Page 56 of Sins of the Son

The moment we passed the spare bedroom, I dug my heels in. “Don’t you dare take me to your bedroom, Cesare!”

Even though I'd had the place to myself this morning, I'd resisted the dark, magnetic pull of his bedroom despite knowing it was just a little further down the hall from mine. I had this insane fantasy that the moment I crossed the threshold, iron bars would suddenly slam down, trapping me inside for all eternity, like a princess from a cautionary fairy tale.

He pulled me into the darkened room.

I jerked out of his grasp and backed away as I searched the room for an exit. It was no surprise that a massive king-size, four-poster bed dominated the room. What was a surprise were the bookshelves lining the walls on either side of it. They ran from floor to ceiling and covered most of the walls, making the room feel more like a library than a bedroom. And like in his living room, the shelves were crammed with books stacked horizontally over vertically lined volumes sharing space with loose papers, sculptures, ceramics, and picture frames. These were not ornamental bookshelves meant for show.

Cesare flipped on the light and took several steps toward me.

I backed away.

His brow lowered as his chin dipped toward his chest, like a bull getting ready to charge.

The only exit was behind him through the door we came in.

Keeping my glare on him, I reached down and took off my heels and tossed them aside.

He raised an eyebrow.

I knew what he was thinking.

He was wrong.

I ran toward the bed to gain momentum. Reaching for the lower bedpost, I grasped it and used it to swing myself over the footboard and onto the mattress. My plan was to run to the top of the mattress and jump down, landing behind Cesare and right in front of the bedroom door.

It was a good plan.

The problem was, I hadn’t factored in how years of working in the fields with his father had made Cesare incredibly strong and athletic beyond the typical businessman.

He launched himself onto the bed, tackling me.

We rolled until I was pinned under him.

He stretched my arms over my head as he easily secured my wrists in one hand. “Are you going to stop struggling and be a good girl, or do I need to tie you up?”

“Che due coglioni!”

He pulled on his tie. “Is that a no?”

I stilled. “Fine, but if you think we are having sex again, you are out of your mind.”

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled down at me. He leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose. “You are adorable when you’re wrong, but that isn’t the reason I brought you in here… for now.”

He released my wrists and pushed off the bed. He shrugged out of his coat and tossed it over a nearby chair.

I sat up and rested my back against the headboard. “What are you doing?”

He raised up one palm as he loosened his tie before pulling it over his head. “Just getting more comfortable. You know how much I hate these fucking suits.”

I hated the familiarity of that statement, even more so because I knew it was true. Despite running the family’s property management interests, Cesare would have preferred to be among the vines and working outside with his hands in the soil all day. He had been that way when we were younger, too. Always hating being cooped up inside during school hours.

I narrowed my eyes. “I guess that’s the curse of having gobs and gobs of family money. Sometimes you have to make great sacrifices for the common good.”

He had undone the first few buttons of his dress shirt and pulled it over his head. He now reached for his belt. My cheeks warmed as I held my breath. Noticing my reaction, he issued a warning in a dark, seductively teasing voice as he pulled his belt through the loops and folded it between his hands. “Behave.”

I didn’t breathe again until he set it aside. As he did so, he walked over to the first bookshelf to the right of the bed. He picked up a picture frame and handed it to me.

I stared down at the image.

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