Page 24 of Deadly Don's Baby Contract

"I don't know, Aria. I don't know." I believe him.

***

We go back to the cabin with our uneaten lunch. Hunger is a distant memory now. We walk and say nothing to each other about what's just happened or the men we've just left to be stripped like antelope on the Serengeti by wolves.

It's wrong, and I fight it with every fiber of my being, but feeling this safe with someone, this protected, makes me confused and aroused. Watching him make quick work of those men in the forest was exciting and strangely calming. Knowing that he exercises that much control with just a thought and can move from tender lover to a man willing to kill to protect makes me see him in a strange and exciting new light. I’m torn, though. I wanted to leave that life behind. I don’t want a killer. I’m done with that. I should leave.

I left my family because I wanted to get away from the meaningless violence that is their bread and butter, but here I am hundreds of miles and years later, right back at the place I've been running from, and falling for someone who epitomizes everything that I have come to hate.

The confusion is overwhelming, but then so was the fear I felt when I thought they would beat him in the woods. Not fear for myself or my safety but for him. That I would lose him. That scared me more than anything else that happened and still scares me now. I hold onto him even harder. I don't pull away. I drink him in and find solace in his embrace.

We arrive at the cabin and he tells me to go upstairs and take a warm bath or shower to relax. He's going to check the perimeter.

He returns after an hour and tells me that he found their car and drove it in the opposite direction from where we are, in case they're being monitored, and pushed it off a ravine.

"Do you think that will work?" I ask.

"Yes. These woods are designed to swallow people in. It's where people come when they want to fall off the face of the earth." He pauses and strips down to ease himself into the hot, sudsy water. I've never bathed with anyone before and have to suppress a girlish giggle. "There's not much coverage out here, so I guess that it will be a while before they're missed or even found."

I notice the welts and bruises from his fighting and how every time water comes into contact with it, he winces. I get out of the tub and remove some antiseptic and cotton balls from the cupboards.

I get back in the tub and move over to him to tend to his wounds. When I'm done, I begin to slowly massage the knots out of his shoulders, neck, head and arms. I spread my legs, and he slides comfortably into the space between them with his back to me. He relaxes into me and lets me work his tired body.

We're wrinkled when we get out. We towel off, and he goes to the kitchen and returns with food and drinks. We lie on the bed and watch movies on the TV that appears from behind an oak-paneled wall. Surprisingly, he likes light-hearted comedies like me. "Enough darkness in the world," is all he says when I ask why.

Somewhere around Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler's make-up kiss, I hear a gentle snoring from my place in the crook of his arm. I look up and take in his soapy scent, snuggle in, and let the night take me.

Chapter 9

Franco

I stand there trying not to look guilty, but there's a rage deep inside of me. Aria should be mine. We belong together. We were made for each other. It's like we’re two halves of a whole. Two puzzle pieces that belong together perfectly.

I can't stand the thought of her being with Marco, and when he walks in, and we're forced to jerk away from each other, it enrages me. I don't want to hide what we have.

I have to make her mine.

Marco stands in the doorway for a moment, considering us before crossing to the table. "Aria, sit, please."

I notice he doesn't ask me to sit.

Marco pushes a folder toward Aria. She flips it open, and there is a stack of pages within it.

"Our marriage agreement. This will bind us in our marriage, and you will ensure I have heirs as soon as humanly possible."

Aria looks up at him with wide eyes. "Heirs?"

"Babies? Children? Call it what you will. We begin as soon as the nuptials are complete."

I walk over and pick up the contract, tossing it into the fireplace. "She's not doing it."

"Franco..." Aria starts to say.

"No, I'm not letting you force Aria to marry you. She doesn't want to be with you."

Marco stands up. "I warned you not to get too close to her."

"I'm not a thing..."

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