Page 35 of Heartless Vows

If anything happens—anything, be it his fault, my fault, a mutual decision, or a catastrophic event like his death—everything becomes mine. Everything. His stocks. His company. His role in the family business. His dependents.

With my heart in my throat and my mind running a million miles a second, I look to Giorgio, certain he’ll tell me this is all a joke.

It must be a joke. No one who has as much to lose as he does would sign something like this.

No one.

Chapter 10

Giorgio Vivaldi

Her adorable eyesstamp themselves into my psyche. Few things in life have ever swayed me from my original path, but I’d go in any direction she pointed. Without hesitation.

She works her bottom lip between her teeth before huffing and lifting the papers closer to my face.

“This joke isn’t funny,” she says.

I quirk a brow and squeeze her hip.

“It’s not a joke,” I respond.

“Oh yeah, sure. You—Giorgio Vivaldi, the heir to the Vivaldi fortune—are willingly signing your entire life’s work over to me.”

“I am,” I say without hesitation.

“This makes no sense!”

The exasperation in her voice, which is still throaty from sleep, amuses me to no end.

“It doesn’t need to.”

“That’s the dumbest response I’ve ever heard. Why would you do this?”

I shrug and enjoy watching her features as she struggles to process what this means.

“You’re not planning on committing suicide, are you?”

Before I can answer, she stuns me with an even more ludicrous scenario.

“Or planning to fake your death and leave me with all your horrible mistakes, including a dozen bastards by different women, so you can disappear into the sunset and retire on a beach somewhere without a care in the world, are you?”

“Damn, why didn’t I think of that?” I murmur, just to watch her scrunch her nose in frustration.

“Thisisa joke to you, isn’t it?” She turns to my lawyer. “This signature isn’t valid because he’s mentally unstable, right? Hecan’tgive me everything, can he?”

“I can and I will,” I say.

She gives the cutest growl and swings her vibrant green orbs up to mine.

“You’re just being a jerk again, aren’t you? Stop mocking me. I cannot handle—”

I weave my fingers into her hair and pull her against me. It’s a little awkward on the couch, but she still fits perfectly in my arms.

“I’m not mocking you,mia topolina. If you’re going to inherit the dangers and risks that come with marrying me, you’re going to accept all the perks, too.Allthe perks. Every. Last. One.”

Her pupils dilate and red stains her cheeks at my innuendo. I trail my thumb over her face, enjoying the warmth of her blush.

“I didn’t ask for this,” she whispers.

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