Page 24 of Merciless Sinner

My breath catches in my throat, tangling with the roiling heat flowing from him to me. Then my mouth goes dry as I think of everything he’s saying to me, and all I can do is stare back at him.

“Come back to New York with me, Olivia, and I can make all your problems disappear.”

At the mention of New York again, my mind is pulled away from the raw arousal coursing through it, and I think of the main problem I’ll have if I gohome.

“I can’t go back to New York.” I shake my head. “I can’t do it. The moment people know I’m back, they’ll try to kill me.”

“You are under my protection now.”

“How can you protect me if you don’t know who to protect me from? They could have been with you all this time, and you wouldn’t have known.”

“Let me worry about that. I will find the person responsible and annihilate them. New York is your home, and that is where we are going. You can’t stay here or run forever. There is nothing left for you here but death, and what kind of future can you have when you’re always watching your back?”

I hate to admit it, but he’s right.

“I need your answer now.” He sets his shoulders back. The gesture makes him appear taller. “Do you accept my offer or not?”

I swiftly realize there’s nothing to think about. I am in a situation where I'm more than cornered and death is the only way out.

I don’t want to die.

“Yes.” My voice sounds like that of a shy child who hasn’t spoken in public before.

The smile of a victor inches across Virgo’s face. Despite the gravity of my situation, that smile makes me feel like I've been caught in a different sort of trap.

Like he owns me now.

But he does…

I just agreed to become his wife.

ChapterSeven

Virgo

Dante lowers his body to sit across from me.

We’re in my study at my home in New York.

We arrived over an hour ago with Olivia. Eden, my caretaker, is showing her around the property while we wait for Olivia’s uncle to arrive.

I could have shown her around myself, but I felt she needed a break from me.

Every time I look at her, she looks like she wants to run away.

As much as I’d love to shake the memories of us back into her mind, I know I have to give her time.

Especially with our upcoming marriage.

The idea must seem like a nightmare to her, but to me it’s the plan of all plans. And perfect timing to meet my father’s demands.

Although he’s not going to like my chosen bride one bit.

Right now, my father is the least of my worries because I need to find out who was responsible for killing Olivia’s parents. As long as that person lives and breathes among us, they’ll be a threat to her, and she’ll never feel comfortable being back in New York.

I sit in the armchair opposite Dante and grab a Cohiba from the humidor on the coffee table.

“Are you sure you can trust Seamus?” Dante asks, grabbing a cigar, too.

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