Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
So when Alexis drops onto the couch beside me to watch the only decent thing on TV—a quiz show—and starts shouting out answers, I should be frozen with fear. But I’m not. He sprawls out lazily, feet on the table, radiating confidence he hasn’t earned.
“Which organ produces insulin?”
“Oh, I know this!” Alexis snaps his fingers. “The testicles!”
I choke out, “WHAT? No! It’s the pancreas!”
“Listen,” he argues, completely serious. “Guys get moody when they’re hungry. That’s gotta be hormonal. So logically... bam. Testicles.”
I snort with surprised laughter. “Your logic is terrifying.”
“The correct answer is the pancreas,” the host confirms.
Alexis grumbles, shifting in his seat. “Whatever. Next question. I’ll get the next one.”
“Which Shakespearean play features the line, ‘To be, or not to be’?”
Without missing a beat, Alexis smirks. “Fast & Furious 2.”
I stare at him, horrified. “You cannot be serious.”
“No, princess. That’s John McEnroe. And Vin Diesel gets real deep sometimes.”
I shove his shoulder, laughing uncontrollably. “I’m never watching a quiz show with you again.”
Alexis grins, grabbing my wrist so I can’t push him again, his face lit up with amusement. “Admit it, piccolina, you love it.”
I do, but I don’t admit it. Instead, I turn my attention back to the TV. I don’t complain when he shifts closer until our bodies are pressed together from shoulder to knee. His warmth seeps through my thin yoga pants, his presence consuming and intoxicating.
From the corner of my eye, I catch him watching me, amusement playing on his lips. He’s studying me, as intrigued as he is entertained as I answer more questions correctly than he does. Instead of pouting, he throws his arm around my shoulders and squeezes me like I just won the twenty-thousand-dollar jackpot. His body is solid and firm, and his scent—a mix of cedarwood, leather, and something sharp and clean like a storm on the horizon—wraps around me.
This man wants me. I know it in the way he looks at me, the hunger in his gaze carving invisible marks into my skin. It’s a weight, pressing in, claiming me before he’s even touched me. But it’s more than that.
He likes me.
And I want him.
I want to laugh at his stupid jokes and observations. I want to know how far he’ll push me, how much he’ll make me beg. I think he’d enjoy making me wait, draw it out, teasing until I was trembling, dripping, desperate. He’d relish my total submission and his complete dominance. Could I give him that?
I’m getting under the skin of all the Venturi brothers. I can feel it. Antonio, despite his discipline, can’t hide the way his eyes darken when I’m nearby. He touches me like I’m something precious, something more than a bargaining chip or an object within his control.
Luca, the coldest of them all, cradled me last night like I was someone he needed to protect, a woman on the edge of breaking apart. When I kissed him, his body shuddered as though he was about to come undone.
And Alexis? He’s the youngest and wears his hunger openly, reckless and untamed. He doesn’t pretend. He doesn’t hold back. And right now, he’s looking at me like he’s thinking of all the ways he could break me apart and put me back together.
Desire is power. If these men want me, if I can be something irreplaceable in their lives, maybe the threats they’ve made to entice my father to come forward will fall away. Maybe it’s my best chance of survival. Yet, even as I think it, I can’t imagine them hurting me unless it was in a way that I’d enjoy. Luca’s sharp spanks across my ass proved that much. He stopped at five before it got too much for me to bear.
The intensity of my desire is terrifying. The boys back home were just that—boys. Immature. Uncertain. Or psychos like my stupid stalker. The Venturis are men. Strong, dangerous men. And the age gap? That only makes them hotter. There’s something intoxicating about the way they move, hands talking as much as their mouths, the way they look at me with burning intensity, the way they speak in low, commanding voices that demand obedience.
I hear my mama’s words in my head, warning me about my daddy issues, telling me to be careful of my subconscious need to replace the man who was only ever a shadow in my life.
But is it so wrong to want a man who will take care of me?
Or even… three?
Three men who would kill to avenge their dead brother. If they have so much loyalty for a dead sibling, what would they do for a woman they love? What would they do for me?
Alexis shifts beside me, his fingers tracing lazy circles against my shoulder. “You’re quiet, gattina. Thinking about something?”
I turn to face him, my breath hitching as I meet his eyes—deep gold, flecked with green, brimming with amusement. And heat.