Page 27 of Contract of a Billionaire

“You intend to marry Autumn right away?” he questioned.

“I’ll marry her when we are both ready, but in your book, she’s married,” I warned. “And no longer your concern.”

He scoffed. “Do her parents know?”

I stared him down and remained silent until he started to squirm. The old man was well into his eighties and needed to retire. But he refused to pass on the torch to anyone but his daughter or granddaughter. Unfortunately for him, one didn’t want it and the other didn’t even know he existed.

With this marriage, it would allow me to take control of their businesses upon his passing. He had willing nephews that were quite capable to take over. I might push it off onto them. I didn’t want this territory or conflict with the DiLustros.

“Autumn’s mother promised she’d allow you to marry her to your most advantageous ally,” I told him coldly. “But if you have no say in Autumn’s marriage, I’ll go and negotiate with Autumn’s parents.”

That had him straightening in his seat. He hated that he had no power over their daughter. I suspected it made him proud and infuriated at the same time. Compared to my own parents, the Blanchet family was fairly decent.

“Let’s sign the contract.”

It was that goddamn easy to get a wife these days.

Chapter10

Autumn

Iwoke up, enveloped in the scent that was quickly becoming a familiarity and the soft moon glow. It was late. Or early, I wasn’t certain.

My body ached. The sweet exhaustion kind of ache that I wouldn’t mind more of. After he’d spilled inside me, I was sore all over and unable to move. Alessio disappeared into the bathroom and came back with a rag, then gently cleaned me up as I watched him.

And something deep in my chest warmed. Yeah, stupid but what-the-fuck-ever. I loved it.

Alessio was amazing, and I was so fucking glad I waited to do it until now.

I ran a hand across the side of the bed where Alessio slept, but I found the sheets cold. Sitting up, I brought the sheet up to cover my naked body and blinked my eyes. The room was dark but I could smell something. I could sense someone.

“It’s me.”

My eyes whipped in the direction of the voice, and it was only then that I could distinguish a shape sitting on a chair in the far right corner with the flicker of the red brim of the lit cigarette.

“I didn’t know you smoked,” I murmured.

“I quit.”

Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t quite figure out what. Maybe he didn’t enjoy sex with me as much as I enjoyed it with him. Maybe I overstayed. I pushed my hand through my long, tangled messy hair.

I wasn’t experienced like him but my sixth sense told me he enjoyed it. I felt his muscles shudder, his grunts still vibrated in my core, and his mouth devoured me like I was his last meal on Earth. Yeah, I was certain he enjoyed it.

Which left only one conclusion. I must have overstayed my welcome. I shifted off the bed, my feet hitting the hardwood soundlessly.

“I’ll get dressed and go,” I murmured, rising up.

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

I stilled, hesitation slithering through my veins. My eyes focused on the dark silhouette. The lit cigarette cast a shadow across Alessio’s face. My breath hitched the more he came into focus. He wore ripped jeans, his upper torso completely bare and the sight was beautiful.

It made me want to snap a photo and memorize it forever. Just as he was now. The mixture of darkness and bad boy, but also something deeper. Something vulnerable.

Earlier, or was that yesterday, when he stripped, I noted the ink that marked his upper chest and arms, but I was so focused on him that I didn’t get to study the tattoos. It was still hard to distinguish them in the dark, but it’d be impossible to miss how fucking gorgeous he was. Every inch of him.

“Come here.” An order and my legs already moved towards him, the sheet dragging behind me. “And lose the sheet.”

My grip on the sheet loosened and it dropped soundlessly, pooling around my feet. Something heavy flickered in his gaze, pulling me with invisible strings towards him.