Page 44 of Cruelest Contract
At the mention of food, Tye is instantly summoned from his slumber. He bolts to his feet and stretches. “Fuck yes. I’m starving.” He pulls Cecilia up before she can object to what’s happening. “Come on. We’ll go to Rustler’s. They buy their beef from us. I’ll even cut up your steak for you so you don’t break a nail.”
Cecilia politely disentangles herself from his grip. “Thanks but there will never come a day when I need you to cut my food, Tye.”
She looks back to make sure I’m coming too. Her face relaxes when she sees I’m right behind her. It’s funny that she thinks I’d be anywhere else.
Until I close this deal, Cecilia is never getting very far without me.
She hasn’t yet admitted it yet, but she’s made her choice. Soon enough she’ll be ready to commit out loud.
“By the way,” Tye says to her as she flings away the arm he keeps trying to drape across her shoulders, “what did you do with my hat?”
9
CECILIA
“I’ve got it,” Alice says. “This is an elaborate practical joke. They’re old family friends, right? Your brothers must have put them up to this.”
“They are completely serious. Trust me.”
“Of course I trust you. It’s these Torino men I don’t trust.”
“Tempesta. Not Torino.”
“Whatever. I’ll fly out there and have a chat with them.”
That would be a spectacularly bad idea.
On Sunday night I had to level with Alice and explain that I am staying with a very powerful Mafia family because the only way I can save my twin brother is to marry one of their four sons.
Alice did not receive this news well. In between all the “WHAAAAAT?” squeals of horror and the threats to drop everything and come here to confront the men of Storm’s Eye Ranch with the flamethrower she keeps in her garage, I finally impressed upon her that I was not in any danger.
There’s still the question about why exactly Alice owns a flamethrower but that’s a topic best reserved for another time.
It’s now been forty-eight hours since Alice learned that I’ve agreed to marry one of the Tempesta brothers. She is calmer but still in disbelief that this situation is real.
“Alice, listen to me. You cannot fly out here to yell at the Tempesta men. You cannot give them The Treatment. You cannot speak to them at all while I get this figured out and even then you really ought to keep your distance because they’re kind of scary.”
She lets out a cry of anguish. “Cecilia! You’re telling me a menacing posse of Mafia gangsters are forcing you into marriage and I’m just supposed to keep quiet about it. Where are your brothers? Where is Gabe? How can he let this happen?”
“Gabe is just trying to stay alive. Matthias is unreachable and Angelo would cheerfully throw me into a lake filled with piranha if my grandfather decreed it.”
She sniffs. “I hate your family. Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I know how much Gabe means to you. But I can’t stand seeing you used as a sacrificial lamb. What about whatyouwant?”
My thumb absently clicks the top button of the gel pen in my hand. Another gift from Julian.
Two days ago, my first full day here, I visited the adorable town of Vigilance with Julian and Tye. We stopped at the Vigilance Drugstore and I briefly paused to look at a display of some cute pen and notepad sets. I touched a pink one, dotted with strawberries. Then I forgot all about it until later, when I returned to my room and found a brown paper bag waiting in front of my door. The pen and notepad set were inside. I still have no clue how Julian managed to pull this off without my knowledge but I’m sure it was him.
Julian notices details that skate right past other people. I’m still perplexed that I’m such an object of interest to him but if his goal is to win me over, he’s rapidly succeeding.
I look forward to seeing him. My heartbeat quickens whenever our eyes meet.
Last night when I pushed my hand into my own panties to give myself some essential relief after a confusing couple of days, I thought of Julian while I moved my fingers. The orgasm came quick and it was intense.
Afterwards, I was mortified to realize I’d moaned out loud.
By now I’ve learned my way around the house and I know Julian’s room is just down the hall. If he’d been walking by, he might have heard me getting myself off.
The prospect should feel embarrassing and it does. But it also feels exhilarating. Decadent. Every one of my sexual encounters has been tame. Pleasant, but unsurprising.
