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“I don’t believe that. I saw Viktor’s face when I suggested it. He seems interested. Moreso than that ugly old man.”

“Grigori isn’t going to marry me because he tried to touch me and I told Viktor about it. So if you want any chance at marrying me, you won’t try to touch me.”

“But I want to touch you.” He sidles up close to me. Let him. Let him try to touch me and I’ll tell Viktor right away and then I won’t have to marry Connor. “I want to finish what we never got to finish at the club that night.”

“Careful. If you touch me, Viktor will not let you marry me.”

“Then I’ll just tell him about where we really met. I’m not sure he’d appreciate learning that his sweet little sister is a bit of a slut.”

I gasp and step back. “I am not.”

“Then why were you there that night?”

“No reason.”

“There was no reason you were in Dante’s club that night? Dante’s club?”

“I just wanted a little bit of fun. I chose the club, not knowing it was Dante’s. It was an honest mistake.”

“And yet, I saw you talking to Matteo Conti. I saw you leave the club with him. What was that all about?”

“I think you’re mistaken,” I say. “I didn’t leave with Matteo.

I barely know him. I’ve met him once.” Yes, I’m flat out lying to Connor, but I don’t care about that.

He’s not a good man. I just know that if we get married, he’ll try to force me to be with him.

He won’t respect my boundaries – not like Matteo has.

“Ok,” Connor says. “I’ll believe you. But you should know that I really don’t. I think you have a secret, Julia. You don’t want your brother to think badly of you, right? If you marry me, I’ll never tell him about where we really first met.”

“And I won’t tell him how you tried to force me to take drugs. I can tell you this will end a lot worse for you than for me. He’s killed men for less than that.”

“Maybe he won’t hurt you but he’ll definitely lock you back up. And I can tell that’s not something you want. So if you want a bit of freedom, Julia, then choose me. Marry me. I can give you a life of excitement.”

Or a life of fear. “I don’t want to marry you, Connor.”

“Give me a chance. I know we started off on the wrong foot but I can show you that I’m not all bad. Let me take you on a date. Let me show you how much fun I can be.”

“My brother won’t allow me to be alone with you for any extended time. Not unless we’re married. So a date is off the table.”

“If anyone could convince him, it would be you. Let me take you on a date. Give me a chance.”

I study Connor’s face more closely. His hair is nice and thick. His eyes and nose are proportionate to his face. He’s not ugly. I’ll admit – he’s even handsome if I get past how much he bothers me.

Matteo is not my future, I know it. I have to push my crush aside. But Connor could be my future. He’d probably be a lot better for a husband than Grigori. At least Connor is somewhat nice to look at.

But he’s not Matteo and all I want is to see Matteo again. It’s dangerous but I need to talk with him about all of this.

“I’ll talk to my brother,” I finally say. “I’ll try to give you a chance.”

“Great. Then I guess that’s my cue to leave.” He winks, then swaggers out of the house.

I immediately run to my room and dial Matteo’s number.

“Julia?” The sound of his deep, soft voice makes me instantly feel safer.

“I need to see you.”

“But we talked about this. We can’t.”

“Please. Viktor wants to marry me off to Connor. I need to see you.”

Matteo is silent on the other end. Is he upset? Is he happy? I don’t know him well enough to know.

“Ok,” he finally says. “We can meet.”

The spot we choose is a more secluded area of Central Park. Not many people walk past this area and we can get lost behind the trees.

The moment I see Matteo approach me, I want to throw myself into his arms but I resist the urge. He is not mine.

“Matteo.” I can’t stop the eagerness in my voice from coming through.

“So, is it true? You’re marrying Connor Barry?”

“No. Not at the moment. Viktor is just considering it.” I wring my hands together. Never have I felt more nervous around Matteo than in this moment. “You didn’t show at the club. You or Dante.”

“I listened to what you said and you were right. It was better to avoid a fight. I waited around though, outside, and saw your brother leave the club. He looked upset.”

“He was. His plan failed.”

“Good. But that can’t last forever. I managed to convince Dante to not go to the club that night but I won’t always be able to.”

“I know. And I won’t always be able to warn you. Not if it leads to my brother’s death. But… you chose not to kill him when you had the chance. Why?”

“It would have caused more problems.”

“Would it have?” I ask. “Because it seems to me that killing my brother would have ended all of your problems.”

Slowly, he approaches me until we’re so close, I can feel the heat coming off of him. We’re hidden behind a tree so no one can see us. “It would have but it would have made everything worse with… you.”

A sharp inhale courses through me. “With me?”

“I know it would have devastated you if I killed Viktor.”

“You didn’t kill my brother, your enemy, for me?”

“I just… couldn’t. I’ve never agreed with this war in the first place. I don’t believe in more bloodshed. I only kill in self-defense.”

“Thank you. For not killing him.”

“I’m not sure your brother would extend the same courtesy.”

“No,” I agree. “He wants you dead. I suggested something to him.”

“What?” His breath tickles my face. Never have I stood this close to a man before. It’s electrifying.

“That we marry instead.”

Matteo’s eyes widen. “And?”

“And he hated the idea. He doesn’t trust you. He thinks you would hurt me if given the chance. And maybe he’s right. Maybe I’m being na?ve.”

“I haven’t hurt you, Julia.”

“Yet.”

“Never. From the first moment I saw you, I knew I could never hurt you. Call it irrational but it’s true.”

“Why?” My voice comes out a whisper.

“I don’t know why. This goes beyond anything I ever expected.” His hands gently cup my face and I don’t move. I wouldn’t miss this for the world. “I shouldn’t even be touching you right now.”

“Yes. You shouldn’t be.”

“You’re not mine.”

“I’m not yours,” I agree.

“But the thought of you marrying that asshole doesn’t sit right with me.”

“You shouldn’t say that to me.’

“You’re right. But why else did you want to meet? What did you think would happen?”

“I had no idea,” I whisper.

His thumb runs over my lips. “So innocent. Were you hoping I’d talk you out of it?”

“Maybe. Or save me… somehow.”

“I can’t make you mine, Julia. I’d have to kidnap you and your brother wouldn’t like it.”

“Not if I left with you.”

“He’d still consider it kidnapping. And besides, you don’t want to leave with me. We’re still strangers.”

“But are we? I told you about my parents. You told me about your mom. How can we really be strangers at this point?”

“True. But we can’t do this.”

“I know,” I say. Matteo’s hands are strong on my face. Secure. Sexy. “So, you should let me go then. If I’m not yours, then you need to back up.”

“You’re right.” But he doesn’t move and neither do I.

“Maybe I thought if I told you about Connor, then somehow you could take care of the issue for me.”

“Kill him, you mean? I don’t like to kill people if I don’t have to. And I never thought you’d be someone to suggest it.”

“I know. But I can’t marry him. He frightens me.”

“I could kill him,” he says quickly. “Honestly, if it meant keeping you away from him, I would kill him. But then that would lead Dante into a war with the Irish and I know he doesn’t want that. I can’t risk more wars falling down onto our heads.”

“I know,” I sigh. “And I would never normally ask someone to kill someone. That’s not who I am. I guess I’m just… desperate. And scared.”

“If I could protect you, I would.”

I lean in closer to him and he does the same. There’s barely any space separating us.

“I wish you could too,” I say.

Matteo’s eyes meet mine. My eyes meet his. There’s a moment of inhale.

And then we kiss.

His lips are soft and warm and perfect on mine. I have no idea what I’m doing but I let it happen naturally. I follow his lead.

Matteo grips my face tighter but it doesn’t hurt. It only heightens the pleasure of it. My own hands find his chest and press against him, needing to feel all of him. If I only get this moment with him, I’m going to savor it forever.

I gasp and that breaks the spell.

Matteo stumbles back from me like he’s been shocked. “Julia.”

We both know that what we just did should not have happened but it did and there’s no taking it back now. This changes everything between us.

“You’re not mine,” he says.

“I know. And you’re not mine.”

“I know.” He runs his hand down his face with a sigh. “I never should have done that.”

I can’t ignore the sting that hits me. “Do you regret it?”

“I regret it because now I want you even more.”

I shiver. No man has ever spoken to me like this. It’s intoxicating. It’s dangerous.

“You need to leave,” he says. “Return home. You belong there.”

“With Connor?”

He winces. “I’ll try to help. I’ll try to convince Dante to go after him but he won’t want to and I can’t tell him the reason I really want Connor dead. But I’ll try. I can promise you that.”

“And I promise that I’ll try not to marry him but Viktor seems set on it. He wants it to happen. He’s just waiting for me to give the go-ahead.”

“I need to go. Anyone could find us here. We can’t meet again.”

“I know.” But I also know that I’ll call Matteo again. That I’ll try to meet up with him again. There’s no point in pretending otherwise.

I return home with a smile on my face. It’s getting easier and easier to sneak past the guards. Viktor doesn’t even suspect a thing since he trusts me so much.

But it’s not Viktor I run into when I return home. It’s Inessa.

She’s lounging in the backyard, reading a book, and doesn’t notice me as I slip through the back gate. But there’s no way I can get past her into the house without her noticing.

I just have to pretend like I wasn’t just sneaking back inside. “Hey,” I say, making her flinch.

“Oh. Julia. I didn’t know you were out here.” She sets her book down. “Where did you come from?” Her eyes flit over to the back gate and back to me.

“I just wanted to come out here and enjoy the fresh air. You must not have heard me. So engrossed in your book.”

She laughs a little but there’s a tightness there that I don’t like. “Yeah. I was. Do you want to join me?”

“I’m good. I’ll head back inside now.” I reach the back door when Inessa says my name.

“Julia. Where were you really?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you came in through the back gate. I know what it’s like to hold onto a secret and sneak around. I did back when I was your brother’s maid. I would sneak out to see my father. So who are you sneaking out to see?”

I love Inessa as a sister but she can’t know the truth. I can’t ask her to lie to Viktor for me. “No one. I was just enjoying some time to myself. Away from all the guards.”

I can’t tell if she buys it or not but she doesn’t ask any more questions and I don’t provide any more answers.