Page 61 of Mafia And Taken

I rolled my eyes at him as I got up and headed to the shower.

“Come down when you’re dressed,” he called out as he headed out of the bedroom.

After I had showered, I dressed in one of the new sundresses Alessio had purchased for me and then made my way downstairs.

Alessio took my hand and sat me in the garden by the pool. Marco, Juliana, and Camillo were not up yet, so we had the place to ourselves. Alessio had prepared a breakfast of muesli, cereal, toast, fruit, coffee, and juice. He had even picked some flowers from the garden, putting them in a vase and setting it on the table between us.

“Sit,” he ordered me.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I snapped at him, my emotions all over the place. He was trying to pretend that this was just a normal breakfast between a husband and wife, but we both knew it was a charade. I’d only married him because I’d had no choice—because he was determined to punish my family and me.

“You know why. I’m not going to let the FBI get their hands on you. You’re mine now.”

His words caused a shiver to travel through me. He didn’t just see me as his wife; he saw me as his possession.

He paused before continuing. “I know you hate me.”

“Am I that easy to read?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“But I don’t hate you.”

My breath caught in my throat as his protective gaze upon me, and the obsession tinging his words made my skin flush.

“I still remember that day when we walked in the gardens and how soft your lips felt. And I remember the night in your apartment and how your body responded to me.” His voice was low.

“Stop it,” I blurted out. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Don’t you?” he asked quietly.

“No,” I replied forcefully.

He looked at me thoughtfully before changing the subject.

He tried to engage me in general conversation throughout our meal, but I made monosyllabic responses to anything he said and went straight back upstairs after breakfast.

“I need to lie down. I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m still jetlagged and my body is all out of kilter.” I grabbed some books from the villa’s library and took them with me to the bedroom.

At lunchtime, Alessio made me come down to eat with the rest of the family. The atmosphere was awkward due to the tension between Alessio and me, despite Juliana trying to keep the conversation going.

After lunch, I made for the stairs. “I’m going upstairs for a nap. I feel sleepy.”

“No, you won’t sleep tonight if you sleep this afternoon—you won’t get over your jetlag and adjust to the new time zone.” Alessio took my arm and dragged me over to a sun-lounger.

During the afternoon, he tried to get me to swim with him and the others, but I refused. Instead, I read one of the books I had picked out earlier from the spacious library located next to the formal dining room.

Even though he had made me come here to Italy with him, he couldn’t force me to be his willing wife, I thought to myself. I wasn’t his toy to do with as he pleased, to drag wherever he wanted me to go.

That evening at dinner, it was just the two of us. The others tactfully went out for dinner, giving Alessio and me some alone time. I would much rather have been anywhere than here alone with him.

He cooked one of my favorite dishes, seafood linguine, but I barely spoke to him during the meal.

***

That night I couldn’t sleep because of my jetlag. My body clock was all messed up.

I got out of bed and stepped out onto the balcony, looking out at the garden. The night was still warm, and the pool looked inviting. The water had looked enticing earlier, but I hadn’t wanted to give Alessio the satisfaction of seeing me enjoy the pool.

I decided to take a swim. I crept back into the bedroom and into the walk-in closet. There, Alessio had already unpacked all the new clothes he had purchased for me when he had gone shopping with Juliana. He had cut the tags off the clothes and precisely folded everything into neat piles, even sorted them in color-coded order.

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