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“Where she’s meant to be,” I reply through gritted teeth.

It seems everyone’s intent on pissing me off today.

“Come on, Damien. I just want to meet my new sister in law. You already took her away from me but who knows, if she meets me she might realize she got the wrong end of the deal and this time we give her a chance to choose her own Luciano.”

I take a moment before I speak. My brother enjoys getting a rise out of me and I’m not going to give him that satisfaction.

“First of all, she was never yours, Dante. I’m getting sick and tired of saying that. Secondly, I’d actually very much like to see you try,” I inform him, my gaze moving to the corner where Cassie’s standing with her friends.

Her eyes meet mine and I gesture for her to come over. She makes a face like she’d rather not which makes my lips twitch. Eventually, she makes her way over to us. She looks beautiful in a short tulle purple dress. A part of me wants to lift her into my arms and get her the fuck out of here.

But thankfully I possess a lot of self-control. “Mi vida, I’d like you to meet my elusive brother, Dante.”

He turns around with a smile I expect he thinks is charming.

“Hello, gorgeous,” Dante purrs.

I roll my eyes. This should be fun. I’ll allow it, because I’m pretty sure he needs to get all his anger out of his system one way or the other.

And if this is the route he’s choosing, then so be it. It’ll be fun watching Cassie put him in his place.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CASSIE

As it turns out, I made a monster obsessed with me.

It was supposed to be one night. I thought it was just that. One steamy night with a stranger, albeit the best sex and one of the nights I’ve ever had, but I moved on with my life. That was supposed to be it. I never really thought about that night again. All I wanted that night was a little fun and excitement.

Instead, I incurred enough excitement to last me a lifetime and it all meant nothing to me.

Liar, my subconscious whispers.

I grit my teeth. Fine. Maybe I have thought about that night since. More than I care to admit. I just can’t believe I forgot it was Damien. The thing is, it was late that night, everywhere we went from the club to outside was very dimly lit, and on top of that, I have a habit of forgetting faces. Even ones that look like Damien. Plus, I was drunk and it was a long time ago.

But the conversation stuck with me. It wasn’t often I met someone that understood me so acutely. I wondered about him. But the thought of him was like a distant dream I needed to let go of. Even my friends thought I was a little obsessed over him and I hate to see maybe in a way, I was. So I let it go.

Damien, it seems thought a great deal about it and held on to that night. Enough to make me his wife. I don’t know if it’s psychotic or somehow intensely admirable. I don’t know anything right now.

Except that I want to go home and lock myself in a room. It rarely ever happens, but right now, I’d very much like to be alone with my thoughts. Which is why Damien beckoning me to come closer is even more annoying.

I huff out a breath as a man who looks like Damien turns around. There’s no mistake that they’re brothers. This man just has a different haircut, and his aura isn’t as chilling. He’s also not as tall as Damien.

He offers me a wide smile, and my brows furrow in confusion as he lifts my hand and places a kiss on it.

“What are we, in 18thcentury England?” I ask bluntly, momentarily forgetting my manners.

I hear a small snort from behind him, but when I look at Damien his face is blank. Weird.

Meanwhile his brother’s smile grows.

“I heard you were a lot of fun. Cassie, right? I’m Dante,” he introduces.

“Nice to meet you, Dante,” I say dryly. “How can I help you?”

I can tell he’s a little thrown off by my attitude, which is kind of amusing. He has this bad boy youthful swagger that’s completely absent in Damien. And it’s not because he’s younger than him in anyway. I just think life took that youthful exuberance from Dante. Their world is cruel and harsh, but I’m willing to bet Damien took on the brunt of that cruelty for his younger brother. For both his siblings, I’m sure.

I’ve seen the way he protects Sofia. He’d probably go to war for them both.