She pushes on my chest. “You’re a disgusting man, Matteo. This is exactly why I didn’t want to marry you.”
“I think I can change your mind.”
“How?”
“By telling you what else I know about you.”
She huffs. “And what’s that?”
“I also know you’re so fucking beautiful it almost hurts.”
She blinks, clearly not expecting that response. Her lips part as if to speak, but she remains quiet.
“I know you have the sexiest body I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s not going to make me feel special,” she says, even though her voice is breathless again. “My sister and I have the same face and body. If you find me so irresistible, why don’t you marry her? She’s dying for you to give her attention. She’d gladly marry you.”
I lean in closer until there’s only the smallest of spaces between our lips. “Because I don’t want to marry Serafina. I want to marry you, Adelina.”
She sucks in a breath. “Why? Why me? What makes me more interesting than her? Serafina is bolder, wilder. All I like to do is dance and stay inside. You’ll get bored of me in a matter of weeks.”
“Don’t tell me what I’ll do.”
“Then don’t do the same to me.”
She has a point. “I’m fascinated by you, Adelina. Since the moment I saw you, I’ve been fascinated. I’m not sure why, if I’m being honest. It’s clearly not because you’re into me. But I feel it.”
“That’s the best you can do?”
“I’m being honest. I figured you’d appreciate it.”
She shrugs. “Maybe you only like me because I’m hard to get. I’m not fawning over you like Serafina. You like the chase, don’t you? A man like you, drawn to the edge, drawn to danger. Why wouldn’t you like that? And see? You’re only proving my point. Once you have me, you’ll get bored of me.”
“Is that what you’re worried about? Is that why you don’t want to marry me?” I trail my fingers up and down her arm again. “You don’t want to get your heart broken.”
“You know nothing of my heart, Matteo. Don’t pretend you do. I don’t want to marry you, not because I’m worried thatyou’ll hurt me, but because I think you’re not worthy of my hand. There. I admitted it. I’m not scared to get heartbroken. I just don’t want to be married to a man I think is a brute.” Her words are impassioned. With every word she spits at me, our lips get closer.
“I am a brute, all right.”
She makes a pointed look at my arms beside her head. “Obviously. You have me trapped here. Are you going to throw me on the ground and have your way with me?”
“Don’t tempt me, Adelina.”
“I thought you said you weren’t going to hurt me.”
“I’m not. If I threw you on this floor right now and fucked you, it would be because you were begging me to. You’d desperately want me to touch you.”
Her nose scrunches up. “I seriously doubt that will ever happen. I can’t even stomach the thought of a man like you touching me,”
“A biker, you mean?”
“Yes, a filthy biker. Even your clothes are dirty. You stuff food into your mouth without chewing. And you smell like stale cigarettes and …” She leans towards my neck and sniffs. “Is that perfume? Something you need to tell me, Matteo?”
I shrug. “Just residual from the last woman I fucked.”
She flinches.
“Hey, you wanted to know.”