The Vatican - M.E. Clayton Page 0,41
neck from looked up at him all the time. Francisco was almost an entire foot taller than me and it was annoying now that I was stuck with him for life.
“I need you to hear me out before we go in there, Fiore,” he started. I nodded for him to continue. “What they did was wrong-” Then he corrected himself. “I mean, what they did was misguided. But their…wish to see us together didn’t come from a malicious or controlling place. Considering who they are, it’s ridiculous to say it all came from a fanciful place to see us together, but that’s what it was. To them, as important as your mother is to all of them, it made sense in their eyes, that we should be together.”
“That doesn’t make it-”
“Luca,” he snapped, “listen to me.” I shut my mouth. “Because I’ve been in love with you my whole life, I’ve paid attention. I’ve paid attention to everything about you. Every fucking little thing.” I wanted to hear what he was saying, but it was hard to focus on anything else when he said shit like that to me. “And since I’ve been paying attention, I can tell you…” He grabbed me by my shoulders and impaled me with those black eyes of his. “…you have the power to do something no one else in this entire family can do. And that’s destroy this family.” My head jerked back, and I blinked at him in shock.
What in the actual hell?
“What are you talking about?”
His head tilted and his face softened and, Christ, he really was beautiful. “Baby, you are Ciro Mancini’s only niece. You are Phoenix Fiore’s only daughter. And you are Luca Benetti’s daughter-in-law to his heir. If you don’t forgive them, if you don’t accept this marriage-accept me fully, sides will eventually be taken, Luca. Your unhappiness will begin to weigh on Aunt Frankie, and that is something Uncle Phoenix will not let stand. If he believes you are truly unhappy, he will support you in a divorce. And you and I both know my father will never allow that. Uncle Ciro will have to take a side, and we know he’ll take yours. Your mother is more important to him than my father is.” Tears started cascading down my face, and Francisco’s hands came up to cradle my jaw. “Be mad at them for what they did, but don’t punish them beyond what they deserve, Luca. Understand the power you wield but don’t abuse it. Don’t take it for granted, and don’t treat it carelessly. You, and you alone, have the power to destroy everything we’ve built here, and that’s…everything.” His hands ran up my face and into my hair. His fists tightened, and the look on his face took my breath away. “I’ll never let you leave me, Luca. I will never grant you even one night away from me. If you ever try to leave me, you will kick off an internal war that will burn down everything and everyone in Morgan City. Because I will never, ever let you fucking go.”
“I…” I was at a loss for words. I’ve always just been Ria Fiore. I knew I had special privileges, but I never considered myself more important than any of the rest of the kids.
His eye came alive with love, lust, and possessiveness. “God, I want to fuck you up against the wall right now.” My eyes widened. “I want to fuck you until you’re screaming that you’ll never leave me.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. It was sloppy, painful, and frantic. His hands grabbed my thighs, and he had me up against the wall, my legs wrapped around his waist. I was wearing a summer dress because my body had ached too much to wear anything formfitting, so there was no protection against him except for my pink cotton panties. The friction burned.
“Francisco…” I breathed and wished I weren’t in pain or that we weren’t at Uncle Luca’s about to face them all. “Say it again.” I wanted to believe him. I wanted him to be telling the truth when he told me he loved me and would never let me go. I wanted what I was raised to believe in: a love that mattered more than anything else in the world.
“You’re mine,” he growled against my lips. “You’re mine, and I’ll never let you go. I will burn this entire city to the