Page 90 of Bad Little Bride

“I asked her to get me the birth control because I was moved to your bed?—”

“Ourfucking bed!”

I smile, enjoying this far too much. “Our bed.”

Enzo growls, his lip curling. “That’s not an answer.”

“And I’m not done speaking.”

He clenches his jaw, the vein there tic, tic, ticking away.

“I figured it was only a matter of time once we were in the same bed, so yes, I asked for birth control, but not so I could fuck my husband and pretend to be oh-so sad when a mini him didn’t end up in my belly. I asked for it to protect myself.” His brows dip, gaze roaming over every inch of my face as he tries to work this out and fails. It’s sad, really.

It’s like he said to me, I would have thought the reason would be obvious, but since it isn’t, I do him better than he did me, and spell it out. “There’s no telling how long I’ll be the one wearing your ring, and I’d hate to wake up one day pregnant with your heir, only to find a better version of me has come along.”

Enzo rears back like I slapped him, literally stumbling a bit before he catches himself, and I take slow steps away.

“It’s like I said before.” I continue as if his face isn’t the depiction of disbelief, maybe even…dejection, and I lift a shoulder as if the words that leave me next don’t burn like acid on their way out. “Maybe the next one who offers you whatever you find you’re after will be a redhead, and you’ll get to taste the final color in thewiferainbow.” I quickly spin and head for the bathroom so I don’t have to look at whatever expression may cross his face. “Two down and only one to go.”

“There will be no one but you!” he shouts.

“There already is!” I slam the door and lock it.

And then I fall to the floor, refusing to let the tears come when I hear the clink of something falling, followed by the distinct smell…of burning plastic.

Chapter

Nineteen

Boston

I waketo a far more refreshing aroma than the one I fell asleep to—fresh ground espresso beans. I’m surprised when I sit up to find a note on the pillow beside me, a black rose stabbed through the golden paper. I slip it free and read it over, but the only thing on it is his name in a calligraphy so pristine it could pass as being printed.

My head hits the pillow once more and I draw the rose up to my nose, surprised by the scent. There is no hint of sweet softness of a flower. No, it smells of amber and clove, of leather, and metallic, like a fresh cut rather than freshly cut from the vine. As if it were dipped in his very dominance.

I inhale again, my eyes closing, quite the image filling the darkness I’m now sated in.

Him hovering above me, his knuckle brushing my thigh as he viciously stroked himself to his finale.

I can’t believe he wiped his cum all over me.

It may have been the most irritating and intoxicating moment of my life.

On one hand, I wanted to slap the shit out of him for demeaning what he did by saying he was marking me like a dog…but on the other, I wanted his fingers to slide between my lips and “force me” to swallow.

I don’t dare think about what happened after, the way he ruined me right there on the stairs for any of his men to see. Not that they’re that stupid.

The chilled window against my back, his burning body buried in my front.

My thighs rub together in the silk sheets, overdosing on his scent. As I press it further to my nose, lifting the stem higher, something slips from the center, a coolness sliding over my neck as it falls behind me.

I jerk upright, scooting down until I spot something shiny. Picking it up, I pull it closer to my face.

It’s a small cluster of diamonds in the shape of a book, with a small thread hanging from the end, a miniature note dangling from it.

To remind you of our scene together,it reads.

Warmth washes over me, the adorable play on the word scene not missed on me, and I chastise myself for how giddy it makes me, swiftly jumping from the bed, fully prepared to forget all about the thoughtful gesture…only to spot a second black rose lying across the top of the espresso machine. The exact spot he knew I’d go first.

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