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The last thing I wanted was to develop feelings for Conner Reid. Being married to the man was bad enough. If I cared for him too, my heart would never survive. Men like him—like my father—didn’t love. Not the way I wanted to be loved.
Inserting myself into Italian family affairs would not go over well, but the thought of anyone but me laying a finger on Noemi made me itch with the need to paint her entire family tree in shades of red.
“You may be out of this house in two weeks, but I’ll still have Sante here with me, so don’t get any stupid ideas in that head of yours.” He dropped the necklace and glared. “You forget your place again, and I won’t care who’s there to witness. I will teach you some respect.”
I didn’t just want to fuck my fiancée; I wanted all of her. Her body and submission. Her trust and compliance. Even her fiery temper and sarcasm. All of it was mine, and I wasn’t about to share.
I’d always thought the worst of the gambling addicts that came to our clubs, night after night, pissing away every dime they had for one more turn of the roulette wheel, yet Noemi was giving me the first glimmer of understanding at the helplessness behind compulsion. There was no logic or rationale, only need and obsession. Dice weren’t my addiction, but I feared a certain green-eyed Italian just might be.
“I do.” Three letters. Two words. One life forever forfeited.
I was already dangerously close to developing feelings for my new husband. A few more tender words and protective gestures, and I was a goner. I had to ask myself whether the battle was even worth fighting. If defeat was a certainty, I should at least enjoy the fall. Then when things turned ugly and something inevitably came between us, I could at least say I tried.
When Noemi had asked me why I’d agreed to marry her, I couldn’t tell her the truth. That she was fucking mine, and that was why. Not just in the eyes of the law or the church. I knew she was mine, deep in my bones.
I’d never met a woman who was so deceptively resilient. I had thought I’d wanted her gentility, but it was her fierce tenacity that hooked its claws into me. I couldn’t help but respect her strength. In my world, respect was everything.
