Chapter 8
Dez
Kissing Angelina felt different now. Before, when I'd had her tied to my bed, it had been about dominance. About control. About making her surrender to the pleasure I could give her. This was something else entirely.
This was a promise. A beginning. The first page of a contract we were writing together in real-time. When I finally pulled back, we were both breathing hard.
"The weekend," I said against her lips. "We have until then to figure out if we can make this work."
"That's not a lot of time."
"It's enough." I stood, pulling her up with me. "Come on. I want to show you something."
I led her back to my office, to the desk where I'd spent the last two hours making calls and doing research while she slept.
"Sit," I said, gesturing to my chair.
She obeyed, looking small in the massive leather seat, and I had a flash of what she'd look like sitting there permanently. Working. Making decisions. Building her empire while I built mine. The image was more appealing than it should have been.
I pulled up a folder on my computer and turned the screen toward her. "While you were sleeping, I had my people pull everything they could find on Vincent DeLuca and his connections to the Vitale family."
Her eyes widened. "You have people?"
"I run security and acquisitions for the Moretti family. Of course I have people." I leaned against the desk, watching her face as she scrolled through the documents. "What I found isn't good, Angelina."
"Tell me."
"DeLuca has been systematically positioning himself to take over Castellano & Co. for the last three years. He started small. Suggesting cost-cutting measures, renegotiating supplier contracts to favor Vitale-owned companies, slowly replacing your mother's trusted employees with his own people."
"I know all that," she said quietly. "I've been trying to stop it, but he's the CFO. He has authority I can't easily override without proof of wrongdoing."
"I have proof." I pulled up another file. "Your uncle has been skimming. Not much—just enough that it wouldn't trigger audits. But over three years, he's diverted about two million dollars into offshore accounts."
Her head snapped up. "Two million?"
"Two point three, to be exact." I showed her the transaction records my team had pulled. "All perfectly hidden in the accounting. Legitimate-looking expenses that never actually happened. Vendor payments to companies that don't exist. It's sophisticated, but it's there."
"This could destroy him." Her voice was barely a whisper. "If I took this to the board, if I filed criminal charges—"
"He'd be ruined. Possibly arrested." I paused. "But he's also connected to the Vitale family. And the Vitales don't take kindly to people who threaten their interests."
"So using this information could get me killed."
"Unless you're protected by someone the Vitales won't touch.
" I let that hang in the air. "The Morettis and the Vitales have a treaty.
Uneasy, but stable. An attack on a Moretti's wife would violate that treaty.
Your uncle knows this. It's why he's been waiting for you to fail on your own rather than simply making you disappear. "
Understanding dawned in her eyes. "But if I marry you—"
"Then you're untouchable. Your uncle can't hurt you without starting a war he knows he'll lose.
" I moved closer, crouching down so we were at eye level.
"And with this evidence, you can force him out of the company entirely.
Offer him a choice—resign quietly and we don't press charges, or face criminal prosecution and the wrath of both our families when everyone learns he betrayed a Moretti alliance through his embezzlement. "
"He'd resign."
"Absolutely. He's ambitious, not stupid." I took her hand. "You get your company back, free and clear. No one threatening you, no one trying to undermine your mother's legacy. Just you, running things exactly how you want."
"And in exchange?"
"You give me what I need. An heir. A partner who understands this world and can handle it." I squeezed her hand. "And maybe, if we're lucky, something more."
"More?"
"Respect. Trust. Maybe even affection, given enough time." I smiled slightly. "I'm not looking for a love match, Angelina. But I'm also not interested in a cold, distant marriage. I want a partner. Someone I actually enjoy spending time with, both in bed and out of it."
She was quiet for a long moment, studying my face like she was trying to read my soul.
"What would the terms be?" she asked finally. "Specifically."
I'd been waiting for this question. Had spent the last two hours thinking through every detail.
"One year minimum," I began. "Long enough to satisfy both our families' requirements and establish the marriage as legitimate. After that, we reassess. If we want to continue, we continue. If not, we negotiate a dissolution."
"Divorce."
"Eventually. But not right away. It needs to look real, which means at least a year.
" I stood and started pacing, organizing my thoughts.
"You'd keep full control of Castellano & Co.
I have no interest in running a cosmetics company.
In exchange, you'd attend family functions with me, present a united front, and handle the social obligations that come with being a Moretti wife. "
"Social obligations meaning what?"
"Charity events. Dinners with allies. Looking beautiful and gracious while dangerous men discuss dangerous business." I paused. "My sister Gianna can help you navigate all that. She's good at it."
"The one who organized the auction."
"Yes. She'll like you, I think." I continued pacing. "You'd live here. This penthouse is mine, separate from the family compound. We'd have privacy while still being close enough for appearances."
"And the heir requirement?"
This was the delicate part.
"We try," I said carefully. "Actively. I'm not talking about forcing you into anything, but we'd need to make a genuine attempt to conceive within the first six months. If it doesn't happen naturally, we discuss other options—IVF, whatever it takes to satisfy the terms of both our situations."
"And if I get pregnant?"
"Then we see it through. You carry the baby, we raise it together, and we figure out what our marriage looks like with a child in it.
" I stopped pacing and looked at her directly.
"I won't be an absent father, Angelina. If we do this, if we bring a child into this world, I'm all in.
Present. Involved. That's non-negotiable. "
Something softened in her expression. "You'd be a good father."
"I don't know about that. But I'd try." I moved back to her, pulling her to her feet. "And in the meantime, we'd have what we had today. The dynamic we established. You surrender control to me in the bedroom, and I take care of you in every way that matters."
"You want a submissive wife."
"I want you." I cupped her face. "However you come.
The submission is part of who you are, Angelina.
I saw it today. The way you bloomed under structure and command.
The way you needed someone to make decisions so you could finally stop carrying everything alone.
That's not going away just because we put a ring on it. "
"And outside the bedroom?"
"You're my equal. My partner. We make decisions together, compromise when necessary, and present a united front to everyone else.
" I smiled. "Think of it like this—in business, in family matters, in everything public, we're equals.
In private, in our bedroom, in the scenes we negotiate together, you're mine to command. Best of both worlds."
She let out a shaky breath. "You've really thought this through."
"I had two hours and a lot of motivation." I kissed her forehead. "But I need to know what you want, Angelina. What would make this work for you? What are your terms?"
She was quiet for a moment, thinking.
"I want full autonomy over my company like you said," she said finally. "No interference, no suggestions, no trying to influence my business decisions. Castellano & Co. stays mine."
"Done. I already agreed to that."
"I want your help getting rid of my uncle. Not just the evidence—I want your family's backing when I force him out. So he knows touching me means touching the Morettis."
"You'll have it. I'll talk to my father tomorrow, make it official."
"And I want..." She hesitated. "I want honesty. Complete honesty. If you're going to ask me to trust you with my body, my safety, my future—I need to know you'll tell me the truth. Even when it's hard. Even when it's dangerous."
That one made me pause. Honesty wasn't always safe in my world. There were things I couldn't tell her, things that would put her at risk just by knowing. But she deserved to know what she was getting into.
"I'll tell you everything I can," I said carefully. "But there are some things, family business things, that I can't share. Not because I don't trust you, but because knowing them could make you a target. Can you accept that?"
She considered this. "As long as you never lie to me. If you can't tell me something, say so. But don't lie."
"Deal." I pulled her closer. "Anything else?"
"The scenes we do and the dynamic in the bedroom, I want safe words to always apply. I want to be able to stop things if they get too intense, even if we're married."
"Absolutely. Safe, sane, and consensual. Always." I was actually relieved she'd brought this up. "Red means stop, yellow means check in. That never changes, wife or not."
"And I want..." She looked away, color rising in her cheeks. "I want you to actually want me. Not just tolerate me because I'm convenient. If we're doing this, if we're going to try to make a real marriage out of it, I need to know you actually desire me."
I couldn't help it—I laughed.
"Angelina." I tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet my eyes.
"I paid two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for one night with you.
I've been hard since the moment you dropped that robe at lunch.
Hell, since I first saw you. I spent two hours researching your situation when I could have been working on actual business, because I couldn't stop thinking about you.
And right now, even though we're having a serious conversation about marriage contracts and family politics, I'm picturing about fifteen different ways I want to fuck you before the sun comes up. "
Her breath caught. "Oh."
"So yes. I actually want you. That's not going to be a problem." I kissed her, hard and possessive. "Any other terms?"
"Just one." She pulled back slightly. "If we do this, I want a real wedding. Not some courthouse thing. A real ceremony, with our families there, making it official. Because if I'm only getting married once in my life, I want it to actually mean something."
That surprised me. I'd expected her to want something quiet, private. Quick. But she wanted a real wedding. All the bells and whistles.
"You'll get one," I promised. "We'll do it right. Whatever you want."
"Really?"
"Really." I smiled. "Gianna will be thrilled. She loves planning parties."
"The same Gianna who organized a BDSM auction for charity?"
"The very same. Trust me, she has range." I pulled her toward the door. "Come on. We've been talking business for too long. I have other plans for the rest of our night."
"What kind of plans?"
"The kind where I introduce you to impact play and see how pretty you look with my handprints on your ass."
She shivered, and I watched her pupils dilate with want.
"And after that?" she asked breathlessly.
"After that, we see if you can take me in your mouth without gagging.
And then I'm going to fuck you again, slower this time.
I want to know how many times I can make you come.
" I backed her against the wall, crowding her.
"And somewhere in there, between orgasms, we're going to keep talking.
Keep learning each other. Keep figuring out if this crazy idea of ours could actually work. "
"And in the morning?"
"In the morning, we do it all again." I kissed her neck, feeling her pulse jump under my lips. "But that's hours away. Right now, you're still in that first contract with me. And I intend to make the most of every second."
"Yes, sir," she whispered.
And just like that, we were back in the dynamic.
Back to the power exchange that felt as natural as breathing.
I took her hand and led her toward the bedroom.
The flogger I'd bought specifically for this.
The restraints still hanging from the bedposts.
The blindfold, anal plug, and the vibrator I'd purchased.
We had to figure out if we could build a marriage out of chemistry, necessity, and mutual benefit.