Page 26 of Sins of the Son

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A small muscle in his cheek twitched, silently showing his growing anger. “Yes. You do.” He slammed his wineglass down so hard I was shocked the stem didn’t snap in half. He stalked toward me.

I circled around the island.

He followed. “I understand I fucked up seven years ago. Badly. I want a chance to make it right, so now I’m asking. What is it going to take?”

Moving around the island was making me dizzy, and the walls were closing in on me. I veered sharply to the right and pushed open the large, glass-paned door that seemed to slide on invisible rails as it glided open. It led out onto a glass-floored veranda that stretched partially over the heated pool grotto. I breathed in the warm, moist air as I focused on the soft rustling of the thick covering of leaves which concealed tree branches swaying slightly in the gentle breeze. It was like stepping into Eden.

“Milana?”

I turned, pressing my back against the metal railing. “I’ve already told you. There’s nothing you can do or say that will change my mind about you.”

He stepped closer to me.

I slid my back along the railing as I moved away from him.

His dark eyes narrowed as he studied me. He seemed to weigh his next words carefully. “Don’t say that. Because if you say that, you are going to force me to take extreme measures to get what I want.”

I gasped. “Are you threatening me?”

I was cornered. I had reached the end of the veranda. We were at the edge of the grotto where the craggy mountainside met a copse of trees just beyond the smooth rock edge of the pool. I looked over my shoulder. I wondered if I could hop over the railing and jump into the pool and swim to safety before he grabbed me?

As if reading my thoughts, he said, “I wouldn’t if I were you.”

He reached out and touched the Gemini charm that was hanging around my neck from a cheap, gold-plated chain. I had worn it for years. It was a sort of comfort talisman. He tugged on the charm and chain, pulling me to him.

“Think of it as a warning. Whatever monstrous thing you are accusing me of doing back when we were seventeen, I promise you, carissima, it pales in comparison to what I am capable of doing now. And trust me, babygirl, there is very little I wouldn’t do to hold on to you now that I finally have you.”

The shimmering lights from the pool were reflected as small sparks of white fire in his dark eyes, giving him an almost unholy appeal. He released his grasp on my zodiac charm and lifted his hand to caress my lower lip with the tip of his finger. “So I’m going to ask you, one last time, what is it going to take?”

In a panic, I blurted out, “A million euro.”

The corner of his sensual lips lifted in a half smile. “Done.”

Fuck. How fucking rich was he? I'd said the most ludicrous thing I could think of to get him to back off. I didn’t think he would actually agree to it. I narrowed my eyes. “A day.”

He grinned. “Fine.”

Double fuck. Okay, he wanted to play? Let’s play. “For one week.”

“It’s yours.”

“And no sex.”

“No.”

I pushed out my chin. “No sex or no deal.”

His gaze swept over me. “Fine, I won’t fuck you, but you live here with me.”

I shook my head. “No, absolutely not.”

“Nonnegotiable. You also continue to work in my office by my side each day.”

“Fine, but I want all this in writing and the money wired into a holding account.”

“Consider it done.”

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