by Eva Charles
Antonio takes my hand and leads me to the kitchen. “Daniela—no more questions tonight.” He pours himself a big whiskey and downs it in one gulp.
“I’m sure this wasn’t the wedding night you were thinking about, but I need you—now.” With one hand, he sweeps the candlesticks and flowers off the table and onto the floor.
The pain in his face eats right through me.
He reaches for me and rips the nightgown off my body. His eyes swirl with dark emotions that I’ve never seen. I’m not even sure what to call them.
“I’ll take care of you, but first I need this,” he mutters, lifting me onto the table.
As I watch him pull down his pants with trembling hands, the ice inside me cracks—it begins with a small fissure.
His cock is hard and angry, jutting straight out from his body.
A shiver runs through me as he notches at my opening. But he doesn’t push inside.
He wraps my legs around his waist and lowers his mouth to mine in a bruising kiss. “They could have killed you,” he whispers, a low growl twisting from his chest.
His eyes are black—and lost, drowning in despair. I pull his face down and kiss him, sliding my tongue into his mouth.
“Fuck me,” I say softly.
He presses a small kiss to my forehead. “I don’t deserve you,” he murmurs as he takes me ruthlessly.
I squeeze my walls around him, pulling him into my body.
His thrusts are merciless, wanton. I reach up to cradle his jaw as he ruts deeper and deeper and deeper.
My body revels in the punishment, demanding everything he has to give. His frustrations, his fears, his emotion, his pain—I want all of it.
His gaze never leaves mine, not even as he roars his release.
Before either of us can catch our breath, Antonio carries me straight to bed. Laying me on the cool sheets, he crawls between my legs, licking my pussy until I scream. And then he does it again until I’m thrashing on the bed, my legs quivering.
He slides up and hovers over me. And without apology or permission or anything at all, he fucks me long and hard, as though he’s trying to convey what’s in his soul, using not his words, but his body. When I’m teetering at the edge, he reaches between us and rubs my clit between his fingers, and another orgasm rips through me.
I’m shaking, but I dig my heels into his ass, urging him to find peace inside me.
He rears up and plunges deep one last time, emptying himself inside me with the tormented growl of a wounded animal. It makes my heart weep.
We lay like that, skin to skin, until Antonio rolls over, pulling me with him.
As my head rests on his chest, I don’t think about how he forced me to marry him, or about anything, really, except his beating heart and strong arms wrapped around me.
For the first time today, I feel safe.
76
Antonio
The phone vibrates. Lucas. I told them to call with anything new. “Hold on,” I whisper, going into the bathroom and closing the door behind me so that I don’t wake Daniela. It wasn’t much of a wedding, but we made the most of the wedding night.
“What do you have?”
“Isabel is dead. Our man on the ground was killed too.”
For several seconds, I grapple with the information. I brace my hand on the wall, wondering how I’m ever going to tell Daniela.
“When?”
“Last night. Around nine or ten Eastern Daylight Time.”
“The daughter?”
“From what we know, she’s alive.”
“Do we have her?”
“She’s at some overnight school event for several more hours.”
“The guards?”
“We lost one,” he says, anger rippling through his voice.
Fuck.
I hang up and wonder if I should let Daniela sleep. There’s nothing she can do right now. Yesterday was a nightmare of a day, and I used her hard last night.
I can’t. She’s going to want to talk to the kid.
I go back into the bedroom and watch her sleep. She looks so peaceful—and she’s had so little peace that it kills me to shatter it.
“Anything on Nelia?” she mutters, half-asleep.
She’s such a light sleeper. Maybe one day she’ll feel safe enough around me to sleep soundly.
I dim the bedside lamp before turning it on. She closes her eyes.
I’m about to break her heart—again. It’s the last thing I want.
I sit on the bed beside her and take her hand. She’s wide awake now. “Nelia’s dead,” she whispers into the dimly lit room.
“We still don’t know anything about Nelia.” I suck in a long breath, then blow it out slowly. “Isabel was killed last night.”
Her face is blank. And she’s still—eerily still and far away. I feel like I’ve lost her.
“Daniela,” I prod gently, tightening my hold on her hand.
“Someone killed Isabel?”
I nod. “Yes.” The word twists from my chest, and I watch, helpless, as it lands in her heart like a poison dart.
“Valentina?” she asks, blinking rapidly. “Did someone kill Valentina?”
Daniela’s body is here, but her affect is off, way off, and her mind is somewhere else entirely.
“As far as we know, she’s safe.”
She pales as a burst of light flashes in her eyes. “No!” she shrieks. “No!”
She pulls her hand away and leaps up, standing on the bed, clutching the sheet. She’s trembling when I reach for her.
“You’re going to fall. You need to come down.”
She shakes her head vehemently, clutching the sheet closer.
“Daniela.” I say her name much too firm and loud, because I don’t know how to bring her back, so I go directly to my default setting.
As callous as it is, it seems to work.
She lowers herself to the bed and stands, her feet firmly planted on the floor.
“I need to go to Fall River. Right now!” she cries when I don’t move.
I take tight hold of her upper arms. “We can’t. Not right now. Someone tried to kill you yesterday, and now Isabel. You can call Valentina.”
“No!” she screams in my face. “I need to go. Right now.”
I’ve seen her frayed at the edges and downright terrified, but I’ve never seen her like this. Not even when she thought I was going to throw her to my guards and kill her when they were done using her.
“You can’t go right now,” I say with as much compassion as a man like me knows. “It’s too dangerous. Isabel’s daughter is not your responsibility.”
Daniela’s face tightens, as though in agony.
Her dark eyes scour my face, rifling through my soul, searching for something she desperately needs. That’s how it feels.
“How can I help?”
Her eyes are still glued to my face, but she doesn’t respond.
“Let me help you.” I step toward her, and she stumbles back, a lone tear trickling down her cheek.
“Valentina,” she whimpers. “Valentina is . . . isn’t.” Her voice is a wobbly, hoarse whisper, as though she’s trying out the words for the first time.
Daniela’s shoulders roll forward as she cups her elbows.
I want to comfort her. But every time I inch toward her, she moves farther away. Forcing her into my arms isn’t the answer. Even I can see that.
“What about Valentina?” I urge, keeping my voice low and steady. Although it’s not easy, because I feel powerless right now. And I despise that feeling more than anything.
She tips her head back and squeezes her eyes so tight her beautiful face contorts into someone almost unrecognizable. Not Daniela but a haunted young woman with despair and agony woven into every line, every crease.
A mournful wail twists from her body as the demons are exorcised from the darkest corners of her soul. “Valentina isn’t . . .” She draws a ragged breath.
“She isn’t Isabel
’s daughter.”
Thank you for reading GREED! Read more of Daniela and Antonio’s story HERE
About the Author
After being a confirmed city-girl for most of her life, Eva moved to beautiful Western Massachusetts in 2014. She found herself living in the woods with no job, no friends (unless you count the turkey, deer, and coyote roaming the backyard), and no children underfoot, wondering what on earth she’d been thinking. But as it turned out, it was the perfect setting to take all those yarns spinning in her head and weave them into sexy stories.
When she’s not writing, trying to squeeze information out of her tight-lipped sons, or playing with the two cutest dogs you’ve ever seen, Eva’s creating chapters in her own love story.
Sign-up for my monthly newsletter for special treats and all the Eva news!
Eva’s VIP Reader Newsletter
I’d love to hear from you!
[email protected]
More Steamy Romantic Suspense by Eva Charles
A SINFUL EMPIRE TRILOGY
Greed
Lust
Envy
THE DEVIL’S DUE (SERIES COMPLETE)
Depraved
Delivered
Bound
Decadent
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
THE NEW AMERICAN ROYALS
Sheltered Heart
Noble Pursuit
Double Play
Unforgettable
Loyal Subjects
Sexy Sinner