Page 54 of Brutal Legacy

When she didn’t stop me, I thumbed her nipple, the hard bud begging for more.

“Should we check how wet you are?—”

Her slap took me off guard. Just another reminder of how far I’d fallen in only a week. I didn’t touch unwilling women. I didn’t touch women at all. I hadn’t felt compelled to in so long… I’d thought that part of my life was over. And then in walked Georgia, just as fucking infuriating as always, and set my blood on fire.

Anger at myself, and her, and this whole fucking situation burst through me. I yanked her close, holding her in place with one hand on the back of her head, fisting in her hair, and the other on the small of her back.

Her hot breath hit my neck as I tilted her head back so I could look her in her eyes. Those mesmerizing eyes that I’d once lost myself in.

I wasn’t sure, right then, if I’d ever found myself again. Maybe she’d kept the best parts of me all along.

“Do you have a death wish, Signora Conti? Or just really poor survival instincts? I’m surprised you’ve made it this long.”

“You don’t know me or what I’ve survived,” she spit at me, anger making her resemble a warrior goddess.

She was pressed against me, her soft belly surrounding my hard-on. She swayed, and the pressure nearly undid me.

“I’ve survived worse than you. I’ve lost everything before… so you don’t scare me,” she breathed. Her gaze ran over my face and dipped to my lips.

I’ve lost everything before.What the fuck was she talking about? She had to mean her late husband. She’d lost everything when that thievingbastardoConti had died.

“Yet,” I said and smoothed her hair back gently.

The unexpected softness of the touch seemed to shake her more than anything. I rubbed my thumb lightly across her parted lips, and her breath hitched.

“You don’t fear me — yet… We’ve got time for that, Georgia, all the time in the world.”

I slid my hand down her chest and found her hard nipple again. A murmur of pleasure left her as my finger brushed the hard point.Interesting.Then I pinched it hard, and her eyes snapped back into focus.

“Until then… be a good girl and you might survive this.”

“Fuck you,” she rasped at me, pulling her head from my grip.

“Again, just say the word, Signora Conti… I’ll fuck your husband’s memory right out of you.”

She gasped at me and then turned on her heel and stormed back to bed. I’d finally shocked her into leaving me the hell alone.

I sat heavily, my cock throbbing with blood, and I did my best to ignore it. I picked up my cloth and continued to clean, though my thoughts were consumed by her. As insidious as a poisoned kiss, the weakness she created was ebbing into my system, infecting me with every breath.

I had to stay away from her. It was the only way. The sooner she was married off, the better. I held the knife too hard. So hard, the blade split my skin. Ideally, I’d love to punch something. Maybe a wall, or a mirror, but that would give away too much.

I couldn’t let her see the wreckage inside me. I just couldn’t. I just had to make it until the wedding. If I could make it until the wedding, she’d be someone else’s problem.

Right.I couldn’t even convince myself of that.

17

ELIO

Then

There are moments of your life so massive, they set the entire direction. I’d arrived in Castel Amaro a drifter. Untethered from connections or meaning. I had no parents, my sister was being looked after by family more capable than me, and me… I was starving, barely able to take care of myself.

Then, I’d met her.

Mia ragione.

My reason for being.

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