Page 58 of Vows of Blood

"Any normal person would have run screaming," I mumble.

He props himself up on one elbow, looking down at me, his strong shoulders bunching and the muscles in his arms standing out, making me feel so small beside him. “Don’t do that. You did well.”

He means it, and even though I know rationally that getting praise over how I handled a shooting, from a future mafia don, isn’t something I should be excited about, it still gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

"There's an event tonight," he says. "A gathering of the families in the region. Nothing too formal, but all of the family heads will be there. Some support me, some don’t. I need to go."

I stare at him, wondering why he feels the need to tell me this. "Of course.”

An amused smile toys at the corner of his mouth. “Kate was supposed to come.”

“Oh.” I nod, still not sure what this has to do with me. “So?"

"So, now you’re coming with me." His free hand finds mine on the pillow, fingers intertwining, and before I can object, he’s already making his case. "See my world before you decide. See if you think we could pull it off."

My panicked brain immediately scrambles for a way to back out. A mob wife? What the hell was I thinking? There’s no way. I must have been delirious with exhaustion for my frazzled brain to have even entertained the idea last night.

"Your fiancé just died, Luca. What will everyone think if you show up with another woman?"

Luca is unrepentant.

"I don't give a damn what they think. They knew it was a business arrangement." He shrugs. “Things change.”

It just seems so cold.

“But… but…” Stuttering, I’m tripping over admitting that I would care. That I don’t want to be seen as the other woman.

"They want to see that the Calvano family is stable. That I'm in control." Luca’s head tilts slightly as he stares down at me. "Kate's death has created uncertainty. Showing up with you, confident and united, sends a message to everyone that the takeover proceeds."

I try to pull my hand free, but he holds on, gentle but firm, his handsome face filling my view, and his large body leaning over mine. "And if I say no? To tonight, to all of it?"

"Then you stay here anyway, for now." His thumb strokes across my knuckles. "Our original deal still stands. Corso is bringing more pictures today. You still have to help me find the shooter, then you're free to go."

Go where, though? Back to my mountain of debt and the life that’s been turned upside down now by revelations I was once romantically involved with the wealthy and very dangerous, Luca Calvano?

I won’t get a job. Can’t afford a place to live. And without either of those, I’ll never even get through college.

“And you’ll find another stand-in wife?”

Luca is ambivalent. “Maybe, if that’s what’s required.”

A flash of jealousy that I refuse to admit is real flares inside me.

“But I would prefer it if it were you.” Luca smirks, seeming to sense my envy, but he can’t. There’s no way he could.

I need to remember he’s proposing a mutually beneficial business arrangement, not a real marriage. Not like the last time.

"What about us?" I look down at our bodies pressed together in a very unbusinesslike manner.

Luca goes still, searching my face, with a playful smile teasing his lips as he shifts ever so slightly, letting me feel just how much he’d prefer it were me.

"What do you mean, what about us?"

I glare at him. He knows exactly what I mean.

"If I agree to this... arrangement. What happens between us?"

He's quiet for a long moment then his hand releases mine, sliding, fingers splayed, from my wrist and down along my arm, stroking over my shoulder, and finally coming to rest against the curve of my neck. His thumb traces my jawline, tilting my face up toward his.