Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 43928 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43928 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Chapter Three
Mattia
Judge Abernathy rushes through the ceremony, binding Aurelia to me in my living room with Coda standing witness. None of us are dressed for a wedding, least of all Aurelia. She's in a fucking nightgown, for Christ's sake.
I don't hear a fucking word he says, either. My thoughts are tangled around the petite little goddess standing at my side, trembling.
This isn't what she wants—I know that. When Rafe finds out what I've done, he may very well kill me for it—I know that, too. But I'm doing it anyway. I can lie to Coda and say it's to protect the family—that I control her if she's bound to me—but I'm not foolish enough to lie to myself.
Forcing her into this marriage has nothing to do with protecting Rafe and his empire. It has nothing to do with the Valentino family or Brio Cascella at all. Frankly, there are a thousand easier ways to ensure her loyalty that don't require giving her my last name.
But she's had my fucking cock hard since the minute I set eyes on her. That's what this is really about. Want. Need. Desire.
I want her, so I'm taking her. It's that simple.
But now, I know her secrets, too.
She wants to hate me, but she doesn't.
She wants to fear me, but she can't.
This little mouse is dripping wet for me.
She doesn't tremble with fear or anxiety. She trembles because she wants me all over her, ruining her for any other man. I intend to give her exactly what she wants. But not yet.
I'm not fucking stupid. I may want her, but that doesn't mean I trust her. She was with Brio for a reason. The fact that she knows who her brothers are and still chose to live with their enemy isn't great news. Neither is the fact that we were allowed to carry her out of there with minimal conflict.
Brio wanted us to find her. The only real question is what the fuck he intends for her to do now that we have her. Whatever it is, I'm not convinced that she's on board with his plan. She was mad as hell that I forced her out of there. Either she's a damn good actress, or she's afraid of whatever he wants from her.
I'm guessing it's the latter.
I just need time to convince her that she doesn't want to go through with it. Whatever it is, it's not worth it. Tying her to me gives me that time. It also helps ensure her safety.
She's a pawn stuck in the middle of a game she doesn't understand, but if it goes bad, at least she'll have my name to defend her.
It's the least she deserves. God knows, Vincent didn't do right by her. He tossed her and her mom out like trash, refusing to even acknowledge that he'd gotten her mother pregnant. Tabitha Roscoe was good enough to mop his floors and share his bed, but not to carry a Valentino child. We wouldn't be here now if he'd done right by her, but that ship sailed over twenty years ago.
I very much doubt Rafe will see things my way when he finds out I forced his sister to marry me, but we'll cross that fucking bridge when we get to it. Like I told Coda, if the price I pay is my life, so be it.
At least I'll die with my debts repaid, my balls empty, and my conscience clear.
Abernathy clears his throat, demanding that I speak my vows.
"I, Mattia Lucian Agostino, take you, Aurelia Roscoe, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part." I tip her chin up, forcing her to meet my gaze. Her eyes are still wide and dilated. From the drug? From fear? From desire? I don't know. "This I vow."
She exhales a shaking breath.
"Very good," Abernathy says. "Now, you, Aurelia."
"I…" She hesitates, her gaze flitting across my face. Her eyes are so fucking blue. Cristo. I could drown in them and not regret a second of it. "I, Aurelia Joelle Roscoe, take you, Mattia Agostino, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part." She licks her lips, her voice shaking. "This I vow."
Abernathy nods his approval before flicking his gaze at me. "Do you have a ring for your bride, Mattia?"
"I don't need a ring," Aurelia mumbles, but I'm already slipping the chain from around my neck, removing the ring that's been there for as long as I can remember.
It's the only thing I have left of my parents. I don't even know why the fuck I still wear it. Perhaps to remind myself that my mother ever existed at all. That, once upon a time, I had a family, and somewhere I belonged. I don't know. But I slip the ring from the chain as Aurelia stares at me with wide eyes, and then I reach for her hand.