I tip my face into his warm hand.
“I don’t expect the news to be good.”
I know this, but a tear trickles down my cheek anyway. “Any chance it was an accident?”
He swallows hard and shakes his head.
“Any clues as to what happened?”
“Someone almost killed you. My mother was nearby. Do you know how to humiliate a man? How to destroy him?”
I nod. “You take his women. His wife. His mother. His daughters. His sisters. You kidnap, rape, torture, kill them—any one of those atrocities will do.”
He studies me. My response surprises him. It’s a lesson I know deep, deep in my heart.
“No clues at all?” I ask before he prods me to tell him more.
“The bridal bouquet was rigged with a tiny plastic device that managed to get through our security. Someone from the florist left the door of the shop unlocked last night.”
There is hatred in his voice. I’m beginning to feel hatred well inside me too. That decision cost people their lives.I was lucky.
“Who did he leave the door unlocked for?”
“He didn’t know. He was contacted anonymously. A large sum of money was deposited in his account yesterday. My men picked him up at the airport in Lisbon.”
“I’m surprised whoever paid him didn’t kill him after it was done.”
“I suspect they hadn’t gotten to him yet. They were sloppy.”
“Do you think they’ll still try to contact him? Maybe you can—”
He shakes his head. “The devil is the only person contacting him now.”
Antonio killed him—or it was done on his order. I don’t feel any regret. None. It’s chilling. “He’s dead?”
Antonio takes my hand and leads me to the kitchen. “Daniela—no more questions tonight.” He pours himself a big whiskey and downs it in one gulp.
“I’m sure this wasn’t the wedding night you were thinking about, but I need you—now.” With one hand, he sweeps the candlesticks and flowers off the table and onto the floor.
The pain in his face eats right through me.
He reaches for me and rips the nightgown off my body. His eyes swirl with dark emotions that I’ve never seen. I’m not even sure what to call them.
“I’ll take care of you, but first I need this,” he mutters, lifting me onto the table.
As I watch him pull down his pants with trembling hands, the ice inside me cracks—it begins with a small fissure.
His cock is hard and angry, jutting straight out from his body.
A shiver runs through me as he notches at my opening. But he doesn’t push inside.
He wraps my legs around his waist and lowers his mouth to mine in a bruising kiss. “They could have killed you,” he whispers, a low growl twisting from his chest.
His eyes are black—and lost, drowning in despair. I pull his face down and kiss him, sliding my tongue into his mouth.
“Fuck me,” I say softly.
He presses a small kiss to my forehead. “I don’t deserve you,” he murmurs as he takes me ruthlessly.