Page 73 of Cage of Thorns and Blood

“We are getting married.”

“Matteo, be reasonable.”

“Renata. We’re not kids. Has any man ever made you come like that?”

“No, but you can’t build a marriage on explosive sex.”

“Well, we both tried to build them on practical mundanities, and that didn’t work out so well for either of us. Let’s try another way.”

“Matteo, give me one good, non-insane reason for us to get married.”

“I want to fuck you so bad knowing you’re my wife. I want to fuck you as I call you wife. I want to come all over my beautiful new wife’s tits. I want to wake up and crawl down the bed as you’re sleeping and wake you up to your new husband sucking your perfect pussy. I want to take you to the family holiday home in St. Barts. I want to rename my yacht, and Renata has such a nice ring about it. I can’t name my yacht after a fling, but I can name it after my wife.”

“Matteo, be reasonable.”

“No. I’m many things, and I do have some strong redeeming qualities, but reasonableness is not one of them.”

My phone buzzes and when I glance at it, I see a text from Cassie in Corfu. She’s asking when is a good time to talk about the security detail I had inquired about.

“Who is that?” Matteo demands.

I explain to him who it is, and why she’s messaging me. “You don’t need it, you’re here with me. See this is why you need to marry me. I’ll keep you safe from now on. Tell her you’re thankful for her help but I have it from here.”

“Matteo…”

He kisses me hard and then swats my ass. “Make yourself at home. Go where you like, do what you want. Unlock any drawers you wish to. The combo to the safe is eight, three, nine, one, two, four. Explore. Have some fun.”

“Matteo,” I gasp. “You can’t give me the number to your safe.”

“Why not? I don’t have anything to hide from you. After all, you know I stalked you like an unhinged lunatic for ages. There’s some nice jewelry in there. Family heirlooms.”

“I don’t want Francesca’s castoffs,” I huff, instantly offended.

“I never gave them to her,” he says. “They were passed down through the generations. I always swore to myself I’d only let the woman I loved wear them. Francesca didn’t get to. You can wear them. If you so wish.”

He kisses me again and sweeps out of the room, leaving me utterly speechless.

Did Matteo Mancini just tell me in that unhinged way of his that he loves me?

Chapter 20

Matteo

The trouble is definitely considerable, and it’s definitely aimed at me and mine. Clifford looks uneasy as we talk in the living room. “I think we should go to Defcon two,” he says.

I nod.

“What do we do?” I ask him. “What’s your angle on this?”

“I say we get all the help we can. I heard you making that Andretti bitch scream. If you can make her talk to her family, perhaps we can form an alliance. For now. After all, we might hate them, but they’re still Italian, like us. They respect the rules.”

“What did you say?”

“They respect the rules.”

“No before that.”

“An alliance?”

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