of this marriage even begins.
His eyes pierce mine, almost in challenge of who will concede first.
Who will submit to the other over something so small.
It’s not about the touching. It’s the push, the pull, the I won’t let you step all over me even though I need you to stay alive.
“I can sit here all fucking day, Natalia,” Cristian says, challenge dancing in his eyes, as if he can read my mind.
I slacken my jaw. He smirks before moving his thumb to skate over my top lip and then opening his palm, clasping my face in his hand. Holding in a breath, I wait for his next move.
He has me nearly trapped, and he pets my cheek. “That’s my good girl.”
I release the breath when he withdraws, turns his back on me, and opens the door. My heart whips in my chest, and I place my hand over the same spot where his just was. I stare at his back, watching him step out of the car, but then he abruptly stops.
“Oh, one more thing.” Turning to face me, he dips his hand into his jacket pocket, pulls out an object, and carelessly tosses it at me.
It falls into my lap with a thump.
It’s a black velvet jewelry box.
I’m terrified to open it.
What kind of ring could the most powerful man in the city choose for his fake wife?
Hell, I didn’t even know I’d get a ring. I shake my head and verbally smack myself. I don’t know if there’s a ring in there.
“I picked up your ring today.” He meets my stare, answering my question. “Put it on.”
I grab the box and play with it in my hands. “Cristian Marchetti, such a romantic. You couldn’t even get down on one knee?”
“I got down on two knees for you last night,” Cristian replies smugly. “I’d say that’s worthier.”
I scoff.
The nerve of this man.
He dips his head back into the SUV, and the smell of him revisits my senses. “I’ll do it again if it atones for my lack of romance.” That deep voice of his somehow intensifies, and he snatches the box from my hand, his two thick fingers playing with it how I had. “You won’t find love with me, Natalia, but when you’re mine, I will pleasure you and always make you feel untouchable.”
That much is obvious.
“Like I said earlier, that is never happening again.”
“Then, don’t expect to see me on my knees again.” He drops the box back into my lap. “Open it.”
We’re silent. My eyes latch on to the box as I slowly open it. I gasp at the sparkling diamond resting on a simple diamond band.
The stone is transparent. Flawless. Breathtaking.
It’s simplistic but extravagant.
Expensive but not tasteless.
It’s perfection.
“Who even just picks up a ring like this?” My fingers shake. I’m nervous to even take the ring out of the box.
“Put the ring on and get the fuck out of the car, Natalia,” Cristian demands.
And I slip it onto my finger—because what girl doesn’t want to don an expensive diamond on her finger before possibly dying?
The right size too.
How does this man seem to know everything about me?
And why do I want to know everything about him?
CHAPTER 14
CRISTIAN
“Cut the bullshit,” my cousin Dino states, standing across from me at the bar. “You’re not marrying that woman for love. You don’t have a heart, you cold bastard.”
We’re in a private back room at L’ultima Cena. It might be noon on a Thursday, but there’s always business to attend to—and what better way than with a glass of bourbon and good food?
Natalia and I need to start making appearances together to convince my family that I truly have feelings for her in the end. I also want to watch her with the other women in the family, see how compatible she is with them. Not that it’d be a make-or-break situation if she wasn’t. They’d be obligated to like her, no matter what. But it says a lot about a woman—how she interacts with other women.
Take Carmela, for instance. She’s in the corner, speaking with her cousin and shooting glares at Natalia with every word that leaves her mouth. Carmela is bitter, so it’s obvious she’ll hate Natalia. Natalia is taking the man Carmela so desperately wants.
Carmela was never anything more than a fuck to me. She’s desperate and whiny, and even though she’s a bitch to others, she submits to every demand I give her.
Obedience is nice and all. It’s a requirement to work for me and live.