“Saved my life from your insane father? Ha! You people are mad. Ridiculous. Fucking certifiable!”
I narrow my eyes at her and reach for her hand. “No future wife of mine will use language like that or disrespect the Family.”
She blinks and freezes, as if stunned by what I just said.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
She shakes her head from side to side. I hate the way her tear-stained eyes break my heart. I’m not given to sympathy, and I can’t start now.
“First of all,” she begins, but I’ve had enough. I grip her arm and tug her along faster.
“First of all,” I repeat, interrupting her. “We’re done talking. I said no more. Say one more word, Vittoria, and the way we have this conversation is with you over my knee and your pants around your ankles. Am I clear?” And this time, it won’t be foreplay and she won’t fucking come.
Her jaw drops open as if to protest, but she must see the determination in my eyes. I’m not bluffing. Her eyes darken, but she finally nods.
Good girl.
I open the door to my room and lead her in behind me. I place her behind me and go to turn the key in the lock. I don’t breathe freely until I see my men stationed just outside the door.
I’ll find a reason to send my father to Tuscany. I need him out of here while I do what I have to.
She has no idea how close of a call that was. She doesn’t know how “insane” my father truly is. She hasn’t seen what I’ve seen.
I wish none of us ever had.
Now that I have her alone, I’ll explain everything. I turn to face her and open my mouth to speak, but before I do, she wheels around and slaps my face with all her might. Her fingers connect with my cheek. Pain explodes across my skin, and I actually take a step back. Jesus. Didn’t know the girl had it in her. Didn’t expect that.
“You,” she fumes. “You! You lied to me. You didn’t tell me who you are! You probably sent your father after me. You probably sent him just so you could be the one that saved me from him, didn’t you? You’re sick! You’re criminals! And if you think that I’m going to stay here—”
I grab her wrist and restrain her by bringing her arm behind her back. She winces, but I’m careful not to hurt her. Fury stampedes across my chest like wild stallions. I take a deep breath to calm myself.
I’ll punish her for that, but I don’t want to hurt her.
I restrain her against my chest and drag her into my living room. I sit heavily on a leather armchair and yank her across my knees. My dick’s already hard at the prospect of punishing her.
“I warned you, Vittoria. I told you to stop. You won’t ever raise your hand to me.”
The first slap of my hand across her ass to subdue her makes me painfully hard.
I quickly bare her ass. I spank her hard, my handprint blooming against her virgin skin.
She screams and kicks and fights with all her might, but I ignore her protests as I deliver one rapid smack after another. I’d bet money she’d never been spanked before she met me. She needs to be tamed.
My dick throbs while I slam my palm across her ass, over and over again, giving her the spanking she’s earned.
Finally, when her gorgeous ass is rosy red and she’s screamed herself hoarse, she slumps over my lap, sobbing.
I’m not angry any more, but I keep my voice stern. “Will you raise your hand to me again?”
She shakes her head from side to side. I rest my hand on her fiery hot, bare ass, my cock aching.
“And I won’t hear a curse word from you again, will I?”
She shakes her head. Tears splash on the floor in front of her. She’s really, truly sobbing.
I’ve punished women before. I’ve dominated them, but it’s always been in the context of sex. This was… something different.
I lift her in my arms and tuck her against me. At first, she protests, pushing against my chest, but I wrap my arms around her like a blanket, holding her tightly against me. I don’t let her up.
“Let me go,” she sobs. “I want to go home. You’re all evil. Every one of you.”
Not gonna deny that.
“Shh,” I say, rocking her against me. Somehow knowing that this woman will be my wife, flesh of my own flesh and bone of my bone, makes me feel differently toward her. “You earned that spanking. I saved your life and you slapped my face in thanksgiving?”
Finally, finally, she rests her head on my chest. “I don’t even know what to think,” she says, her voice wobbly. “I don’t understand any of this. I don’t understand what’s going on at all.”