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Because everything about this woman is absolutely perfect—beautiful. She’s like an angel.
This world on display today, the one of love and happily ever after, isn’t where I belong—because a monster like me always belongs in the shadows…
But that day, when the words and vows tumbled from my painted lips, my fate was sealed, and I was sold—in the most legal and business way possible—to a cruel man. A man who’s transformed this mansion into a cage where nobody can help me.
We’re not that bad; we simply have requirements—and no one seems to meet them. I shake my head. Marco is going to fucking kill me.
Because he’s dangerous—and I don’t understand him. And it’s almost as if he’s feeling guilty for not giving me the job…
Because the more I watch her, busying herself with meaningless crumbs and specks of dust none of us would have ever even noticed, the more I sense there’s something else which she’s not telling us.
And that makes her giggle, and it’s a sound that lifts my soul. When she laughs, it’s almost magical. Gone is the careworn woman, and in her place is a lighter, freer girl.
And I realize this is the most relaxed I’ve seen her since the day I met her. I don’t know why, but she always seems as if she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.
And I know that when I find out who the fuck did this to her, he’s going to be really fucking sorry...
“But you can’t let fear take you over. You’re more than capable—you proved it the night we were shot. Sure, you were a little shaky, but you managed to hold your own. Your confidence is in there somewhere, buried under all the doubt and anxiety. You just have to let it out.”
Food is an important part of my life; when it’s something made by Rosa, however, I just turn into a crazy person. I don't know why but I want her to cook and bake only for me, and I don’t want to have to share her with anyone else. I want to be the one showering her with compliments, I want to be the one building up her confidence—and I want to be the one making her smile.
I’m not a gentle kind of lover. I rarely bring women back to the estate. I take care of my needs in other ways—quick fucks in the casino. Rough and fast to satiate my needs, and when it’s over, I walk away. It’s that simple. Rosa deserves better. She deserves to be worshipped, and I’m not the man to do that. I’ll bend and break her into a million pieces.
Because I can’t be responsible for someone else. I can’t have something as heavy as that on my shoulders. But watching how she yelps, cowers, and tries to make herself small in every interaction, it makes me want to protect her in every way possible.
Something roars to life inside me. The need to defend her, but something else. Something darker. The urge to make anyone who’s made her feel less pay. To watch the life drain from their faces under my hands. My hand twitches at my side, but I swallow the fury.
The dog, Marco, and Alessio all just need to leave Rosa the hell alone. Because Rosa is all mine—and only mine...
How could I have been so stupid to fall for his empty words and promises? How could I have ever believed that he really wanted me?
He can have any woman he wants. And, of course, he would choose someone like her over me—someone who’s thin and skinny. Because that’s the very least a man like him deserves.
I can’t do it. I can’t break. I can’t shatter. Ethan needs me whole and well. If I shatter now, there’ll be nothing left of
“Tell me who did this, Rosa. I just want to help. Please.” His voice is unnaturally soft now, layered with some thick emotion, “Please let me help you.”
want to hear him scream. I want him to beg for mercy. I want his last shuddering breath to be done in agony.
“I’ll make sure he’s safe. I swear on my life nothing will happen to him while there’s a breath left in my body. I need to talk to my brothers.”
Her sob echoes around the room. And I swallow hard. I want to pull her into me and rock her. Comfort her in some way that’s new and terrifying all at once.
A grin stretches across my face at the thought—because I want him ruined in every sense of the word. I’m going to make a plan as soon as the opportunity arises. And he’s going to learn just what it means to fuck around with what’s mine...
And there’s something in the way he says those words that makes me feel safe—makes me feel protected. And I see that same look in his eyes as I saw at dinner. And it’s something that has my body heating and my breath picking up.
The only thing I care about right now is Rosa and Ethan not being scared and not flinching. And once I explain this to my brothers, they get it.
I hate how much I crave seeing her smile and hearing her sing. Anything from her is a glorious gift, and I spend the rest of the day thinking about it over and over. It’s a distraction I can’t afford right now, but one that won’t go away.
“Your husband.” The words growl between his clenched teeth. “The bruises on your back and arms. Are they from…before?”
“How could he mark something so fucking beautiful?” The warm breath of his words caresses my face as he leans closer, his forehead pressed against mine. I’m not sure he even realizes he’s said them because the hardness of his face remains. “Tell me. He did this, didn’t he?”
“I don’t like the idea of you not knowing the basics.” And I hate the idea of someone else laying a finger on her without her consent—or the thought that she won’t know how to fight back. Something inside her is willing to fight to survive. She’s proven that much already. “Please? I’ll feel better if you know just a few things. Just enough so that you can buy your time until I can get to you.” I hold her gaze. “And I will always get to you, I swear.”
Rosa has secrets, each one deeper than the last. And I have no right trying to pry them from her. It’d only fuel the obsession I have with her. And then she’d wake up to the monster that lurks beneath my skin and flee.
Every nerve in my body explodes as I lean my hips into her. I know she can feel me, feel what she’s done to me, and I don’t give a damn.
She’s addictive. From the taste of her to the feel of her body against mine. Nothing tastes or feels as good as she does.
Because one taste wasn’t enough. And I want more...
It was just a kiss. But I’ve never been kissed like that. Consumed so completely and fully that it lingers days later.
“I can’t and won’t forget it. That’s not happening for either of us. I refuse to let it. You and that kiss are all I’ve thought about for four fucking days, Rosa.”
“But nothing. You, Rosa. You have consumed every thought I’ve had for fucking weeks now. There’s no one who haunts my dreams like you do.” He presses closer, trapping me against the island. “I’ve had a taste, and I’m not about to let you go. I’m addicted. Don’t make me forget you. Don’t make me pretend. I won’t be able to do it.”
This woman is an addiction I can’t quit. A problem that I shouldn’t be indulging in, but I’m helpless to stop myself. The way she looks at me. Like I’m something more, something reverent almost, beckons the beast inside me all the more.
There’s something special about Rosa and Ethan. And I’ll be damned if I let a single person harm them ever again. That I’m having these thoughts should scare me—should terrify me to the bone.
She’s so receptive to praise, and I can’t help the smile on my face now. I’d praise her every hour of the day if she’d let me.
I want to make her feel how hard she makes me. My body is no longer my own. I want her to know that I respond instantly and unconsciously to her. That I’m helpless around her. That it’s her body that excites me like this. Because it’s her that I want.
The soft admission twists something in my gut. Sparking some urge to tear the world down for both of them. I’ll enact my vengeance on their behalf before it’s all over. They’ll never know that kind of horror again.
I brush my thumb over her cheek with the lightest of touches. “Rosa, I just want to help. All I want is for you to have more time with Ethan. And for me to spend more time with both of you too.”
She’s going to hate it, but I’m determined to step up for her. To step in and help. Not because she needs it. But because I need to be near her like I need oxygen. I need her in my arms, next to me, within reach. And I plan on having my next hit of her very soon.
This is too domestic for someone like me. And yet, watching Rosa relax and talk to me with ease erases whatever doubt lingers in the back of my skull.
I don’t give a fuck about anything else. It’s only her that matters. I want to learn her taste and drown in it. I want to hear her plea and moan for me. And I want to feel her touch as she begs for more.
I’m a prisoner to her, and I’d gladly never leave.
This is heaven, my face between her legs, listening to her cry out and come undone because of me.
“That’s all for you, baby. There’s not a goddamn thing on this earth that’ll feel as good as it will when I sink into you. Whoever the fuck told you otherwise is a goddamn liar.”
“But nothing. I don’t give a fuck about what he told you. What I do care about is hearing those beautiful sounds you make right before you come. This time with me buried inside you.”
“Every goddamn word, God as my witness. There’s nothing you could do that wouldn’t turn me on, Rosa. I want this. I want you. No, fuck that, I need you. Now be a good girl and help me.”
