Page 107

Mace slams his mouth against mine, swallowing my scream with greedy swipes of his tongue, kissing me until my body goes slack.
As I come down, I realize he accomplished what he set out to do. I’m not irritated anymore.
Breaking the kiss, he cups the back of my head with his hand, gaze driving into mine. “Better?”
“Yes.”
Wrapping his arms around me, he picks me up and carries me toward our bedroom. “I’m not done with you yet, baby.”
I don’t have it in me to fight.
twenty-eight
MACE
Enjoying my wife’s reluctant pleasure is the only reason I make it through the week leading up to the fight. More than the way her body fits perfectly with mine, the look in her eyes when I give her what she’s loath to admit—or the way she melts in my arms right before she falls asleep—is the sweetest sort of victory. I didn’t think me staying away would bother her so much. Her anger filled me with a twisted sort of pride.
After I found that she had changed the setting in my phone, forwarding my texts to her device, I needed to test our relationship. I don’t know why she did it or what her end game is. If it’s jealousy or something more. Two things are abundantly clear, though.
My wife likes me.
And she’s a sneaky little hacker.
I should probably be mad and not delighted that she had the audacity to invade my privacy. I shouldn’t be proud that she got away with it for so long. Everyone always underestimates Cassia. She’s smart, and Ican’t help wondering if she’s plotting my demise or what else she might be doing to spy on me.
A smile cuts across my face at the thought. Fucked up as it is, I like when her claws come out. I’d happily let her destroy me.
Cassia looks up from her breakfast, eyebrows lifting. “What?” Her cinnamon hair is pulled back in a tight bun, showcasing her perfectly symmetrical features and those lips I love to taste. The low-cut top reveals enough cleavage that I consider the merits of gouging Tony’s eyes out, but if he can’t see, he can’t protect her.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I tell her.
She grabs her coffee cup, averts her gaze, and takes a drink. Her throat bobs as she swallows. My cock twitches, but there’s no time to test how good it would feel for her to take me in her mouth. Vito wanted a meeting this morning, and tonight is the fight.
Taking the last bite of my breakfast, I gather my dishes and carry them to the sink. The cleaning staff will take care of the rest. Cassia is still avoiding looking at me. I need to see those pretty icy blue eyes one last time before my day turns to shit. Prowling toward her, I watch the way her spine straightens, her body leaning toward me, despite her every effort to ignore me.
Stopping beside her, I grasp her chin and pull it up. Her gaze flies to meet mine, narrowing in protest, but there’s the slightest softening in her posture. She craves my touch.
I’ve got you, wife.
I smooth my thumb over her bottom lip, tracing the mouth that loves to test me. My pretty wife is filled with venom. Lucky for her, it’s the only sort of poison I’d willingly drink.
“I’m picking the movie tonight,” she says, grasping for some type of control.
A grin tugs at my lips. I knew she liked our little ritual. It gives me reasons to hold her, and when the lights are off and the movie is playing, she stops pretending like she hates cuddling.
Reality slams into me. I won’t be holding her tonight. It’s fight night. If it wasn’t for the mafia circling my sisters, I’d blow it off and stay home, enjoying my wife’s company. I rub Cassia’s cheek with the pad of my thumb, and she leans into the touch. Leaving her, if only for a night, is harder than it should be after a few weeks of us being married. Sometimes I wonder if she’d escape if given the chance. I don’t like to think about what I’d do if it came to that. Cassia injected me with her toxin, and I’d burn the world to bring her back where she belongs: with me. “I won’t be home in time.”
Her eyebrows pinch together. “Why?”
“I have something I need to do.”
She scours my face. “And what is that?”
“Something for work.” Though the lie is stupid, I don’t want to taint her with the violence. The deaths. It could easily be mine, but dying isn’t an option. Too many people would be at risk if I died, including my wife. She’s quickly found her way on to the short list of women I’d kill for.
“Don’t wait up.” I lean in and kiss her, savoring the feel of her plush lips against mine, keeping the stolen kiss as a memory to carry me through the day.
“Your father tells me you’re not a fan of my idea of our families joining.”