8. Alessia
Chapter eight
Alessia
S ince I took Massimo’s elbow, he has not let me go the entire evening. Always a hand on me in some way as we mix and mingle with our invited guests. A hand at the small of my back, a hand on the back of my arm or elbow, a hand on my hip.
Then, he did the most bizarre thing when he excused himself to use the restroom. He softly kissed my cheek just before brushing the shell of my ear with his lips to whisper to me. Every cell in my body went haywire, and he walked away as I was stunned into a statue momentarily. Afraid to move in case I might crumble.
I somehow managed to avoid touching my cheek where he pressed his lips, leaving it blistering from the heat. Quickly, I had to remind myself that people were watching, and I needed to harness some aloofness. I can’t let anyone see the way he already affects me. But when I jumped back into the conversation, my voice was slightly shaky.
From one single kiss.
When he finally returns to my side, he carries a lot of tension with him. I’m not sure if he looks upset or possibly even a little flustered. I don’t know him well enough to tell the difference yet, and that bothers me.
As soon as I find the opportunity, I pull him away for a bit of privacy. “Is everything okay?” I search his face for any signs that could tell me when something catches my eye. I swallow hard as my nostrils flare, and my hands are already shaking from restraint.
“Everything is fine,” he mutters, not looking at me and screaming guilt.
“You might want to go change your shirt. There’s lipstick on the collar.” Lipstick that does not at all match the color I am currently wearing. My words are tight, and so are every muscle in my body. “And I’d appreciate it if you did it before anyone sees it.”
His eyes remain reserved when they snap down to mine, and I want to fucking kill him. “Alessia—”
“Don’t. Not now. We can talk about this later. We have people watching. Excuse yourself and go change your shirt.” Turning with a forced smile, I walk away and do my best not to walk right out of the door and scream. My temper can be a ruinous flaw. Sometimes, it is impossible to rein in when it burns like molten lava inside of me.
It’s not just humility and anger I’m feeling; it’s jealousy, too.
What a fucking stronzo ! We had an agreement, and he already broke it. An agreement he insisted on. I gave him the opportunity to fuck around before we got married, and he opted out of it.
Trust has to be earned as it is, so to break that already before it’s even built is setting us up for a strenuous road ahead.
And to dare try and make a fool out of me at our fucking engagement party. I already want to shank his ass right here in front of everyone. Luckily, I didn’t catch him in the act, or I would not have been able to restrain myself.
If he thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants and I have to follow the rules, he has another thing coming. I will not stand by and behave like a good, obedient girl while he’s out there making a mockery of me. Fuck. That. And fuck. Him.
Plucking a new glass of champagne off a tray, I glance around the room to find who the whore might be. Obviously, a woman wearing red lipstick and someone with a death sentence.
I continue scouring the room, smiling politely at anyone I come in eye contact with when my gazing gets put on pause. Arianna De Niro. Rumors about her and Massimo being an item a few years ago sizzle as her red-painted lips are curled up into a dazzling smile directed at me. My vision is polluted with murderous rage as I use deep breaths to calm myself. I’m a Bonetti, and I will not lose it on some hussy that messed around with my fiancé at my own engagement party. She knows better than to disrespect a woman in my position since she, too, is the daughter of a capo. Not a well-respected one, but one no less.
It seems my reputation has not made an impression on her as it should, and she needs a little demonstration.
Downing my champagne, I begin to make my way over to her. Our eyes locked, and a smirk now mocking me on her face. She will not get away with this— “Alessia.” A strong hand wraps around my upper arm, and a deep voice in my ear stops me. “I can explain. It’s not at all—”
My glower snaps up to his. “Oh, I think I’ll have Arianna explain it to me,” I coo and try to pull away from him, but he doesn’t let me go.
“It’s not what you think. I said I would not touch any other woman, and I meant it,” he practically spits at me as if I should be the one on trial here.
To everyone else, it looks like I am leaning into my handsome fiancé getting a little cozy, and when I open my mouth, my words are passionate, but not in a loving way. “Your word doesn’t mean shit. How the fuck did red lipstick get on your collar? Someone would have to be awfully close to you for that to happen. You think I’m stupid? I know you and her used to be a thing, and she happens to be wearing that exact color on her whorish lips. Not to mention the fact that when you came back, you were slightly flustered and wouldn’t even look at me. Those are not hard puzzle pieces to fit together. They fell into place all on their own. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must remind someone what happens when I feel disrespected.” I place my hands on his chest and smile up at him coyly. “Care to join me?”
“My place is at your side, cara mia ,” he says evenly as if no longer perturbed. Taking one of my hands from his chest, he laces his fingers with mine a little too tightly as a warning. I squeeze his hand right back, and we journey the short distance to the lovely Arianna.
“Arianna, how are you?” I walk right up to her and kiss each cheek. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” she purrs, then turns her attention to Massimo. I watch them out of the corner of my eye as I greet the others around. “Massimo.” She smirks at him over her glass of champagne and sips from it.
“Arianna. Good to see you again,” he responds dryly, his voice as level as usual.
“Your dress is lovely, Arianna. It’s very…pageant-like. Something only you could pull off.” A few people chuckle around us as I smile at her. Hers fades a little, and she stands straighter in her red sparkly gown. She looks like that big-boobed cartoon chick in that one movie married to a rabbit. “I do love a good red dress. Easier to conceal blood splatter.” I bat my lashes as everyone chuckles.
“So, are you as savage as they say?” she responds as if it would offend me.
“I’m only savage when I feel disrespected,” my words come out smoother than honey.
“I know I certainly would not want to be on the receiving end of your wrath, Miss Bonetti,” a man of little importance says from somewhere around the small group gathered.
“You definitely wouldn’t,” I agree loudly, my eyes still locked with Arianna’s. The little bravado she had left disappears quickly, and she looks like she might tuck her tail and run. And I do love a good chase. “Well, we do have other guests to get around to.” I tear my gaze away to address the others. “But thank you all for being here. Come, my love.” I tug at Massimo’s hand that I’m still adhered to, and we walk away without direction.
I pry my shaking hand away from him, and he puts his at the small of my back. “I need a private moment with you,” he rumbles in my ear, and I try to calm the rage his voice is amplifying. I have never practiced such great self-control before. I should be picking her teeth out of my knuckles, but here I am, acting like a dignified lady.
Why am I not angrier with Massimo ? He’s the one that broke my trust.
“I don’t want to be alone with you right now,” I say defiantly with my eyes averted.
“I will drag you out of this room if I have to, Alessia,” he threatens.
“And make a scene?” I taunt. “That wouldn’t be very kingly.”
He sighs heavily, then gives my upper arm a firm grip. “Last chance to come with me willingly,” he growls, and I heed his warning. The last thing we need is my brothers coming to the rescue and an all-out brawl to begin.
“Fine,” I say through gritted teeth. “Lead the way, sweetheart .”
His grip on my arm doesn’t let up in the slightest as he steers us out of the room, and he tells the guys to hang back as we disappear into a darkened hallway. There, he pins me against the wall and hovers over me as I glower up at him. His arms caging me in and trying to use his massive size to make me yield. I could knee him in the balls or head butt him, but something makes me want to stay.
“I gave you my word on something, and I need you to understand that when I give it to you, it’s as good as me signing a contract in blood.”
“Then why the fuck was there lipstick on your collar? Please explain that to me,” I sneer. I am dying to know what kind of bullshit he’ll try to feed me.
“I do not need to explain anything. If I tell you that nothing happened, then nothing happened,” he snarls in my face, his patience waning.
“You didn’t say that nothing happened.”
“Fine. Nothing happened. Happy?”
“Oh, I am over the moon,” I say acerbically. He stays right there in my personal space, and I find myself studying his lips. Remembering what they felt like on my cheek and wondering if he had to scrub red lipstick off them before rejoining me, causing the anger to revive. “Are we done here?” My voice isn’t as strong as I intended it to be, and I catch him glancing down at my mouth. “We should get back, Massimo,” I rasp.
His nostrils twitch. “We can go back whenever we damn well please. It is our party. They’ll just think I had to steal a moment with my fiancée because I can’t keep my hands off her.” My breath hitches, and I find myself breathing harder. My body is craving something indescribable and something almost too overwhelming to handle. “Have I told you how stunning you are, Alessia?” His warm breath fans out over my face, and when he gently uses one rough finger to make a path down my jawline, I completely melt against the wall, now holding me up. “The most stunning thing in the room. I really can’t keep my hands off you, and you’re getting harder and harder to resist.” A lump forms in my suddenly tight throat, making it impossible to say a word. How did this conversation abruptly make a complete one-eighty? How did he just win the upper hand? “Knowing that you are now mine, no other woman can steal my attention from you for even a moment. Even when we are not in the same room. You may be inclined to wait until our wedding night, but know I want you and only you. The wait will be more than worth it, so I can wait, Alessia. I can and I will. Do not question my faithfulness again, or I’ll have to put you over my knee and remind you of your place.”
The rage is back with a vengeance, coiling tight and ready to snap. “My place?” I blurt in a shrill voice.
“Your place is with me, and as your man, I need you to trust me and my word, or I’ll have to mark your pretty little ass with the hands that belong to you.”
What the.. . My man? The hands that belong to me? Can you actually own any part of Massimo? Wait…over his knee?!
I should be appalled, but I’m so fucking turned on and dumbfounded.
“Do not question me again, Alessia,” he reprimands.
“Do not threaten me,” I hiss, and he has the audacity to find it humorous.
“It’s not a threat, cara mia . You will soon learn that I make no threats.” He leans back some but still has me trapped. “Now, do you think you can rein in your temper some and let this thing go? Or do you need to get the rest of your tantrum out of the way? I could help you with that, you know.” His lips are still slightly curled up at the corners, and his eyes have a playful gleam.
“I think I can handle myself, thank you.”
“Shame,” he muses and stands up straight, dropping his hands from the wall, and I take a deep breath. “Shall we?” He holds a hand out, and I ignore it as I walk past him. Just as one of my feet steps over the threshold, my hand is gripped tightly in his as he leans into my ear. “You’re trying my patience, piccolina . Do you actually want that spanking, or are you truly incapable of controlling that beautiful temper of yours?” My skin bristles with goosebumps.
“You have no idea what my temper actually looks like, Massimo. If you did, you would see that I am most definitely in control of myself right now. That out there was tame compared to my tantrums,” I say lowly.
When he lets out a chuckle, he tries to hide it behind a fist, disguising it with a cough. My head whips around to get a look, and wouldn’t you know? The madman is capable of smiling. His white teeth are perfectly straight, and there are crinkles around his eyes. He’s absolutely magnetizing.
“You’ll definitely keep me entertained, won’t you, Alessia?” He glances down at me with a slight smile.
I can’t help myself as I try to fight back my own smile and totally fail. Putting a damper on my inner turmoil. “Seems like you will keep me entertained as well, Massimo.” And certainly a challenge.
The fact that he was able to use my hormones against me to prevaricate the situation and turn me on instead, he already has some hold on me that I need to take back. I will not be his submissive in any way.
I will be his equal, or I will be his worst nightmare.