Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
The staring contest has to end. If it doesn’t, I’m going to smash the shit out of my mirror and lose my goddamn mind.
I turn and take a deep breath. It should calm me. It doesn’t. I haven’t been calm from the moment Carina’s smart mouth reached my ears. She’s all I can think, all I can see. My temper is shorter than it’s ever been, and my ire is on a hair trigger.
Antonio and Butcher have noticed, too. They haven’t said anything to me, but I see their shared looks.
Fuck! I’m going off the rails. When I close my eyes, all I can see is Carina at my feet, her mouth wrapped around my cock as I thrust–No! I grit my teeth. If I think about that, I won’t be able to string a sentence together. I need my wits about me tonight.
Tonight. I take another deep breath. The house is prepped and ready to be filled with suitors, mafia men who want to make a play for a Palermo bride. It makes me sick. It’s taken every shred of control I have not to tell Antonio to call it off, to stop this fucking foolishness, to put an end to Carina’s gambit.
But I haven’t said anything against it, no matter how badly I want to. Carina made up her mind. She told Antonio exactly what she wanted. He agreed to give it to her. I can’t get between them. Not on family business. But that doesn’t mean I can just grin and bear it, either.
I fix my tie–no mirror necessary–and stride out into the evening. A string quartet is already playing inside the main house, and the windows are lit and welcoming. Angelica wanted to make a good impression on her first event, and I can already tell she’s outdone herself.
When I stride into the house, the low hum of voices greets me. Up ahead, two young men are having a quiet discussion in the hallway outside the dining room, and many more are standing and talking in the foyer.
Antonio greets each one of them with a handshake and introduces them to Angelica, who hangs on his arm as he dotes on her. I stalk down the hallway, my hackles rising as more voices meet my ears. There have to be a least a dozen men here tonight–all of them wanting a piece of my Carina.
My Carina. That’s something she’s not. I may be obsessed with her, in love with her, fucking unable to escape thoughts of her–but she’s not mine. My loyalty requires I keep my distance and remain respectful as I keep her safe and keep her family’s fortunes on the rise. The thing in the pantry–that was a slip. A bad one. I can’t let it happen again. No matter how much I want her, I have to put her welfare over my need for her. At least, that’s what the level-headed Gilly would do. That’s what I should do. But the moment I get a flash of what it felt like to discipline her with my hand against her ass–I’m dangerously close to snapping again.
“--definitely still a virgin.” One of the young men smirks at the small group he’s talking to.
“The fuck you say?” I step to him.
He looks up at me, his smirk disappearing.
“I-I-I–Nothing.” He swallows hard.
“And this is Carson Falco.” Antonio and Angelica move next to me and introduce the little shit who dared talk about Carina like that.
The prick glances between Antonio and me.
“Did we interrupt?” Antonio asks pointedly, and I realize he’s trying to keep the peace.
“N-no.” Falco shakes his head. “I was just apologizing for speaking out of turn.” He smiles, one I bet he practices in the mirror. The little shit.
“We do that a lot around here,” Angelica adds gracefully. “Let’s get drinks. Carina will be down shortly.”
“Sure,” Falco says a little too quickly, then hurries toward the dining room with Antonio and Angelica following behind.
Antonio gives me a questioning look, but I shrug him off. I’m not repeating what that prick said.
Carina is taking her time. I figured she would. Building up the drama before making an entrance is just the sort of drama I’d expect from my little brat. There’s that word again–my. I have to stop thinking like that. It’s only going to lead to more mishaps, more moments of me losing my rationality.
For Carina’s sake, I have to be on my game tonight. This event isn’t just a marriage mart–not that I’d ever let her marry one of these assholes–but it’s also a wonderful tool to pick up information. Tidbits that the young idiots will let slip, which is exactly why Angelica is encouraging them all to have plenty of drinks. Any gathering is a perfect place to gain intel, especially when it’s full of young, cocky, drunk pricks.