Page 96

“Come on, I don’t mean it like that.” Dominic tried to get her to see where he was coming from. “You might not believe in heaven and hell, Maria, but I do. I would have never allowed myself to touch you if I thought you were a virgin. I already don’t think I deserve you for the things I’ve done in my life, and I will not allow myself to let my crimes taint you.”

“Taint me?” she whispered. Dominic was a confident man, but she could see that he didn’t hold parts of himself in high regard. All of it was starting to make sense. “Dominic, I’m not …” She searched for the correct word, but it was simply, “Good.” Maria forced his powerful eyes, but held demons behind, them to hers. “You know that, right?”

He lifted his hand to let his inked knuckles lightly sweep her high cheek. “You are, Maria.”

“I’m not,” she assured him. “There is nothing you have done that would shock me, let alone concern me. You may think my body is pure, but it’s not. I’ve not only stood idly by and watched horrible things happen, but I’ve done horrible things too.”

“Princess, I will not give you my sins.”

“Okay.” Maria took a sultry step forward so she could hover her lips over his. Her warm breath promised a kiss that would send them to their knees with her words. “Then let’s make one together.”

“That’s not the only reason, you know ….” Dominic lightly slid his hand up her exposed thigh, to her waist, over a breast, until he finally reached to her neck. Placing his hand softly at the bottom of her throat, he said, “If I don’t marry you before I fuck you, then you never will.”

Excuse m—

When she went to move away, he ever so slightly tightened his grip on her neck, keeping her in place.

“Right now, you want me for one reason and one reason only—I can give you something that you have never gotten before, princess, and trust me, I want it, too, but I also want forever with you.”

“So, you’re blackmailing me into marrying you?” she asked with a raised brow, wanting to hate the man who stood before her, with all of her being screaming out in pain for him.

“Hmm …,” he mumbled curiously. “Would you judge a woman for wanting to wait until marriage?”

“No.” She looked at him curiously back with a smile, already knowing the answer. “But are you a virgin, Dominic Luciano?”

Dom looked at her fiercely, letting her know he was no angel. “No.”

“Then we’re good.” Maria tried to go back to kissing him, but he stopped her. Still sexually frustrated with the man who had put her into this position and who had been perfectly fine with it before he found out she had never been touched in that way, her voice was somewhere between desperation, plea, and anger when she said, “I don’t care about my virginity, Dominic.”

Picking up his jacket off the floor, Dominic started to leave. “You may not, Maria, but I do.”

Thirty-Five

Your Choice, Maria

“Need some help?”

“I got i—”

Maria was shushed when some of the bags she was holding slipped out of her hands and into tattooed ones, despite her refusal.

“Thanks, Angel.”

Gripping the bags as they entered the elevator, he put in the code to take them up to the penthouse level. “No problem.”

It had been a few days since she and Dominic had last seen each other … and Maria had desperately needed to stress shop. Going to the mall was therapeutic, and she really needed the time alone to think but also not think.

Leo had gone over to their brother’s, Nero, and Elle’s place, wanting to spend time with him and give her a break, which she appreciated.

Shopping hadn’t solved her problems, but they definitely put them on mute for a few hours. Plus, it was a whole new experience to get to shop alone for the first time.

Not only was the ride up the elevator silent, but the walk to her penthouse. She liked that quality about this Luciano brother the most, as Angel only spoke what was needed to be said.

Managing to open the door with her phone, Maria and Angel entered. Setting her bags down by the bottom of the stairs, she didn’t want to inconvenience him any longer.

“You can set them here, and I’ll take them up later.”

Angel nodded, setting them down beside the bags she had carried up.

“Thank you,” she told him again.

“You’re welcome.”

Watching him turn to leave, she stared at his back, contemplating, and when he got closer to the door, her voice made the decision for her. “Angel?”

“Yeah?” he answered, turning back around.

“Do you think we could talk for a few minutes …?” Maria twirled her fingers for the first time. By Angel’s expression, he had noticed the strange fiddling act from her. “It’s about Dominic.”