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Shedding the heels and a few other accessories from her ensemble, Ana strode gingerly over to the windows and unlatched them.
Ah.
She wanted to cry in relief as she breathed in the crisp winter air, its numbing bite a welcome foil to the heat building up inside her.
The church and the wedding guests were still visible from here. They were laughing and partying away, completely unaware that she had fled. She should have informed Emma or her aunt. But several guards and guests had seen her leave, and most of them were staying at the same hotel anyway. Someone would let them know. There were no other festivities left, so she prayed that no one would come looking for her.
Ana stood there for almost an hour until her face was pink from the frost. A calm peace started to descend on her, quiet and lulling.
Until–
Click.
The door creaked open, and footsteps entered, approaching almost soundlessly. But she noticed them. They treaded on the carpet powerfully and surely, moving with measured intent–toward her.
Every hair on her body rose to full alert.
“Tired of the festivities already?” Gio asked silkily.
His suit jacket and tie were gone, she saw as she faced him. His carefully coiffed curls were starting to come undone, and the cut of his jaw was tight.
She shivered and could only imagine the picture she made, with all the pins ripped out of her long brown hair and her body clad in just a thin petticoat. His gaze slid down her bare legs before darting over to her dress, which was lying in a heap on the floor.
Ana flushed, embarrassed. “It’s been a long day.”
“With lots of probing questions,” Gio said knowingly.
She said nothing. He knew very well what the Family was like, and with a speech like that, the effect had been incendiary.
Annoyance pricked her, over him inciting the crowds, along with wariness as he circled around her. Ana held her breath until he moved past her and to the side. He picked up her discarded dress and laid it neatly on a chair before he began unbuttoning his shirt’s cuffs.
She swallowed heavily.
With his back to her, Gio shook his head, chuckling to himself. “I wondered if you’d decided to run away.”
Ana blinked, hugging herself. “And that’s…funny?”
“Yes, because I would never let you.”
Ana stared at him, her brain struggling to reconcile the foreboding words with the bland smile he threw over his shoulder.
She had been in such a trance earlier, something that had become alarmingly common for her in the last year. So she wasn’t sure exactly how long ago she had fled the festivities. Naively, she hadn’t expected anyone to notice her departure. Especially not Gio, with everyone in the Family clamoring to speak to him.
Was he upset with her, or…?
A million other possibilities flitted through her mind.
What she knew for sure was that the man in front of her was very different from the one she had been betrothed to two years ago. Both were ambitious, cunning, and frightfully intimidating. But the younger Gio had been more refined and circumspect.
Her husband, however, was utterly dangerous. He issued threats and commands with far greater ease, unshakably certain of his power.
Her mouth went dry as he shrugged his shirt off, exposing lean ropes of muscle and a smattering of dark curls along his stomach. Almost unconsciously, her eyes followed the trail of hair down before snapping up to find Gio watching her.
His expression was molten.
“It’s still afternoon,” he said stiffly, turning away to fold up his shirt. “You should get some rest.” He gestured at the bedroom, where she could see a king bed filled with rose petals.
It was tempting, so tempting after the tiring day. But the sight of the romantic décor and its implications hit her like a sledgehammer.
