his promise, that I was still carrying Hadrian’s child, I would do everything within my power to protect it.
After the cannoli were served and devoured, Angelo asked, “Would you like a brandy and cigar, Raphael?”
Raphael dabbed his lips with a linen napkin before setting it aside. “Thank you, but no. I should be heading home.” He looked down at me. “Come, Sterling. See me out.”
He helped me rise from my chair and then we swept from the dining room, away from the prying eyes of my family.
When we stood on the front steps of The White Company’s ancestral home, Raphael’s driver patiently waited for him in the front seat of a silver BMW sedan.
Raphael gathered me into his arms. “You pleased me tonight. I have no doubt that when you’re my wife, you will be a beautiful adornment at my table.”
A scream lodged in my throat as Raphael dipped his head. Hysteria threatened to overtake me. I knew what was coming, and that refuting it would cost me, so I closed my eyes and pictured Hadrian as Raphael’s mouth covered mine.
His tongue darted between the seam of my lips. I nearly gagged on the overwhelming taste of caramelized onions and heady red wine from my family’s vineyard.
He ground his pelvis against mine, letting me know in no uncertain terms that it didn’t matter if I wanted him or not. He wouldn’t care about my pleasure when he rutted between my thighs.
His fingers plowed into my hair, tearing the pins from my bun. My scalp burned from his grip when he tilted my head back and forced me to meet his gaze.
“I should’ve fucked you in the bathroom,” he growled. “Fucked you like the whore you are.”
“Why didn’t you?” I demanded before I could stop myself.
His clasp on my hair tightened, but I refused to cry out in pain, even as tears sprung to my eyes. Raphael leaned down and pressed his cheek to mine. To anyone watching the scene, we might’ve looked like two lovers locked in a passionate embrace. But the words he whispered in my ear belied the truth.
“Because when I fuck you,” he said, his voice low, “I’m going to take my time, and I’m going to make it hurt. And just when you think I’ve had enough, I’m going to do it all over again until you’re pregnant.”
Bile surged up my throat, but Raphael released me. I gulped breaths of air voraciously, trying not to let him see my fear, but it didn’t matter.
Raphael knew—and he smirked when he saw the terror on my face.
He pulled out a jewelry box from his suit breast pocket. “Your engagement ring.”
When I made no move to take it, he opened it himself and took it out. He grabbed my hand and shoved the ring onto my finger. It was a gaudy, overpowering diamond set in a classic gold mount.
A symbol of my bondage.
“From this day forward, if you ever take off this ring, I’ll cut off your finger.”
With a jaunty chuck underneath my chin and a dazzling smile, he turned and waltzed down the front steps, whistling as he went.
His driver jumped out of the car and hastily opened the back door for his master to climb in as Raphael approached.
Raphael’s face appeared through the side window. He blew me a kiss when they departed.
I pressed my clenched fist to my heart, staring at the retreating lights of Raphael’s car. He was gone for now, but his terrifying presence remained.
When I started to shiver in the cool air, I turned to head up the steps and stopped. Luca stood in the doorway.
I wondered what he’d seen, and whether or not he knew the truth. It didn’t matter.
“Come into the salon,” he said quietly. “We’ll have a drink.”
I trekked closer to him, and just when I was about to pass him by, I spit in his face.
“Fuck you, Luca.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
I was alone after an exhausting day and finally had a measure of privacy. I slipped into the en suite bathroom of the room I was staying in and locked the door for good measure, even though I knew it would do nothing to keep anyone out.
I turned on the shower and stripped off all my clothes. Every inch of my body was sore. The lack of sleep had taken its toll, along with the sheer emotional upheaval and Raphael’s beating. Before stepping under the water, I looked at myself in the mirror. My gaze dropped to my flat belly and