page25 (1/2)

“Stop crowding asp fell from her mouth “This is a bad idea on so many levels”

Every ti madly in her neck See her breaths hitch in and out Feel warmth arc between them

But despite the attraction, he was beginning to believe she wanted nothing to do with hiht rankled

He’d never been vain, but no woman had ever resented his attentions Not since he had become taller and broader than any boy he had known in his teens Not since he had remade his family’s fortune ten times over Not since he’d become one of the most powerfulthe distance between theain

“Why would Gio involve Enzo and Stefano even indirectly if he kne ht, he…”

“Manipulated us, si,” Raphael finished for her

It burned Raphael that Gio would use Stefano to rope hi to calet wilder Noit for their good

If he thought it would push Raphael into taking Pia off his hands

“Then you knoe can’t—”

“Let Gio think he’s been successful Let the whole world think you’ve beguiled me,” said Raphael

“How do you think I feel knowing that he went through this elaborate charade to…coerce you into this with me? As if I were useless inventory he wanted to ?”

“He’s manipulative, si, but it doesn’t mean he’s not worried”

Shaking her head, she backed away “But I don’t like—”

Before she could utter another word, Raphael caught her upper ared her toward him “I told you what I would do if you did that,” he said with a growl before he touched his lips to hers in a soft buss

He onlyattracted to him wasn’t the end of the world That her idea was indeed the perfect solution for now