LOGIN"What about the alliance?" she asked, grasping at strategy, at logic, at anything to make this make sense. "Our families control ninety percent of the eastern territories together. If we don't marry, if the arrangement falls apart....""Then we'll find another way to maintain the alliance. A business partnership. Shared territories. Whatever works." Dimitri's expression softened, just slightly. "I'm not your enemy, Isabella. I don't want to hurt you or your family. But I won't marry you. Not now. Not ever.""Because you love her.""Yes."Isabella turned away, walking back to the window, needing distance to process.She'd prepared for many scenarios. Dimitri being difficult. Negotiating new terms. Even outright rejection.But she hadn't prepared for this....for him being so completely, irrevocably in love with someone else that there was no room for negotiation at all."Your father won't accept this," she said finally."I don't need his acceptance.""He'll make it difficult. For you. F
"Of course."Isabella walked to the windows, looking out at the city Dimitri had claimed as his empire.She'd heard the rumors, of course. Antonio had been eager to share, his son had taken up with some American nobody. A divorced woman who ran a talent agency. Someone completely unsuitable for the life they led.Someone who would break easily when the pressure came.Isabella had been raised among killers. Trained by her father's best men. She spoke five languages, could disassemble and reassemble a Glock 19 in under thirty seconds, and had been taught from childhood that emotion was weakness.This Eve Thorne, whoever she was, couldn't possibly compete.The knock came at exactly nine o'clock.Punctual. That was something Isabella had always appreciated about Dimitri.She opened the door herself, letting Chiara handle the shadows.And there he was.Six-four of lethal grace in a charcoal suit, silver-gray eyes that assessed everything in seconds, dark hair perfectly styled. He looked li
"When I was with Enzo tonight, he asked if I'd told you I love you. I said no. He asked why." Dimitri's thumb brushed across her knuckles. "I didn't have a good answer. Because the truth is, I've been in love with you since you were eighteen years old and kissed my cheek like it was nothing. I've been in love with you through seven years of staying away, of keeping my promise to Mike, of watching you marry someone else and pretending it didn't kill me."Eve's eyes filled with tears."I've been in love with you since that night at Sinners when you climbed into my lap and asked me to touch you. I've been in love with you through every denial, every punishment, every moment of watching you transform from a broken woman into a fucking queen." His voice roughened. "And I'm going to be in love with you for the rest of my life, Eve Thorne. Whether you stay with me or walk away. Whether we get our forever or the world burns down around us. You own me, completely and absolutely."The tears spi
Eve's phone buzzed. A text from Marco: On our way back. Boss is fine. The brother is... educated.She showed the message to Nonna, who smiled."See? All is well.""Nonna," Eve said carefully, "tell me about Isabella."The wooden spoon stilled."What do you want to know?""Everything. She arrives tomorrow, and I need to know what I'm dealing with."Nonna set down the spoon, turned to face Eve fully."Isabella Russo is twenty-three years old. Beautiful. Intelligent. Deadly." She paused. "She was nine years old when Antonio arranged her engagement to Dimitri. For fourteen years, she has been preparing to be his wife. She speaks five languages. She can kill a man six different ways with her bare hands. She has been groomed since childhood to be the perfect mafia queen.""And she loves him," Eve said."She loves the idea of him. The power. The position. The life she was promised." Nonna's expression softened. "But she does not know him. Not the way you do. She has never seen him laugh. She
And you're holed up in your penthouse playing house with a girl who doesn't belong in our world.""She belongs exactly where I put her," Dimitri said coldly. "Next to me. In my bed. In my life. And anyone who has a problem with that can take it up with me directly.""Including father?""Especially father."Enzo laughed, then immediately regretted it, clutching his ribs. "You're going to start a war over a woman.""No." Dimitri moved to the table, selected a knife....small, sharp, perfectly balanced. "I'm going to start a war over the woman I intend to marry. There's a difference."The word hung in the air between them.Marry.Enzo's eyes widened. "You're not serious.""Deadly serious." Dimitri tested the knife's edge with his thumb. "When the six months are up, I'm asking her. And she'll say yes. And then I'll deal with Isabella, and Antonio, and anyone else who thinks they can dictate who I spend my life with.""The contract with the Russos...""Can burn," Dimitri interrupted. "I nev
"I wasn't aware I needed permission to conduct business in a public space." Enzo spread his hands, the picture of innocence. "Ms. Thorne was professional. Courteous. We had a productive conversation about potential partnerships.""Marco," Dimitri said quietly, not taking his eyes off Enzo. "Tell my brother what happens to men who touch what's mine.""They lose the hand," Marco said flatly. "Or worse, depending on the boss's mood.""And yet here I stand," Enzo said, "with both hands intact. Makes me wonder....maybe she's not as 'yours' as you think. Maybe she's just another woman warming your bed until you get bored and move on to the next...."He didn't see Dimitri move.One second his brother was ten feet away. The next, Enzo was slammed against the marble column, Dimitri's forearm across his throat, cutting off air."Finish that sentence," Dimitri whispered, his face inches from Enzo's, "and I'll rip your tongue out through your teeth."Enzo couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, but he
It was... adorable.Eve picked up her fork and took a bite of eggs. They were perfect. Fluffy and seasoned with something she couldn't identify but that made them the best eggs she'd ever tasted."Good?" Nonna asked, watching her like a hawk."Incredible," Eve said honestly.Nonna beamed. "Good. Yo
She gagged but didn't stop. Couldn't stop. This was the closest she'd gotten to what she needed and she wasn't going to waste it.Tears streamed down her face from the effort, from the stretch, from the overwhelming need to please him.When he finally pulled out, a string of saliva connecting her l
She handed it over, watched as he turned the screen to face him."Mike," he said calmly."You MOTHERFUCKER!" Mike's voice exploded through the speaker. "You fucking TOUCHED her? You touched my baby sister?""Yes."Just yes. No apology. No explanation. Just confirmation."I trusted you! You're my be
She had. She really had."When?" she asked. "When do you think... when would you want...?""To marry you?" He smiled. "When the six months are up. When you've had time to truly know what you're choosing. When there's no doubt in either of our minds that this is forever."Four and a half months.Fou







