Page 43 of The Devil Can Be Kind
The journey back passed a lot quicker than I was hoping for and by the time we had pulled to a stop outside the front of the mansion all my earlier bravado had worn off.
I was freaking out.
“Boss wants you in his study.” Jesse notified me as we walked into the foyer.
My stomach flip-flopped nervously.
“Of course he does.” I muttered, resigned to my fate.
I walked as slowly as I dared, trying to regain my composure before our little showdown. Another guard—Wyatt—greeted me as I approached and immediately held the door open for me as I entered.
Marco was seated behind his desk as stoic as ever, a glass of amber liquor in hand. His dark eyes settled on me the samemoment I entered, and I did my best to avoid his glare. I forced myself to stare at his chest instead…which also turned out to be a mistake. Hard muscle stretched beneath the fabric and nervous flutters combined with something else erupted in my stomach.
I quickly looked away, staring atliterally anythingelse in the room.
“Do you realize how much money you have spent in the last two days?” He demanded, condescendingly. “You’ve spent almost $400,000.”
I fought the urge to gulp. There was not a chance I was getting out of this unscathed.
Well, I’m truly up shit creek now, might as well enjoy it.
So, I laughed.
“You think this is funny?” He asked, his knuckles turning white around the crystal in his hand.
“Oh, give me a break. You really don’t have $400,000 lying around?”
“Let me be clear, $400,000 is nothing to me.Nothing,” he emphasized. “What I’m pissed off about is that you’ve abused all the luxuries I’ve given you.” He downed the remainder of his glass before getting up and replenishing it. His bicep flexed unmistakably as he reached for the decanter and a burn that wasn’t entirely unpleasant leaked into my stomach.
Damn. I didn’t have a response to that.
He’s right… I shoved aside the voice in my head that told me to shut up and apologize, but I was too far down the rabbit hole to turn around now.
“For your information,yougavemethe card, so excuse me if you cannot handle two days of shopping!” His brow tensed in anger.
I don’t know why I did it.A death wish? A lack of self-control?I didn’t know…but once again, I found myself prodding at the tiger I knew lived beneath his cool exterior, if only to proveto him that I wasn’t theweakandsimperinggirl in his office only a few days ago.
“I didn’t realize you were so strapped for cash, Marco. Guess you are not used to the same lifestyle as the Ma?—"
That did it.
His right arm moved so violently I didn’t see the glass as he launched it into the wall. It shattered and splintered into thousands of sparkling pieces on impact. The speed he moved temporarily shocking me into silence.
I quickly recovered though, shoving aside the fear that had my heart racing.
“Don’t you dare mention that fucking name in my house!” He yelled, making me fight a flinch.
Before I could even blink, my back was pushed firmly into the study’s wall, and I had no recollection of how I’d got there, the motion too fast for me to process. A strong hand clenched around my waist while another caged me in. Marco’s black eyes were now only an inch above mine. A shiver of heat raced up my spine as his familiar spicy sent hit my nose.
“If you don’t want to hear that name then maybe you shouldn’t be living with one,” I breathed.
Another second ticked by before Marco released his grip on my waist, only to plant both hands on the wall either side of my head instead.
“Do you really think I want a Mannino living in my house?” He wore a look of contempt on his face but leaned closer, until only a sliver of air remained between us. “That I keep you here and take responsibility for you because I have nothing better to do?”
His words cut like a razor and extinguished the intoxicating heat that had started to bubble and swell.
“Then marry me off already!” I shoved against his chest as hard as I could, but it did nothing to create space between us.
