Page 55 of Captured Fantasy

I stared down at my lap. “Cosimo, why do you think Lucien forbid you from seeing me?”

“He wants me to stay available so he can arrange my marriage.”

“Was that it?”

“I think…I think he was trying to protect you as well. He asked me what my intentions were, what he was supposed to do with you if I got you pregnant.”

My chest tightened. “Lucien and I have a complex relationship. After my husband died, we briefly…were intimate, but there was no attraction. It was awkward.”

He turned, shock written all over his face. “What?”

“We never had sex, he never touched me like that,” I said quickly. “I blew him a handful of times. But mostly he just wanted someone to be with.”

He stared at me.

“He would just come over and have dinner and sometimes he would sleep in my bed, but when he did, he never touched me,” I stammered. “He wanted companionship and someone to talk to.”

His jaw worked.

“Say something,” I whispered.

He shrugged, clearly frustrated. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Lucien plays his cards very, very close to his chest. I never imagined he would do something like that.”

I chewed my lip. “The funeral was the last day he came to my house. There was never really anything to begin with, but it’s over. Whatever it was.”

“This just…it complicates things.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

He slapped his palm lightly against the wheel. “Come December, Lucien will be my brother-in-law. No wonder he forbade me from seeing you, it’s fucking uncomfortable.”

“Are you rethinking things?” My throat felt dry and my stomach ached.

He shook his head, turning to touch my cheek. “No, I don’t care who touched you. You’re mine now.”

I blinked, my lashes wet. “There’s something else I should probably be honest with you about.”

He shifted, pulling me to face him. “I’d rather have your honesty, even if it hurts.”

“Federico fucks me,” I faltered. “He’s been sleeping with me since Gino died. I thought at first it would help me persuade him to give me back my freedom, but it didn’t work very well. It gave me a little more freedom, but kept me under his thumb.”

“Jesus Christ, Enza,” he breathed.

“I wish he would stop visiting me,” I said, finally voicing what I’d felt for a while now. “It’s not good and it makes me feel like he should leave payment on the nightstand. I don’t know why he keeps coming back when he could get the same things from any other woman.”

His brows were lowered and I could tell he was trying to keep control of himself. He breathed deeply and dropped his head back against the seat.

“How many men have you slept with?”

“Are you shaming me?”

“No, I don’t have a leg to stand on in this area. I just want to know.”

“Two,” I said. “Gino and Federico. If you count oral then it’s four. You, Gino, Lucien, and Rico. What’s your body count?”

“A little over a hundred.”

I gaped at him. “A hundred?”

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