Page 112 of She Belongs to Me

“No more talking until we get back to safety. Then we’re going to have a nice, long chat.”

“Oh, that.”

I was shaking from the rush of adrenaline inside, thankful that she was safe. I’d never felt so out of control, so helpless. I didn’t like it one bit. I’d pledged to protect and keep her safe and I’d almost lost her on my property.

That was never going to happen again.

As I crushed my mouth over hers, she clung to me with all the ferocity of someone in love. Maybe that was me. One week was all it had taken.

One week.

If only this could be a fairytale ending.

But there was more, much more to deal with.

Only this time, I would have the upper hand.

And keep it.

Alexandra

“You can’t do this. Not now. We have people waiting.” I was feigning shock when I knew I deserved punishment. Keeping the threat from him had possibly allowed Mattia the feeling of security that he could get away with arson and kidnapping. To think about what Nico and his family had almost lost would forever haunt my nightmares.

Six of the longest days had passed, most of the time spent with Nico in one meeting or another. Clean-up had already started on the estate, every employee pitching in to help with clearing debris and replanting.

Including myself.

Thankfully, only twenty percent of the crops had been lost, but several of the oldest trees had become casualties. I was as heartbroken as anyone else, blaming myself.

Not just for keeping the threat a secret, but for being here.

But I’d never, ever witnessed such amazing, resilient people or felt so needed and cared for as I had the last few days.

Including by Isabella, Domino, and their mother. She’d insisted on cooking for the employees, taking over Nico’s kitchen and appearing as if she was loving every minute of it.

When she wasn’t barking orders to various chefs she’d hired.

The amount of food that had come out was astounding. And I’d gotten to be a part of all of it.

This was… my family.

“I can do anything I want,” Nico said as he ripped off my bath towel. He even taunted me by lifting the bath brush into the reflection.

I bit my lower lip, giving him a hard look. “But we have guests downstairs and I need to look presentable. More so today than any other day.”

“They can wait. This is important. I almost lost you. That is never going to happen again. Do you understand me?”

He could still make me smile more than any person I’d ever known.

Even if he was determined to spank me.

“I understand.”

Nico’s eyes were shining, but they were still haunted, his breakthrough of emotions powerful these past few days. “I hope you do.”

He was about to spank me and I was admiring him in a towel. What did that make me after everything we’d been through? I wasn’t certain if I’d like the answer.

He didn’t waste any time, bringing down the hard wooden portion of the brush against one side of my buttocks then the other.

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