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“Yes, sir. Ms. Lupini. Good to see you again.” He walked away, his shoulders slumped.

I stood, pulling out a handkerchief that had been shoved into my pocket and wiping wine from my face. She was watching me like a hawk, remaining quiet, which I already knew wasn’t like her.

When I moved closer, I wasn’t certain whether to expect she’d run away or stand her ground. I was pleasantly surprised she refused to budge. If I had any chance of maintaining the heightened lie, I couldn’t do so with a doormat as a wife. I wasn’t that kind of man.

Not that I knew what kind I was any longer.

None of my actions were familiar anymore.

I’d almost killed her father’s Underboss when he’d attempted to stop me from seeing to my fiancée’s needs. The word and understanding of who and what she was about to become was still foreign to me. I’d wanted to take out my aggressions on him, especially since I’d seen him leer at Carmella more than once.

Right now, the best thing was to keep my anger in check. How long that would last remained to be seen.

She smoothed down her dress and I was once again drawn to how beautiful she truly was. I hadn’t allowed myself to think that way before since she was initially promised to someone else. Betrayal of that kind was considered as reprehensible as being a rat.

However, tonight she was the epitome of a picture-perfect beauty. With long raven hair spilling around her shoulders in spirals, a body-hugging violet dress that managed to capture the luminous glow in her chocolate irises, and her long legs accentuated by tall heels, my cock had been aroused immediately.

I’d determined she’d chosen her attire specifically, a vixen hellbent on refusal. She’d wanted every man in the room to crave her, but had planned from the beginning on denying every one of them. She wouldn’t be able to do that with me. She was mine.

At least according to a signed contract between the two Dons. The practice was Neanderthal, but arranged marriages held a place inside various political organizations. Not just criminal ones.

“You’ll need to trust me, Carmella.”

“Why should I do that? I don’t even know you.”

I turned to face her, maintaining a distance so she wouldn’t feel pushed. “Because there are some very bad men who want to end your father’s life. I assure you they will stop at nothing to get to him, including abducting or killing the man’s children. While I know you’re angry with him and have every right to feel that way, if our union is seen as a ploy, the weakness will be exploited. That will begin to unravel both syndicates from the inside out. We can’t allow that to happen.”

She darted her eyes back and forth across mine, taking in and processing what I’d just said. “Do you have any idea who it could be?”

“No, not yet. But I will find out. I can only do that with your help. Can we call a truce for tonight at least?” I don’t know what possessed me to hold out my arm when what we were about to do was nothing more than a glorified business relationship.

Although the thoughts that had formed in the back of my mind were anything but professional.

She eyed my hand as if I was offering her a grenade, but finally placed hers into mine. I experienced the same heated connection as before, perhaps even more so this time. There was no denying we had chemistry, but she would fight our attraction with everything she had.

The beautiful, vivacious woman was certainly nothing like her father. She was even more intelligent and had a sense of power she’d yet to identify.

Or exploit.

She’d be a formidable adversary. It was a good thing I planned on taming her completely, bending to my will.

“Fine. We will put on a good front tonight, Alejandro. However, that doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind. And I will tell you this. If you dare put a move on my baby sister or attempt to harm my family in any way, trust me. There won’t be a hole big enough you can crawl into where I won’t find you.”

“I might be many things, Carmella.”

“Including a monster,” she all but interrupted.

“I’ll accept that. What I am not is a pedophile. I would never touch your sister. Any man who did that should be castrated as a first course of action. As far as your family, the first promise I will make to you is that I will protect them as if they were my family. Meaning with my life.”

She seemed somewhat taken aback by my oath. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“I’m sure you will.”

“You don’t want to cross me.”

A smile crossed my face. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Do that. It will make things much easier in the end.” As she walked away, my balls tightened.