Page 5 of Burn for Me

Holy shit.

My skin was sticky as I tried to hold my body still in one spot. I fought the urge to pace as I heard the accented timber of his voice in the hallway. Using my hand to fan my fiery face, I pleaded with the gods to return my heart rate to a human level. I feared it would burst straight from my chest and land at my fiance's feet as he graced the room.

After a few moments, that felt an awful lot like a million years, the dining-room door opened at last.

‘Laura!’ Massimo's beautiful face broke into a grin as soon as his eyes roved over me.

I didn't know whether to kiss him or fucking curtsy. My body felt like jelly stuffed into a sausage casing as I awkwardly made my way toward him.

'Massimo, it's so lovely to see you again.' Stretchingup on my tiptoes, I placed a kiss on his cheek, just left of his mouth. His body tensed as I did. Was he as affected as I?

'Indeed,' he said, giving me a tight smile before turning away as my mother and father walked in behind him.

'Shall we get dinner started?' my mother said. 'The chef has prepared us quite the feast.'

When I tried to take a seat next to Massimo, my mother tutted and directed me to one on the far side of the table, putting my brother and father next to my intended instead.

'Mum,' I hissed under my breath, 'Surely I should sit next to my soon-to-be-husband?'

'You've already secured your part of the deal, Sweetie. All you need to do is say I do and spread those thighs for him. Your brother and father still have potential connections to make.' She brushed past me, a fake smile plastered on her face as always.

Fury made my cheeks flame as I took my seat, idle chatter bubbling between the men while the entrees were served.

Massimo looked almost regal next to my brother. He sat straighter and spoke with a calculated ease. He was also just as handsome as I remembered. Imagining myself wrapped up in his toned arms in less than twenty-four hours had me near writhing in my spot. Would he be romantic and gentle with me? Or would he be passionate? Would he push me to my knees and...

Jesus, Laura. Not with your family in the room.

I shifted my focus back to the babble of conversation. The words were far more heated than I'd been expecting as I tuned in.

'You see, George, we had a deal, but it turns out that youhave been lying to me for months,' Massimo said, his eyes glittering dangerously.

My mother's eyebrows creased as she tried to follow the exchange.

'It's not like that.' My father's voice was strained, high-pitched and laced with fear. 'There were a few snags.'

'You call losing your connections through Belgium a fucking snag?’ Massimo snarled, ‘We had a deal. I marry your daughter, and you ensure the smooth passage of goods via the Belgian port.'

I'd known there was a business agreement behind our union, but to have it so blatantly said in front of me was like being punched in the gut.

No, I told myself,his letters showed how he really feels.

'And worse than that, I find out you and your son have been undercutting me for months. Taking my stock and selling it out beneath me while pretending everything's been fine. Did you think I wouldn't fucking find out?' Massimo's face had twisted into a truly frightening mask. Anger replaced any sign of the man I’d briefly met before.

'George,' my mother gasped. 'Is this true?'

Elijah rolled his eyes. 'Don't act as if you didn't know, mother. It was your idea.'

My brain felt like it was seeping out of my ears as I looked from one face to another. They had all been lying to my fiance and me for months? They'd undercut him in business? What the hell?

My head pounded as I stood, a wave of nausea sweeping over me.

'I need to use the bathroom,' I blurted out, heading for the door.

'It's too late for talk,' Massimo continued, talking over whatever my father was saying. 'There is no room for rats.'

An ear-splitting bang rang out behind me. I whipped my head around to see a large spray of red across the wall behind where my mother sat. She slumped over into her venison, gravy dripping down her front and mingling with the blood flowing from the hole in her head.

A scream tore from my throat, and another gunshot cracked like thunder.

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