Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Not the words I’d use!”
“—that you haven’t forgotten what I said to you earlier.”
He’s not looking at me, but I feel extremely seen. It took a lot of guts and poise to face him down in nothing but a scrap of silk and bobby pins. I’m pretty sure the girls that did my hair and makeup snuck off to the bathroom to masturbate while thinking about Stefano’s dirty mouth the second they were finished with me.
At least Emily had the good grace to look mortified.
“I also remember telling you multiple times that sex isn’t happening.”
“I’m going to offer you a deal.” He clicks a teacup, making it rattle in place. I’m pretty sure it’s at least a hundred years old. I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from saying anything about it. “Would you like to hear it?”
“Not really.”
“Since you love logistics so much, here’s my proposal. You can make one rule about our relationship. One ironclad rule, which I swear to you on my life I will never break.”
That gets my attention. I consider him for a moment, head tilted to the side. “What makes you think I’d want to do something like that?”
He gives me a cool look. “Basically, everything about you screams rule follower.”
“God, you really are a prick, you know that?”
“One rule, Charlie. Anything you want.”
“How do I know you’ll actually obey it?”
He smiles at that. “Because I do what I say I’m going to do.”
“Convenient. Real trustworthy.” I look away, back at the chair holding the doors closed. Move it away, walk out of here, return to the agonizingly boring party… “What do you want in exchange?”
I don’t even know why I’m asking. No part of me wants to play his game. I get the feeling that once I start making deals, he’s not going to stop asking for more.
One promise becomes another, until I’ve tangled myself in this vicious man’s web.
I’m not his toy. There’s no way I’ll be his plaything.
But if I can make my life a little bit easier…
“I want to spank you, kiss you, slide my fingers between your thighs, and make you come. Just like I promised earlier.”
Well, shit.
If I had just the slightest bit less self-control, a moan would escape my lips.
I barely manage to swallow it instead.
Stefano stares at me, apparently not joking around. His eyes burn into mine, and I can almost taste the desire crackling in the air. The tension’s terrible, an oppressive weight, one that makes me want to bend.
Down into his lap…
“Any rule I want?” I whisper, heart racing into my throat. What am I doing right now? Am I seriously considering this?
He comes closer. “Anything you want, Charlie.”
Dumb. Stupid. Insane.
“You realize you’re giving me the better deal.”
“We’ll see.”
Knock away the chair.
Run.
“You have ten minutes before people start to worry about me.” My heart hammers right into my throat as a silky thrill glides down between my legs. “Better get started.”
Chapter 11
Charlie
Iremember the way he moved when fighting Big Boss. Stefano looked graceful, brilliant, like he could manipulate his body however he wanted. Enormous, muscular beasts like him aren’t supposed to glide around like a ballerina. They should lope, stomp, smash, and stumble.
Not Stefano. He’s in complete control. It’s terrifying, really, how quick he can change directions, how balanced and centered he stays, how he can reach out and grab me firm enough to get what he wants without causing any pain.
I barely have time to react. Stefano closes the distance between us lightning-quick with menace in his gaze. I take a step back, yelping as I bump into a shelf, rattling teacups. One falls to the floor and shatters. I’m about to scream when he presses a hand to my mouth, his lips inches away from my nose. They’re curled into a smirk.
“Don’t make too much noise if you can help it.”
Then he turns me. I groan in surprise as I’m pressed up against a low table, the zipper of my dress easily sliding open, his fingers deft and knowing, like he memorized all the contours of my clothes before coming in here. I wouldn’t even put it past him. The man studies me like he’s learning the map of a new country. He wants to know my landmarks, my capitals. All the curves of my rivers…
The dress slips from my shoulders and pools on the floor.
“That’s my wife,” he whispers and the eagerness in his voice is terrifying. How can he really want me that badly?
A man like Stefano probably has a different woman every night. He’s easily that good-looking.
Factor in the confidence and the mafia swagger, plus all the money he’s probably making, and I’m sure he has plenty of experience undressing girls.
Only this is the first time he’s touching his wife.
A strange pride rushes through me then. He’s never done this before. This is as new for him as it is for me.