Page 46 of Forced Vows

My older cousin doesn't smile as much as she used to, not that my uncle notices. He's too busy growing his kingdom. When he does notice Kara, it's to pressure her to give him another grandchild.

She's not the same girl she was at sixteen when she agreed to marry a man she'd never met from a different country. And the eighteen-year-old with stars in her eyes who thought that marriage might be like my parents is long gone too.

Fiona's spoon filled with pistachio gelato dangles from her hand inches from her mouth as she stares at me with wide eyes. "He's the Genovese underboss."

"That doesn't make him a god." Not even the god of war.

I can't believe the Ares I shared my body with so enthusiastically is Miceli-the asshole-De Luca.

My cousins still don't know that Ares and Miceli are the same guy and I have no intention of telling them.

Besides, they're not the same. Not really. I wasn't the only one playing a role that night. Ares had a sense of humor and he rocked my world.

Before kicking me out of his hotel room. Maybe they're not so different after all.

Two Months Prior

Ritz-Carlton, Portland

Ares slides his hand down my back and lets it rest right above my bottom, using it to guide me to the bank of elevators. His room is on a floor that requires a keycard to access.

He doesn't kiss me on the silent ride up and I'm glad.

My mind is spinning with what I'm about to do, but my body is so eager, my panties are soaked. Excitement thrums through me making it hard to think.

To even breathe.

If I hyperventilate in this elevator, I'm going to drop dead from embarrassment.

Suddenly two hands cup my face and tilt my head so I'm looking into a pair of unfathomable eyes. "Okay?"

I try to nod, but it's an abortive movement, my muscles jerking from conflicting fight or flight signals.

And my brain is screaming, "Stay."

This is exactly where I want to be. About to have sex for the first time with a man of my choosing.

"Do you want this?" he asks again.

"If I say no?"

"I order you a car and make sure you get home safely."

Not a rideshare. Not for a man who stays on a private floor of a hotel like this one.

"I want to stay. I choose you." He can't know what I mean, how profoundly those words impact my own mind.

But I am taking back my choice for tonight. This is my stolen moment to be the woman I always wanted to be and will never get the chance to know again.

"I'm glad you chose me. Helios was pissed though."

"Was he?" How did Ares know?

"Because I would have been if you had chosen him to dance with instead."

"You make it sound like you were both fighting for my attention."

"Weren't we?"

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