Shocked by the implication, she simply stood and stared at him as he unbuttoned the sleeve of his dress shirt and rolled the fabric up over his elbow. “He hasn’t. He would never.” It was Uncle Gio’s cardinal rule that no members of his household were allowed to consume the drugs he smuggled across the border. Hell, he’d grounded her for a month the first time he’d caught her sneaking a bottle of champagne from his wine cellar.
Now standing directly in front of her, Emilio gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, searching her face with those cold, dark eyes. Whatever he was looking for, he seemed to find. His expression warmed the tiniest fraction and his grip on her face eased. “You didn’t know, did you?”
“Know what, Emilio?” She tried to jerk her head away, but his hold on her didn’t budge.
Fire flashed in his eyes, but not fury. More like excitement, anticipation. The thrill of a predator finally within striking distance of its prey.
“Enjoy your defiance while you can,piccolina.Second question. Why were you here last night? And do not lie to me again,” he warned when she opened her mouth to do exactly that.
She didn’t want to lie. But it wasn’t just her life on the line if he discovered the truth.
“I can’t,” she whispered, after a long, tense silence. “I wish I could, but I can’t.”
“The truth at last,” he murmured, releasing her chin to cup her cheek with his hand. “But luckily for me, I have ways of loosening your tongue.”
Fear, cold and slick, slithered up her spine. “Please, Emil—Daddy,” she corrected herself quickly when his eyes hardened. “Let me go and I’ll disappear and we can both pretend this never happened. Please.”
“I think you know I can’t do that, Amara. But I believe you’ve misinterpreted my meaning. I’m not going to hurt you,piccolina.”
Relief flooded her. “You’re not?”
“Well, not in the way you’re expecting. Some of what I have planned for you tonight will hurt, but I believe you’ll enjoy the process.” His slow smile was filled with wicked intent. “Eventually.”
Again with the thumping between her thighs. She had no doubt he could make her enjoy whatever it was he was planning to inflict on her. And somehow those cold licks of fear only served to make her more aware of the need pulsing through her.
“Arms up,piccolina.Daddy is going to undress you.”
Too afraid for outright defiance, she slowly raised her arms so he could tug the offensive pile of pink fluff up over her head, leaving her completely bare to his gaze. She couldn’t help but snarl a little in disgust when he tossed the offensive garment over the back of a chair.
“Question number three.” His eyes danced with obvious amusement. “What do you have against pink?”
“It’s just so... girly.”
“What color do you prefer?”
“Red.”
“It suits you. I’m sure I can accommodate your preferences moving forward.”
Her heart tripped in her chest. “You speak as though you mean for me to stay.”
“I’ve considered it.” Lifting a hand to her breast, he rolled her nipple between his fingers, drawing a whimper from her lips. “Would it really be so bad, Amara?”
“I can’t live like this. It’s... this isn’t who I am.”
“Of course it is. This is exactly who you’ve been raised to be. The wife of a powerful man.” Those clever fingers pinched, hard, sending a shock of pain through her. Straight to her already aching clit.
“You don’t want me,” she whispered.
“Oh, but I do. Whatever you’ve done can be rectified. The penalty may be steep, but I’m not an unreasonable man, Amara.”
The reminder of the punishment she had waiting for her sent another shiver racing down her spine. “I can’t.”
“We’ll see about that. On the bed.”
He gave her a light shove that sent her tumbling backward onto the bed. Gripping both of her wrists in one hand, he jerked her hands above her head and secured them with the restraints as he’d done the night before.
Bound, helpless, hopelessly aroused, she watched him stalk the room. Removing his gun holster, opening a cabinet and removing items she couldn’t quite make out from her position on the bed. Making preparations for whatever it was he had planned for her.