Say I Do (Vitale Brothers, #3)

by Brea Alepoú

Lorelei’s marriage had been arranged. It shouldn’t matter who she loved. Dad set her up. It was a done deal. Then why the fuck am I here tied up? My back stiffened, and the muscles in my shoulders pulled tighter. The pain hardly registered as the wheels turned in my head. Fuck. I’m the goddamn replacement bride.

Benito was one of those men you fucked on a drunken Sunday, woke up in the morning, and scrammed never to do a repeat.

A man like Benito couldn’t love, and I had no plans to ever love anyone. That shit was for suckers and dreamers. My dreams had died a long time ago.

What are you going to do with him? I wouldn’t let that man anywhere near my dick.” I glared. “I don’t want to fuck him.” “Now,” Enzo muttered. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Enzo shrugged, sipping at his drink as he kept his gaze on me. I stared at him until he broke eye contact to look anywhere else in the bar but at me.

“I’m sorry,” I told Enzo. He tried to hide it, but I could see the hurt on his face. “Seriously, I am. I didn’t know what to say or how to explain it. I just…” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “It even overwhelmed me, okay? I didn’t know how to have a conversation about it.” “We all do crazy shit,” Gin said. “Like some of us date, stalk, fuck cops, and don’t say anything either,” he pointed out.

“Salute,” Gin said as he raised a glass. “To your marriage. May it be a… not a pain in the ass one. And hopefully, you can get some ass and stop being such a pain in ours.” “Hear, hear,” Enzo agreed. I stared between the two of them. “Fuck you both. Salute.”

I cannot be into my husband.

“I will kill you.” Benito cracked a smile; it was cruel and void of any real emotion. “Many have tried. Do your best.” Fuck, this asshole gets on my nerves. I let the door close and left the bathroom. I would either drive my knife into his neck repeatedly or strip out of my clothes and fall prey to the devil.

He thought he could put me in the guest room out of sight and out of mind. I thought the fuck not. Benito would think about me every second of every day. I would burrow so deep into the man’s psyche that he would start believing we were one and the same.

I had time to put a fresh coat of black nail polish on. It matched the new panties. Had to hand it to Tony; he’d chosen a great pair. Granted, I’d given him an exact list of what I wanted, but still, some people weren’t capable of reading. I twisted in the mirror and admired my ass in them. The tattoo of a huge black and red snake covered most of my back. There were about two inches of clear skin right above my ass. The black panties sported a triangle cut out that framed my cheeks nicely. I glared at my pale skin, which was still red from Benito’s spanking earlier. The black panties only made it stand out even more.

I was certain lusting after Benito Vitale’s anger was probably the most chaotic, idiotic thing ever.

Benito burst through the door, a towel around his waist and one of the ten-inch blue and purple tentacle dildos in his hand. I smirked. Welcome to the marriage from hell.

Kill me! He’s a fucking psychopath who leaves a trail of dildos wherever he goes!

“One day you’re going to push me too far, and I’ll break your pretty little neck.” Benito squeezed my throat before letting it go and backed up. An involuntary shiver racked through me. “Noted.” I touched my throat, licking my lips. “You think my neck’s pretty? What else do you like about me, husband?”

Red panties dotted with little bows filled my vision. I would have laughed if all the air hadn’t been sucked out of my lungs. Seeing him in something so soft when I’d just watched him almost murder a woman was too insane of a juxtaposition to swallow.

Harlow looked up at me, raised a brow, and then his lips cracked into a genuine smile. I abruptly stopped laughing. That smile lit up his whole face. It was different from his smug looks or the taunting expression he so often wore. It was almost enough to knock me off my feet. Fuck. He’s beautiful.

“The next time you send some other man out to buy you panties, I’ll set them on fire. You’ll be lucky if you don’t follow.” A groan slipped his lips before he wet them. “It’s so hot when you threaten to kill me.”

“You mad, mostricio?” I asked. “Cazzo, stai così bene con i miei vestiti,” I groaned. “Let me see your panties.”

“Sei un mistero per me, mostricio. Non so cosa fare con te.” I kind of liked that we didn’t know each other’s language. I knew the bare minimum of Italian, and Benito knew little Japanese. It gave us that wall we both desperately needed to lean on. I held on tighter to Benito. “何かを欲することが怖い。いつか全ては奪われるであろう。。。けど俺は多分あれ望んでいるかも” I am afraid to want anything. Someday, everything will be taken away, but I think I want this.

“I’ll do it,” Harlow said, his words barely above a whisper. “It was my fuck up.” There goes my stupid heart again. It pounded away in my chest as if it was trying to run a marathon. As I stared at Harlow, he glanced at me and shoved up a middle finger. I chuckled at his antics. Okay, so he’s insane, but… he’s almost sweet.

Benito froze, and I would have laughed if I didn’t realize what I’d said. The shit was slipping out of me way too easily. I blamed his dick. Benito worked that thing like a magic wand. I was being nicer and, overall, a decent human being. That wasn’t me.

“Hai delle bellissime mani delicate. Sembrano e si sentono bene avvolte intorno al mio cazzo.”

“Are you happy to see me, or is that a gun?” “Both.” Benito’s arms went around my waist effortlessly. It screamed domesticated, but I couldn’t figure out if I’d tamed Benito Vitale or he’d tamed me.

“Avete messo il mio amico contro di me,” Quincy said. “Parla italiano?” “Che cosa hai fatto alla mia Harlow?”

Why don’t you give me a big hug?” What the hell is wrong with him? Benito snatched me back. “Se lo tocchi, ti strappo le braccia e te le infilo su per il culo,” Benito said.

“See you at the rehearsal dinner.” Quincy’s hazel eyes were pinned behind me. “Meglio tenerlo stretto o lo porto via.” “Non c’è posto al mondo in cui tu possa nasconderti se tocchi ciò che è mio,” Benito said.

“You’re the head of your family, and you take care of what needs to be taken care of. Yeah, yeah. I don’t care.” My heart raced as I continued to talk. I couldn’t believe what I was saying. I should have been nothing more than an accessory. Nowhere in the contract did it state I needed to help Benito with his family or anything. At most, I was to smile at events and make his public profile scream happy family man. “I’m your husband. Your problems are mine. Stop carrying everything alone. You ha— You have me now.” I was going to puke all over the shower any second now. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Lorelei’s words came crashing through my mind. Was I happy? It kind of felt like I was. And it was all because of my husband. Shit, fuck, damn. I think I like Benito Vitale.

Fuck, boss Benito is so hot. I’d never tell him, but I sure as shit could admire it. Benito’s hand rested at the base of my spine as he turned us away from Andrew. Benito leaned down and whispered against my ear. “Keep looking at me like that, and I will fuck you in the middle of this restaurant.”

“Mostricio, non nascondetevi da me. Non eri quello che cercavo, ma sei tutto ciò di cui ho bisogno.”

“Can I borrow that?” “Sure.” I yanked the knife free. Blood spilled on my shoes as the man dropped. “Here.” “So considerate,” Harlow sighed. “Fuck, I love you.” “I love you too.”