Page 55 of Stolen By the Enemy

But not today.

Our last encounter was only for pleasure and enjoyment, and the feeling of being close to each other.

At least, that’s what it was for me.

“I…uh.” I look at Marco for some sort of help, not knowing what the right answer is.

My brothers aren’t stupid. They know what is on my neck, so trying to lie to them about that is useless.

But there’s still the question of whether I should tell them exactly how Marco and I have felt about one another since he kidnapped me, or continue to play the damsel in distress just to get this whole thing done safely.

If I tell them I slept with him willingly, they’re going to be angry with me, and they may choose not to take me home.

I might be sad at the idea of leaving Marco, but I am also so homesick.

I could say that Marco forced me, but then they might refuse to sign the deal with him, and he won’t ever let me leave if that happens.

“Does this matter right now?” Marco finally speaks, sounding annoyed that this is even in question.

“Grazia is unharmed, she has been treated as well as can be expected, and she is here, ready for you to take home as soon as we get these papers sorted.”

I relax my shoulders for a second, hoping that his speech will do the trick and they’ll all agree to move on so that we can get home.

I’ll handle my brothers’ questions and their reactions to what I have to tell them once we’re back on familiar soil.

“No. It does fucking matter, actually.”

Luca’s temper has gotten the better of him and his voice is loud again.

“Because it looks like you’ve just played us. It looks like you kidnapped my sister, blackmailed us, and had a great time with her on a Mexican vacation while we were stressing at home trying to meet your demands.”

Luca turns to me, and for the first time, I see just how hard he can look when he is angry.

The two of us have fought before—just before his wedding we got into a horrible argument about his relationship with Emelia.

But I have never seen him this angry, not at me, in any case.

“Is this your payback, Grazia?” he asks me. “You were angry about me marrying Emelia and keeping the deal with Carlos, so you figured your boyfriend could help you get even? Did he even kidnap you? Or did you plan it together? You couldn’t get it right by trying to get Carlos to hand the deal over to you and Enzo, so you recruited your little Mexican fuckboy to do it with you?”

His accusations sting, and I feel tears stream down my face before I can try to stop them.

Looking at my brother, I’m shocked that he thinks that little of me, but my guilt eats at me, knowing he’s not entirely wrong about the situation.

I did try to gain control of the deal with Carlos, but Enzo came up with most of that plan.

And I did sleep with Marco while he was holding me for ransom, but again, that wasn’t how things were supposed to happen.

“No…this isn’t some big elaborate plan, Luca. I would never do that! And the fact that you’re accusing me, after all the shit I’ve been through for this family, hurts like hell. Shit happened, but I was never trying to steal from you, or the family.”

I am fully crying now, and put my hand in front of my face to hide it, gripping the stair railing with the other hand to steady myself.

This is the nightmare that I had thought it might be.

I was hoping that this would all go smoothly, without any hurdles, and I could be on a plane back home before the morning.

But I was a fool to think that could happen. Of course it’s obvious that Marco and I have been blurring the lines between lovers and enemies.

We’ve done it so much lately that my brothers were bound to find out somehow, even without the large mark screaming at them from my neck.

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