Chapter 18

The midday sun warms my bare skin, and I roll from my front onto my back. Being cooped up in that room so long can’t be good for a girl. I’m glad I made the snap decision to storm out onto the back patio instead of hiding out back there. I must have been cooking out here like a lizard for a couple of hours. The crystal-clear water of their pool looks mighty enticing right about now, even though I know I would freeze my tits off if I plunged in there. But I have to do something for fun around this place. Now my injury is feeling better, boredom is taking over. My thoughts are consumed by what my girlfriends at college and Dani at the diner might be up to. The lucky people who are free to live their lives however they please. I want out of this place, but the ten-foot concrete walls around the perimeter of the yard don’t look so easy to take on.

I sense Alessandro’s gaze fixed on me from the doorway. He’s not as stealthy as he thinks .

I suck in a sharp breath. God, give me strength to deal with whatever fucked-up things he’s about to throw at me next. I glance over my shoulder at him. “Can I help you?”

He comes closer. “I was hoping you might have cooled down a tad.”

“Nope.”

“Look, Harley, it’s shit your papa kept you in the dark about your family history, but this is the world we were born into. And no matter how much we want to, we can’t run from it.”

We. He wants to run the hell away from all this as well . “Easy for you to say. You’ve known your whole life this is who you are. What you told me today flipped my world upside down.”

“Not just some privileged, private school girl after all.”

He used to tease me about it, like I was stuck up or something. Part of me thought that was the appeal. He wanted me because he thought my papa was rich and he knew we could belong in the same circles. He also made it clear he thought I was some spoiled little princess who needed to be taught a thing or two.

“On Friday night my parents are throwing us an engagement party to announce to the world we’re getting married. I can’t hold it off any longer. I know you have your issues with this engagement, but I need you to understand this is bigger than just you and me. If you cause a scene in front of my father, he won’t be as forgiving as I am.”

I rise, prepared for a confrontation, aiming to diminish his height advantage. “Is that a threat?”

He takes it as an opening to invade my personal space, closing in on me. His hand threads through my hair and forces me to look up at him. “It’s a warning, princess. You don’t understand this world, but you’re about to get a crash course in the brutal reality. Unlike your father, I want you to be prepared before you’re thrown right into the thick of it. ”

“I hate you for forcing me to do this,” I spit back at him, meaning every word.

“I can live with you hating me. Not if something happened to you.” The way he says it, it’s like he has my best interests at heart.

I laugh bitterly. “Bullshit. You’re doing this for yourself, not for me.”

His hand goes to my chin, running his thumb over my bottom lip just like he did last night. “You can’t even imagine the lengths I would go for you, my princess. Don’t assume you know what kind of man I am. You know nothing.”

It’s the same line Maddox pulled on me last night, and I wonder if they all had some sort of messed-up training in master manipulation because it certainly makes me second-guess myself for all of five seconds. Then my glare intensifies again. I know he’s getting something out of this. He wouldn’t be doing it otherwise. What we had two years ago was hot as fuck, but we weren’t anywhere near engaged. “I’m not marriage material.” I hooked up with one of his best friends last night and feel absolutely no remorse about it. That should be proof enough.

“You have a choice, then. Go out there alone and see what comes of you or marry me and let us protect you. I didn’t back you into this corner. Your papa did.”

I have no idea what he means by any of that, but the intense way he looks at me as if he wants to devour me makes me melt slightly. Why is his possessive hold on me such a damn turn-on? I should feel disgusted and take him up on his offer to get the fuck out of here. It’s the first I’ve heard I even had an option. “So, I can just leave?”

His lips turn up in a menacing smirk. “You could. It wouldn’t be smart. You wouldn’t last a day out there alone.”

I lock eyes with him, irritation crawling back under my skin. He thinks he knows me, but he only knows the girl I was before he destroyed my soul. He doesn’t know what I’m capable of now. “I lasted six fucking months, asshole. I’m sure I would be just fine.” I go to walk away from him. I’ve had enough of this conversation and his conceited attitude toward me.

But he reaches out and grabs my wrist, stopping me. “It’s no coincidence, princess. You only survived because they wanted you to.”

My teeth grind together. “Who’s they?”

“Just another one of your father’s enemies, and they want their payback in the form of a mafia princess. Are you willing to take the chance out there alone for one of them to drag you in however they see fit? They won’t care if you’re half alive, as long as you give them what they want.”

I can tell by the look on his face he’s deadly serious. My father’s enemies are who they’re trying to protect me from. But how do I know marrying into this family would be a better option? He just admitted himself that his papa isn’t a very nice man. Maybe I’m better off taking my chances out there alone. “I have a passport. I could get on the next plane to Australia, or someplace really far away and kiss this shithole town goodbye for good.”

He takes a step closer to me, crowding me with his imposing figure. “Whose money are you using to do that with? You don’t have a cent to your name, princess,” he says, mocking me, and I hate him even more. It’s his fault I’m broke.

I glance down at the ring on my finger. I know he’s fucking right. My father’s estate is locked up somehow in his business, and short of pawning this ring, I have nothing. His hand comes to my waist, pulling me into him close.

“Let me take care of you.” His words hold a possessive edge to them, a hunger that is about more than just his infatuation with getting me in bed. He’s almost desperate for me to agree. I breathe him in, unable to help it. He has this power over me, and when we’re so close, I find it hard to think straight.

“I’ll have to think about it.” I shrug. “Weigh up my options. Maybe a life on the run is more appealing than a life tied to you and your family,” I mutter, but even I know my words hold no conviction.

A darkness flashes in his eyes, and I know for sure I’m on to something. He was never going to let me decide on this. He’s just trying to manipulate me so he gets what he wants and I’m left thinking it was my choice.

Without warning, he grabs a hold of my hair, making me lift my gaze to meet his. “Don’t push me, Harley. You don’t want to see how far I will go to get what I want.” He’s gone from practically begging me to psychopath crazy in seconds.

A cold chill falls over me, and my breath catches in my chest, sending a wave of desire over me, soaking my panties. Yeah, there is something completely twisted in my head that this asshole can get me all hot and bothered when he gets possessive with me. “That’s where you’re wrong, Alex. That’s exactly what I want to see,” I bite back, not letting my needy body win this fight.

Before I know what’s happening, his tongue is invading my mouth in a show of his possessiveness. And instead of pulling away from him like I should, I let him kiss me, because as screwed up as it is, part of me still wants him. Wants back what we had. But the reality is, we can never be those two people again. Not that we ever really were. He was a Moretti, and my life was a motherfucking lie.

I turn my head, pulling away, needing to distance myself from him. “Last night, I hooked up with Ricky,” I whisper breathlessly. I’m not sure what I’m trying to achieve, but I need him to know there is more going on here than whatever this is between us .

His eyes hold mine. “I’m aware.” He closes the gap, smashing his lips with mine again, kissing me with a fresh hunger. And fuck, I let him because I have no idea what’s going on. All I know is when he kisses me, it’s like the world stops and all the other shit doesn’t matter anymore. Eventually our lips part, and we stare back at each other, breathless. “It doesn’t change anything.”

It doesn’t change anything. Part of me is pissed with Ricky for telling him, but the truth is, I have no idea what their relationship really is. The three of them seem very close. They grew up together. Maybe they have some sort of a truce when it comes to girls. Or maybe Alessandro doesn’t really care who I fuck because I’m just a means to an end for him anyway. But the way he’s kissing me right now tells me that’s not the case.

I soften into him, not sure why but needing to feel something other than hostility toward him. And this feels normal. For a few minutes, I can be like a normal girl with a crush on a guy who’s hot as sin.

Maddox clears his throat, and we pull away from each other and glance his way. He leans into the door frame, a phone in his hand. I pull back from Alessandro; the intrusion has just snapped me back to reality like a bucket of ice water being dumped over my head.

“Boss is on the phone for you,” he grumbles, looking between us with a cool distaste, and I wonder what his problem is. He knows we’re expected to marry. Him walking in on us locked in a kiss can’t be all that out of the ordinary.

“I’ll give you twenty-four hours to make your choice. Engagement party is Friday night at the Moretti estate. You will need to have your hair fixed by then,” he barks back at me, like we didn’t just share an intimate moment.

Guess I should have known the bossiness would be back in full force. I stare back at him in disbelief. He thinks he can just snap his fingers and I will comply like a good little girl. The truth is I might not be afraid of him, but I’m kind of shit scared of his dad after that little speech.

“I’ll send someone to the house to fix it,” he calls over his shoulder like I have agreed to it, even though we both know I haven’t.

Because I have no control over my life and because I know it will piss him the hell off, I discard my T-shirt and plunge into the crystal-clear water of their swimming pool. The ice-cold water steals my breath away, but I keep swimming, grateful for the brain reset. I make it all the way to the end before I turn back toward them, finding both men watching me, eyes filled with lust. I was confident that I would catch Alessandro’s attention—he can’t take his eyes off me—but Maddox’s reaction surprises me. I’ll keep that one up my sleeve for another time. Even though he clearly dislikes me, he was the only person who defended me today. And that long lingering look was hotter than the depths of hell.