His resolve was already crumbling. Fucking pathetic.
With a sigh, he got to his feet, deciding he didn’t give a damn about the boundaries he had previously set for himself. It didn’t matter how much time he spent with her. A feeling of dread crept through him as he contemplated the notion that he could never get enough of her.
With a half-shrug, he walked toward the door of his study, deciding not to fear that possibility. She was his for as long as he wanted to keep her, and if that was forever, that was acceptable. Eventually, she would have to yield and admit to their mutual attraction.
He stepped out onto the second-floor landing, freezing with a muffled curse when he saw Bruno hurry toward him. Judging from the blond giant’s look of concern, he wasn’t going to be sating his rampant lust for Mia just yet.
* * *
Mia looked up with surprise when her door opened without even a cursory knock. She had been engrossed in a book, having somehow maintained her vow not to dwell on Shane’s taunting words when she had woken that morning feeling refreshed. It was a bigger surprise to see Bruno in the doorway. He should have at least knocked and awaited permission to enter, in case he caught her in the middle of undressing.
“The boss needs to see you, Miss Kasilli.”
Mia thought about ignoring him and forcing Shane to come for her himself, but something in the way the man held himself warned her not to push him. He was stiff with tension, and her eyes widened when she saw the way he fondled the gun at his side. The few times she had seen him, he’d worn a suit jacket to disguise the holster, but he had taken that off. Perhaps to deliberately intimidate her with the sight of the handgun?
She hated to disappoint him, but it was hardly the first time she’d seen someone carrying a weapon. Nor was she a stranger to having one pointed in her direction as Wallace had done the other night. No, she was much more intimately acquainted with a weapon aimed at her. Her heart skipped a beat as she experienced a moment of memory, recalling the sharp bite of the barrel pressing against her forehead—
“Get a move on.” He jerked his head toward the door, and though she half-expected him to brandish the pistol, it stayed holstered.
With a sigh of annoyance, Mia bookmarked the location and turned off her e-reader before sliding off the loveseat and walking toward the goon in her bare feet. She didn’t bother with shoes, figuring he wouldn’t allow her the luxury of taking time to grab any.
Mia was aware of him a step behind her as she exited the room and walked down the stairs. “Where is he?”
“Main salon.”
Since she had no clue exactly which room acted as the main salon, she stepped to the side so Bruno could pass her. Mia didn’t let herself lag behind, deciding to save her anger for her true target. When she saw Shane, she intended to blast him for sending his goon to fetch her like a dog toy, without even the courtesy to knock on her prison door first.
Her lips twitched at the thought, and she had a hard time hanging on to her irritation as they stepped off the staircase. Bruno led her to a large room near the front door, and her gaze immediately rested on Shane. The words of recrimination died in her throat as she picked up on the tense set of his shoulders. Lines bracketed his mouth, and he seemed to be poised to attack. Instinctively, she knew she wasn’t the target of his ire, and she turned her head to assess the others in the room.
Mia’s heart jumped in her chest, and a chill flashed through her body when she saw Aldo Peretti standing a few feet from Shane. He had his entourage of goons in tow, and the two hulking men stood a step behind their boss. The hungry look in Aldo’s eyes made her want to vomit. “What are you doing here?”
He clicked his tongue. “What a rude greeting. I’m here to bring you home, dear sister.”
“I’m not your sister.” She spat the words in his direction as she surrendered to instincts urging her to find safety. Before she knew she was doing it, Mia moved toward Shane. He seemed startled when she pressed her body close to his, and his shock mirrored her own when she clutched the front of his shirt. “Please don’t let him take me, Shane.”
He blinked before any emotion disappeared from his green gaze. His voice was little more than a whisper when he bent his head to her level. “I want two things from you, Mia.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “What?”
He touched her cheek with his finger and Aldo hissed his displeasure. “First, I want the full truth about why you don’t want to go with your stepbrother.”
She bit her lip before nodding. The idea of confiding in Shane was embarrassing, but she’d rather face that humiliation than go with Aldo.
A ghost of a smile graced his lips for a second. “Second, no more fighting.”
Mia glared at him, her voice a low whisper that was full of annoyance. “You can’t expect me to give in to you.”
He curled his lip. “If you’re expecting me to go to war to keep you, then I expect you to be worth it.”
Mia stiffened her shoulders. She wanted to tell him to go to hell, but a quick glance at the cold anger in Aldo’s expression reminded her of what was at stake. At least with Shane, she would enjoy some of it. Or all of it if she accepted a role as his lover instead of his captive, a traitorous voice whispered in the back of her mind. Her lips barely moved when she said, “Fine.”
He stared at her for ten seconds or so as the tension mounted in the room. With a decisive nod of his head, he turned back to Aldo. “Mia doesn’t wish to accompany you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. We both know Vadim forced her into this arrangement.” Aldo’s dark eyes grew cold. “It took him several days to admit what he had done, but he finally confessed what had happened to my Mia.”
She shuddered at the possessive note. “I’m not yours.”
“You are.” Aldo scowled. “You aren’t this mick bastard’s, Mia. There is only one man to whom you belong.”
