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Chapter Six

Gracie

“ C ome in!” he booms, and I jump like a cat on hot bricks.

Jeez, calm down, Gracie, show him he doesn’t control you.

I swipe my clammy hands down my dress, pull my shoulders back, lift my chin, then open the door and march into the room.

His eyes roam over me, but I ignore them and the way they cause heat to flush over my body.

Instead, I keep the task at hand in the forefront of my mind and slam the papers on his desk.

“What the hell are these?” I demand. He opens his mouth to speak, but I hold my palm up.

“I am not a pet, nor do I want to be. And a collar? For what possible reason would I want a collar around my neck like a damn noose. And watersports? In the bedroom? Would it not be best to confine it to somewhere more appropriate like a swimming pool? How the hell would you do watersports in the bedroom anyway?” I wrinkle my nose.

That’s something I really don’t understand, and part of me feels like I’m missing something in the words.

A stifled laugh reverberates from behind the wooden desk, and I become acutely aware that Vinny is not alone in the room. Oh, shit .

My heart races, my cheeks blazing with heat, and I will the ground to swallow me whole.

I turn to face his three sons, two of them with smug grins on their faces, and the older one, Rafael, looks like he’s about to have a coronary, with every vein in his corded neck protruding and his eyes alight with fury.

Oh, God.

“Someone needs to put their new toy in her place,” Rafael says, glaring at me, and my eyebrows shoot up and my mouth falls open at his blatant rudeness.

“Don’t worry, I will.” Vinny’s seething tone slices through me. He’s pissed, really pissed.

My insides twist when I go over everything I said, so I close my eyes to block them out while I try and gain some sense of self-belief.

“I can help with the watersports question!” I snap my eyes open to lock eyes with his youngest son. Rocco sits with humor on his handsome face and his hand held up in the air like he’s in a classroom.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Vinny erupts from his chair and throws himself over the desk toward Rocco, who just leans farther back in his chair, laughing wildly. “Get the fuck out of my office!” Vinny bellows, and I turn to make a quick exit.

“Gracie, you move another inch, and I swear to God, you will not sit down for a month!” he warns. “The rest of you, out!”

The men all chuckle while I cling onto the wooden desk for support. Oh, dear God, this is embarrassing.

“Bye, Gracie, it was nice meeting you. Papa? Is she going to be my next stepmama?” Rocco asks, and my eyes almost shoot from their sockets.

Vinny rushes toward him, his fists balled at his sides as Rafael pulls Rocco away and pushes him out the door.

When the door slams behind them both, I swallow down my nervousness.

“Vinny?” I whisper, caressing his forearm, and his body eases against my touch. When our eyes connect, I feel like everything is right in the world.

There’s something compassionate in his stare, something soft he keeps hidden, and as he bears his soul, I’m too enamored to realize I’m moving until he’s shifted me into position between his legs and taken a seat.