“I’m sorry?” She nearly choked on her champagne, looking back at me curiously. I had certainly sparked her interest.
“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” I put my hand on top of her knee, pushing her boundaries just a little bit.
“That’s a little presumptuous of you, don’t you think?” A blush filled her cheeks and she refused to meet my eyes. If my words could have this much effect on her, I could only imagine what would happen if I moved my hand a little higher. I did, resting it comfortably on her thigh.
“Not presumptuous, just observant. You loved every second of the way I dominated you in the hotel room that night. And by the way you reacted in the restaurant, I’d say you like the possibility of being caught by someone.”
“I think if we have any shot at a normal relationship, we should forget any of that ever happened.”
I feigned hurt. “You mean I don’t get to see Juliette anymore?”
“Maybe if you’re lucky.” She winked. Damn it, why did she have to be so fucking hot and seductive the day I’d promised to behave myself. I wanted to push the envelope so badly, but I also wanted to gain her trust.
“I’ll take those odds.” She was a fucking temptress, knowing full well what she did to me. “I count myself pretty lucky to be sitting here with you right now. But if normal is what you want, normal is what I’ll give you. What’s on your mind?”
She looked back at me blankly for a minute, as if deciding what she really wanted to say. When she finally spoke, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her kissable lips.
“What would my life be like if I agreed to this?”
“I guess that kind of depends on a lot of things. What do you want it to be like?”
Ava looked surprised that I would even ask. “I guess I haven’t given much thought. I was just thinking about where we’d live and school and . . . those types of things.”
“Ava, as soon as you are comfortable, I obviously want you to move in with me. I know you might not be ready yet, but the offer stands. And as far as school goes, I want you to do whatever you want to do. I don’t care either way, if you’re happy.”
She smiled. “What is it that you want?”
“Me? Well, I want a partnership. I want this to be something that we work at every day and never accept as just a business deal. That’s not how I feel about you, and I hope you won’t feel that way either. I want us to create something we are proud of. Maybe a couple of kids in a great big backyard by the ocean one day.” I winked as I stroked my thumb along the back of her hand. “Honestly, I have no idea what exactly the future looks like for us, but I’m excited about it, and I can promise you it will be a lot different from how things are now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I never want you to feel pressured to be anything you’re not with me, but one thing that would have to change is your partying.” I narrowed my eyes a little bit at her.
“What? You have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said defensively.
“I know more than you think. Your dad told me about your addiction and how rough it was for you the last couple of years.” Her eyes widened in fear, wondering just how much I knew. “I know enough, but I’d like to hear about it from you.”
Ava bit her lip, searching for words once again. “Nick, I don’t know what he told you, but that’s not . . . I’m not . . .”
“You haven’t used cocaine?” I arched an eyebrow at her. This wasn’t exactly the way I wanted to have this conversation, but it was out there now.
“I have, but . . . I used to. It’s not something I do anymore,” she said. “A few years ago, my brother killed himself and I was . . . it was extenuating circumstances.”
“Circumstances don’t matter to me, Ava. All that matters is that it has to stop for good. As my wife, I’ll deal with it if you can’t.”
“And how exactly do you intend to do that? Beat me into submission?” she snipped, her stare deathly serious.
The comment caught me off guard. “Is that how your father would handle it?”
Ava’s silence spoke volumes. My heart wrenched at the thought of what she’d endured at the hands of Alessandro Moretti. “Ava, I can promise you that I will never, ever raise my hand to you in anger or to hurt you. Believe me, whatever comes our way, we’ll deal with together. One of the things I love most about you is your fire and your tenacity, and I would never want you just to submit to me. In the bedroom, maybe . . .” I smirked, and got a small smile out of her. “But I swear to you, I will never hurt you. You’ll always be respected and valued. You’re my teammate, my partner, not some obedient housewife. I know that’s not how you’re used to things in your family, but everything I do will be with you in mind.”
“You certainly have a way with words, Mr. Caponelli.”
“So is that a yes?” God, I wanted her to say yes to me. To give herself to me willingly. I wanted her begging for me, aching for me as I was for her.
“It’s a we’ll see.” The woman was a tease and she enjoyed every second of it.
As much as I wanted to enjoy the rest of the afternoon, there was something weighing heavily on my mind. Ava said that her brother had killed himself, which meant she probably didn’t know that I had been involved in his death. If we had any hope of this working out I was going to have to find a way to sit down with her and let her know the truth sooner rather than later.
Chapter 10
Ava
“So, you’ve been wearing my ring for a week. Made any decisions yet?” Nick smirked as he licked the dripping ice cream off of his cone. My mind immediately went to what else he could do with that tongue. Get a grip, Ava, I internally chastised myself. I must really be falling for him if I was lusting over the way he licked his ice-cream cone. I’d tried my best to adhere to the hands-off rule, but we’d pretty much blown right past that the first night we met. I still hadn’t let him get further than a kiss though, despite the aching within my core for him again. My mind and my body were on two totally different pages, and most of the time, I found myself wishing he would push the envelope.
I blushed, tamping down my thoughts as we strolled down the sidewalk hand in hand and eating our ice cream. We’d gone to dinner and hoped to make it to a movie, but had gotten carried away talking and enjoying each other’s company, so we settled for ice cream instead. It was hard to believe that this wasn’t a real date, that we weren’t two people together under normal circumstances instead of two people who were being forced to get married and trying to make the best of an impossible situation.
We’d played this game a few times already this week; Nick would take me out somewhere, we’d spend the evening talking and getting to know each other, he’d drop me off at my parents, kissing my cheek gently. He had been a perfect gentleman, never expecting or pressuring me for more. I knew it was killing him. I could tell by the way his eyes traveled over my body, how his lips lingered on my cheek, inching closer to my lips each time, and he put his hands on me as often as he could. And if I was being honest, it was killing me too. Nick was turning out to be more than I ever could have imagined, and even though it was still early, my negative outlook on all of this was shifting.
I was pleasantly surprised about how understanding Nick was being. I was beginning to think I had misjudged him from the very beginning. Nothing changed the fact that we didn’t know much about each other or that our fathers were forcing us into this relationship, but we were making progress.
Part of me was still holding on to the illusion that I had some control over this. That if I found out something horrible about Nick, I could get out of it. Walk away. Break up with him. The reality was, it didn’t matter what I knew about him or what he knew about me. We were to be married. Nick was only being courteous with all of this, and while I appreciated it, it seemed a little like prolonging the inevitable.
“You know, before all of this, I didn’t think I would ever get married,” I admi
tted, avoiding his question. I wasn’t ready to answer but I was also afraid Nick would start to lose his patience with me. So far, he had been nothing but wonderful, but he didn’t have to go through any of these motions. My dad had already agreed to this; Nick could whisk me away and marry me whenever he wanted. Neither of us wanted it to get to that point, but if I didn’t give in soon, that’s exactly how it would end up. I didn’t blame him for it, it was just the way things worked, but it didn’t make it any easier to swallow.
“Really?” Nick’s expression turned curious. “You mean you haven’t had your wedding day planned out since you were a little girl, like most women?”
“I mean, I’ve thought about it. I just figured it would happen in a few years. Or, like, twenty.”
“Twenty?” Nick laughed. “I told you I’d wait, but I’m not sure I can wait that long.” Our hands fit perfectly together, and he gave mine a light squeeze. “Just not interested in the black tux, white gown thing, or what?”
“More like the relationship kind of thing.” I paused. “I’m not very good at that.”
“Nobody is good at relationships,” Nick said. “We live in a country where half of marriages end in divorce. And that’s not even counting failed relationships where couples didn’t even tie the knot.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better about our marriage?”
“Damn it, you’re right. That was a horrible choice of words.” Nick ran his fingers through his hair anxiously. He quickly spun in front of me and took both of my hands in his. “Ava, I can’t tell you I’ll be any better at any of this than you. I’m gonna fuck this up, I’ll be hard to love, I’ll drive you insane most of the time, but I can tell you that we will figure it out together. Like I told you, we’re a team.”
“And what if we don’t figure it out?” Nick was acting very nonchalant about the whole thing in an attempt to reassure me.
“We will. Divorce won’t be an option for us. It would send both of our families into complete turmoil.” I wasn’t sure if he was actually that confident in us or if he just knew we’d have to suffer through whatever might come.
“Don’t you ever get tired of all the pressure?” I bit my lip, letting the weight of his words fall on my shoulders.
“Pressure makes diamonds.” Nick flashed me his Hollywood smile and I couldn’t help but laugh as I rolled my eyes. “Speaking of diamonds . . .” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my hand.
“I’ll marry you,” I said, surprising the both of us. The words rolled off of my tongue so easily it almost felt like someone else was speaking, but I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. It gave me butterflies to finally say it out loud and to feel good about it.
“You will?” His face lit up like a little kid on Christmas. He was actually excited about this, and it eased my apprehensions a little bit. An arranged marriage could be a lot worse; Nick would be a lot worse. I was pretty sure if I tried hard enough, I could convince myself this wouldn’t be that bad. Maybe even good.
I nodded, giving him a precocious smile. “But I’ve got a few conditions.”
“Conditions, huh?” He smirked at me, snaking his arm around my waist protectively. He spun me around until my back was against the wall of one of the shops. “You think you make the rules around here?” He nuzzled my neck, kissing the tender skin. Yeah. The no-touch policy was all but gone at this point. I wasn’t complaining, though.
“Nick, stop!” I giggled, trying to wiggle away from the strong grip and the ticklish feeling he gave me. My attempts were futile; I was powerless against him.
“Oh, no, you said yes. That means I’m in charge now.” Nick grinned and continued peppering kisses along my neck and collarbone. His lips felt like velvet, moving with purpose and precision. All of the pent-up sexual energy from the last few weeks was released, and his hunger for me was insatiable. At the very least, we had the physical attraction thing to our advantage.
His tongue brushed against my lower lip before delving into my mouth, searching every corner and deepening our kiss. His hands roamed my body, exploring every inch and creating friction between my clothes and my skin. Nick knew exactly what he was doing, awakening every sensation in my body and leaving me wanting more with each move. He was teasing me until we could get somewhere more private. God, could this man get to me.
He pulled away briefly, both of us frantically catching our breath. “Is this a bad time to tell you I’m saving myself for marriage?” I shot him a playful grin, teasing him right back. His hand traveled down my back, resting on my ass and giving it a sharp squeeze.
“Oh we’re way past that, my smokin’ hot fiancé. Jules would definitely disagree with you.” Nick’s voice was low, almost primal, and it ignited a fire inside of me like I had never experienced.
“Nick Caponelli,” a gritty voice sneered from a few feet away. Nick craned his neck toward the voice, his mood immediately souring.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Alek?” Nick snarled in a voice I’d never heard before. His tone was terrifying as he instinctively moved in front of me, shielding me from whoever this man was.
The man standing in front of us smirked, chuckling at Nick. His posture was threatening in a creepy sort of way, his eyes so icy that they seemed to be piercing into me.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your ‘smokin hot fiancé’?” Alek moved a few steps closer to us and my eyes fixed on the gun-shaped outline on his hip. “I have to say I agree with your assessment of her.” He looked me up and down, then shot me a menacing wink.
Nick stiffened, his grip on my arm tightening. “Back the fuck up before I do it for you.”
“No need to get defensive, Caponelli, I just had to come see it for my own eyes. I’d heard about the infamous Caponelli-Moretti union but I didn’t believe it.”
“Well, believe it.” Nick was postured like he could launch himself at this guy and beat him senseless at the drop of a hat. I hadn’t seen this side of him yet, and even though his anger wasn’t directed at me, it was intimidating.
“Ava, is it?” Alek said, ignoring Nick and turning his attention to me.
“Yes,” I said, pressing my lips together tightly and appraising the situation.
“Nice to finally put a face with a name. You know, you’re the one they’re counting on to bring down the Asnikovs. My family. With this bullshit sham of a marriage,” he hissed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Well, of course you don’t, darling. They like to keep women in the dark and just use them as their pawns.” Alek chuckled and rolled his eyes.
Nick snaked his arm around my waist again, pulling me painfully close to him.
“I don’t know what your endgame here is, Alek, but I suggest you get out of here before you start something you can’t finish.” Words spewed like venom from Nick’s mouth.
“Oh, this is far from over, Caponelli. I look forward to seeing you again soon, Ava.”
Alek turned his back to us and walked away.
“Who was that?” I whispered, fixated on the figure walking into the night. Nick didn’t take his eyes off of him until he had disappeared.
“No one for you to be concerned about,” Nick said, turning me and leading us in the opposite direction.
“Nick?” He had just gotten through telling me we were a team, yet here he was keeping something from me.
He ignored me and continued to walk. “Nick!” I insisted, pulling my hand away from his.
“What?” he asked exasperatedly, turning around to face me.
“Who was that? Why does he know who I am? What we’re doing?” I crossed my arms over my chest, a slight glare on my face.
Nick dragged his hand through his hair in frustration. “Damn it, Ava. Do we have to do this tonight? We should be celebrating! We should—”
“I thought we were a team.” I threw his words back at him.
“We are.”
“Really? Because it sounds like you’re already keeping secrets from me. Which you promised never to do,” I snapped.
“That’s Alek Asnikov. He’s the son of the Russian Mafia leader. His family is encroaching on the city, which is a big reason why our families are joining together.”
I soaked his words in for a second. It was the first time I had ever been told any information about what was actually going on. My father kept me in the dark so much that Nick’s forwardness was both strange and refreshing.
“If he’s after us, why didn’t he do something right now?” I asked, trying to wrap my mind around this new information.
“Because he’s a coward, and that’s not how this kind of thing works. If he attacked us unprovoked like this, it would start an all-out war, which he certainly doesn’t want. He’d have both our families breathing down his neck trying to get justice. He’s just taunting us, don’t let him get to you. Let’s just forget we even saw him, okay?”
“But why do the Asnikovs even care that we’re getting married? It has nothing to do with them,” I persisted, not letting him get out of this conversation so easily. He had promised me openness and honesty, and I intended to get that.
“It has everything to do with them. If our families join, it could be the end for them. And there’s no way in hell they’ll go down without a fight.”
Until this moment, I hadn’t realized how much our marriage would affect other people, including Nick. The ramifications of this hit me all at once. I had been so wrapped up in my own feelings about it, I hadn’t even considered its ripple effect. Other Mafia families were bound to be upset, to attack, to converge, to do anything to stop it from happening. My dad had knowingly put me in the cross fire of a looming Mafia war.
“Ava.” Nick sighed and reached for my hand again. He seemed to realize something was on my mind. “Can we not do this tonight? All of this bullshit will still be here in the morning, so can we just put it out of our minds and enjoy our engagement for tonight?”
Ties That Bind Us Page 11