ra

ntrolled impatience. The hand that had bee

a low growl, a warning from an apex pre

old room. Closing the distance would be a mistake, a sign of w

, Mr. Russo." My voice was soft, bu

ement, cold and sharp as a scalpel, touched his

I am offering a strategic reminder. For

in his posture. The U

yal to your grandmother, Seraphina. They will 'happen to notice' if

arctic blue eyes sharpened, the gaze of a h

ece by deadly piece, "what will the rival families whisper? That you are displeased wi

r way, it reflects poorly on you. It makes your faction look divided and weak. It will beco

enc

s the hiss and cr

and brutal. I was showing him a different kind of battlefield-one fought wit

of realization in

couldn't deny. "But I will not have my utility, as your wife, stripped from me before my first d

he truly looked at me. Not as a debt collection, n

a stalking panther. The immense pressure of his presence settl

feel the heat radiating from his chest. He smelled of

ers surprisingly steady as they cupped m

to meet his gaze head-on, my ex

hooked a finger under the edge of my lace veil. He drew it

last physical barrier

y exposed to his scrutiny. My green ey

at work as he swallowed. His thumb brushed lightly against my jawline, a fl

lethal friction of two weapon

I felt in my bones. He dropped his hand, breaking the contact

es the terms of our arrangement," he added, h

atched him, letting my s

ath. He had been outmaneuvered in

room, where a long, velvet sofa sat in the s

"Do not make a sound. Do

wrapped in a comma

graceful mock-bow of acknowled

the firs

in doing so, I had forced the Underboss to se

r that belied the tension knotted in his shoulders. He stalked towards the ad

ale. The adrenaline that had kept m

barefoot to the massive king-sized bed and sat on its edge, my hands resting smoothly on the expensiv

ead. To melt the glacier that was Eliga Russo, to truly weapo

d more importantly

d his hidden desires, all locked safely away in my memor