Page 97 of Fortress of the King

“Angelo, you can’t…”

He grins like the devil. “Oh yes, I can. That pussy is mine. Only I can give you what you truly crave, and I will, if you’re a good girl for me tonight.”

Even now, knowing what I know and what I’ve done, I still cannot resist him. He can take me. My heart. My body. My soul. It’s his.

I’m so sorry, Angelo. You’ve no idea how sorry I am…

The car comes to a stop just in time before I jump his bones. Angelo helps me out of the limo and takes my hand, leading me to one of the VIP entries. There are paparazzi taking photos of everyone walking up the red carpet, including us.

“Is this for real?” I murmur to Angelo.

He chuckles darkly. “We’re going to be the talk of the town, you know, being seen like this.”

“Do you care about that?” I ask him honestly as he leads me through the barrier and into one of the vast ornate tents where a huge bar has been set up, offsetting the main marquee. There’s a runway for the fashion show and a dance floor adjacent.

“A little late for that, don’t you think?”

I smile up at him as we walk to the bar. Angelo nods greetings to several people along the way, and I swear every pair of eyes in the room turns to look at him.

Of course, I don’t know anyone, although Patricia and some of my colleagues, including Melody, will be here.

“My brothers and Valentina will be here tonight,” he tells me. “You’ll get to meet them.”

I frown.This wasn’t how I had this planned out in my head.

“They know about me?” I ask as he gestures to a stool at the bar. He orders two martinis and then turns to me.

“They know enough.” He nods at the bartender and hands him a large bill.

“And what is that exactly?” I’ve no idea why I’m choosing now to ask him this, with so much at stake. At some point tonight, he’s going to end up reading that letter. I can feel it in my bones.

A part of me desperately wants to know what I am to him, if anything.

“What do you want it to be,Carina? You tell me.”

“I didn’t know there were options, I thought we were just … you know.” I look around to make sure no one can hear us since the place is fairly crowded already.

“Fucking?” he finishes with his eyebrows raised. He stands with one hand leaning on the bar, commanding authority, while the other touches the skin on my back through my dress. His eyes bore into mine, the darkness lingering as I sip my drink and I’m tempted to down the entire thing.

“Well, yes, that.”

“Is it really just fucking,Carina?”

We stare at each other, and his eyes remain cold, sending a shiver right through me.

“I think you know it’s not, Angelo,” I whisper. My hands begin to shake, so I set my drink down. Nerves are getting the better of me.

He leans down and kisses my neck again as I bury my face into his shoulder. This is the third time he’s kissed me anywhere except my lips. He seems…off, somehow.

Suddenly, someone slaps Angelo hard on the back and my eyes snap open. I’m faced with a tall, dark, and extremely handsome man with very similar colored blue eyes to Angelo, a careful smile on his lips.

He doesn’t quite have that penetrating Angelo-stare that makes you shake in your boots, but it’s there all the same. His dark hair is gelled back off his face.

These Medicis are not playing around with the gene pool. He’s fucking hot too.

“Well, well, Angelo, is this the girl you’ve had stashed away for none of us to see?”

Angelo rolls his eyes and turns to face him. “Cool it, brother, you don’t need to scare her off. Rayne, this is my brother Marco. Marco, this is Rayne.”

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