Page 68 of Revenge

I smiled at how innocent she sounded, “What I have in mind is much more respectable than a quick lay, Ava. I don’t need to coerce women into bed with me.”

“I know, I remember,” she said under her breath.

I placed my hands on my desk and leaned forward, “I want a year from you, Ava. That’s it.” I didn’t attempt to hide the lash from my voice.

“You’ve already had two! Chasing me across bloody Europe.” Ava had lowered her arms and placed them on the table. I could see her hands were shaking slightly.

“I am proposing a business arrangement. I won’t touch you. Not unless you want me to.”

“So, we would just live together as man and wife and then in twelve months, me and my mother would be free?”

“Yes. If that’s what you want.”

“How real would it be?”

“That would be up to you. If you want me to perform my husbandly duties, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. But either way, we would share a bedroom. No one can know that the match isn’t real, including the staff.”

“I don’t know if I’m that good an actress.”

“Well, if the other night is anything to go by, I think you’ll manage.”

Anger flared across her face, “I knew you’d throw that back in my face.”

“You asked for it. We may not like each other very much right now, but there’s an attraction between us; a chemistry. There always has been.”

Her eyebrows rose, “Really? Could have fooled me. You physically recoiled from me before.”

“You were a teenager, Ava and I was a fully grown man, it would have been wrong. I did the right thing by backing away, surely you see that now?”

Ava dashed a hand of frustration through her hair, “I don’t know. This is just so messed up.”

“It isn’tthatmessed up. You know arranged marriages are popular in the mafia. Few marry for love.”

“But they still screw each other.”

“As I said, that isn’t part of the deal. Not unless you want it to be.”

“How can I trust you?”

“I wouldneverforce you to sleep with me,” I growled.

“So, you’d be celibate for a year?”

“I didn’t say that. I would go elsewhere. But I would be discreet about it.”

Her eyes narrowed and I could see she was jealous, “And what about me?”

Clearing my throat, I felt my own green-eyed monster stir, “What about you?”

“Would I be allowed to find my pleasure elsewhere?”

Fury shot through my veins like lava as I glared across the space, “Certainly not. If you need to get off, it would be with me and me alone.”

Her indignant expression pissed me off more, “Oh, don’t look so affronted. You’ve been panting after me for years.”

Ava had the balls to chuckle, “That was then. This is now, so much has changed. I don’t even know who you are anymore.” She yelled the last sentence.

Pushing to my feet, I glared down at her, “I am the man that will keep you safe. You will want for nothing and you will be free to come and go as you please. To a certain extent.”

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