Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Can Anya and I please have a moment?” he asks, not looking away from me.
“Oh. Yes, of course,” Tersia says. “Richard is waiting downstairs to drive me to the church. I’ll see you there.” She blows me a kiss. “Break a leg, darling.”
Livy winks. “I’ll wait in the lounge.”
And then we’re alone.
The air gets stuck in my lungs as Saverio advances, cutting a gaze over me from top to bottom.
“You’re exquisite, Anya.” He stops flush against me. If it weren’t for my big stomach, he would’ve crushed the flowers between us. “Just when I think you can’t look lovelier than you already do, you prove me wrong.”
I swallow away the dryness in my throat. “You look handsome too.”
His smile is soft. Reaching inside his pocket, he takes out a small white box. “I have a wedding gift for you.” He flicks back the lid to reveal two sparkling diamond stud earrings. They must be at least a carat each. “I thought they’d look nice with your gown.”
“Thank you, but—”
He holds up a finger. “Don’t say it wasn’t necessary.” He takes the flowers and puts them on the vanity. Curling one hand around my nape, he says, “Come here.”
I can’t come any closer than I already am unless I climb into his skin, but he shows me what he wants by pushing a finger under my chin and tilting my face up. He puts the box with the earrings aside and fixes his gaze on my eyes as he gently removes first the one pearl and then the other from my ears.
I let him slip the diamonds through the piercings, unable to look away from that mesmerizing, intense blue stare that burns on my face.
“There,” he says, seeming pleased with himself. He takes back the flowers, hands them to me, and offers me his arm. “Ready, Ms. Brennan?”
In an hour, no one will call me by my own surname again.
I swallow.
When I place my hand in the crook of his elbow, he escorts me to the top of the stairs. There, he lifts me into his arms and carries me down to the foyer.
“You don’t have to do that,” I say.
“No, but I can. Don’t worry. I lift dumbbells that weigh more than you in one hand.”
“Macho much?”
He grins down at me. “Just reassuring you that I won’t drop you.”
Livy meets us at the front door. She’s already donned a hat and a faux fur coat.
He lets me down and wraps my coat around me before taking my hand and leading me outside.
An armored limousine is parked in the driveway. His regular driver, Kevin, is behind the wheel. Livy and I get into the back, facing each other, while Saverio shifts in next to me. Two cars with armed guards go ahead while another two follow.
He keeps a possessive hand on my thigh while taking his phone from his pocket and dialing someone.
Dante’s voice comes over the line. The phone isn’t on speaker, but from where I sit, I can hear what he says.
“I did a security check at the church as well as at the reception hall. Both are clean.”
“Good,” Saverio replies. “We’ll be there in forty minutes. Keep the roads clear.”
I quickly look at Livy, but she’s staring through the window, humming softly. If she picked up anything suspicious about doing a security check before a wedding, she doesn’t say so.
Glancing at Saverio, I ask in a hushed voice, “Do you expect trouble?”
“No.” He turns his face to me. “It’s just a precaution.” His smile is meant to soothe me. “You know our rules when it comes to weddings.”
The blue of his eyes is almost see-through in the sunlight that filters through the window. A black lock of hair falls over his forehead, drawing my attention to the symmetrical perfection of his face—the high cheekbones, straight nose, and square jaw.
My God, but he’s beautiful.
I’ve never seen a more breathtaking vision in my life. His broad chest and flat stomach are like a wall of muscles next to me. There’s barely enough space for his tall, powerful legs. Every part of him screams virility and strength. It’s almost too much to take in, too overwhelming, but I inhale his spicy, musky scent as the image of him burns into my retinas to be locked in my mind forever.
I wish I could say he’s mine, but Saverio never makes the same mistake twice. He’s a soldier and a leader, a man who’s perfected the art of fighting. He’s a strategist who learns from his battles. He only belongs to himself now, and I’m not naïve enough to mistake his gentleness and care for anything other than the affection an owner shows his pet. The pieces he gives me are nothing but scraps, and I pray that they will be enough. I pray that I won’t fall for him more than I already have. The day I need what he can’t give will be the day that ends me. He has the power to crush my heart and destroy my soul. He can rip the organ beating between my ribs from my chest and leave me bleeding to live a life of eternal pain. If I’m not careful, there will be nothing left when he’s done with me. I fell for him, but I can never allow myself to love him. I have to bury those feelings before they grow into a beautiful but deadly flower that slowly poisons me from the inside. I have to lock my heart behind stone and steel in a fortress where he can never touch it.