Page 73 of Isle of Seduction
I advance on him, using my size to tower over him. To his credit, he isn’t intimidated.
“Try to intimidate me, boy, and I’ll put a bullet in between your fourth and fifth rib.” I feel the harsh metal digging into my ribs and smile. I wonder how far he’s willing to go.
“I’m merely pointing out that your love for your daughter pales in comparison to what I feel for her.”
“You just said you blackmailed her. You better talk fast because the best option to get her out of a sham marriage is by ending your pathetic life and I don’t give a shit who you are.”
“I love her,” I say honestly and watch as Umberto’s pupils widen before he frowns. His arm relaxes, but his finger remains close to the trigger. “I did blackmail her, and I did fall in love with her. She mentioned early on that she’d only accept her mother’s wedding ring as hers. My guess is that she’d known you’d try to kill me if I tried to get it. Or maybe she just hoped, considering she thinks you don’t care about her at all.”
He sighs and goes to sit on his sofa, engaging the safety of his gun and laying it carelessly on the coffee table. At that moment, he looks older, his shoulders turned inward with grief and regret. “Giulia’s always been very independent. When her mother died, I… When I look at her, it’s my Sylvia I see. I had no clue how to be a father to a girl and then to a woman.”
“If you want me to pity you, you’ll wait all your life, old man.”
“I don’t give a fuck about what you think, Capaldi. All that matters is my family and you might have married my daughter, you might love her, but all that matters to me is her and Dom. I’m telling you this because I trust my Giulia more than I trust my son. She makes the right choices, always. And she has Lana. That’s why I’ve never been behind her back.”
“You should tell her that.”
He snorts, then he must remember who he’s talking to because he straightens and gets up. Without a word, he disappears into a corridor and reappears minutes later, a blue velvet box in his hand.
He drops his gaze to the box in his hands, his voice barely above a whisper, as if talking to himself. “I don’t know why she’d want it. It’s nothing special. I was broke when I asked Sylvia to marry me, so this has no financial value. It’s an amethyst and fake diamonds.”
“It belonged to her mother.”
The answer is simple enough. He nods and hands it to me.
“Now get the fuck out of my property before I shoot you.”
Before he has time to finish his sentence, I grab him by the collar and press him to the wall, my forearm against his throat, holding him in a chokehold and pressing his own gun under his chin, safety off. “Let me be crystal clear, Mr. Moretti. I don’t respect you. You hurt my wife even if you didn’t intend to, and you threatened me, which I don’t take kindly. Do either of these things again, and I will kill you. I’ll make it look like an accident too, so Giulia never suspects.” I’d never do that. Losing her father would cause my little warrior too much pain, but he doesn’t need to know that. “Are we clear?”
“Yes,” he whispers, his voice strained.
I release him and step back. “Good.”
I punch him anyway, fast and hard, and he rears back. “Have a good day, then. And call her more often,” I call out from behind my shoulder as I walk out.
TWENTY-NINE
RING ON, CLOTHES OFF
I’m surprised when Giulia asks me to shorten our trip to five days instead of seven, but I’m done with being polite and social. I want the comfort of my home, my wife in my arms without anyone around. We also have some shit to do back in West Hill; our bubble is about to burst.
Those five days in Kalliste have been filled with family, but I’ve had my dose to last me an entire year. Don’t these people ever do anything by themselves? I’m not sure if I’m annoyed that they’re always together or that I never had that growing up. It was always just the four of us.
We barely saw the twins again after that first diner and Nico took it upon himself to disappear every evening. This level of peopling is too much for him and I can’t blame him. It feels like my head is going to explode from all the chatting. At the same time, every attention from Mammona and laughs from my cousin or Giulia felt like something I’d been missing. It felt like being with my mother for Friday dinner, only multiplied by ten and every single day.
It’s late when we pull up at the cottage. Having Giulia use the keys and open our house gives a kick to the butterflies inside me. Fuck those fuckers, I swear I’m becoming a real sap for anything my wife does.
“I’m exhausted,” Giulia tells me dramatically while flopping onto the grey sheets of her bed, half naked after getting rid of her clothes. Her skin jiggles with the movement, making my mouth water. The four-posted bed makes the perfect frame for my wife and I can’t wait to implement the little plan I have in mind for her.
“Your family talks too much.”
“Hey! I’m allowed to criticise them, you’re not. Don’t be ungrateful. Besides, they adore you.”
“That’s because I’m adorable.”
I take my clothes off until I’m just in my boxers and settle on top of her, my forearms framing her face. I kiss her lips, her cheeks, her nose, then her neck. The breath she releases has my cock perking up and I untangle myself from her sinful body before I forget what I need to do tonight.
I get to my pants, abandoned on the armrest of my chair, and retrieve the blue box from it. She sits up on the bed and watches me, head cocked to the side and biting her lower lip. Her eyes are set on my ass and I get such a kick out of knowing she wants me as much as I want her. The little yellow set she has on bites into her skin at the hips and is so sheer I can make the outline of her pussy from where I’m standing. I want nothing more than to remove it with my teeth.