Chapter 4
Alessio
This woman would be the death of me; I was sure of it. And why did she keep walking away from me? I was Alessio Remotti, heir to my father’s empire, and Giovanna didn’t seem to care.
I admired her grit and tenacity, but she was pissing me off.
Like a lost puppy I followed her to the stables. We were riding together whether she liked it or not. In four days, a massive wedding celebration would take place at my estate, and we needed to appear familiar with each other. If we could also like each other, it would be grand.
“Ciao, I’m Giovanna Amano.”
“Remotti.” I barked from behind her. How dare she use her maiden name? I had a marriage certificate as proof that she was now… “Giovanna Remotti. My wife.”
She sighed and gave my stable man a small smile.
“Sí, Signore,” Louie replied and nodded his head with a nervous expression. “The horses are ready for you.”
“Grazie, Louie.” I took my wife’s hand firmly and guided her toward the stall where her new horse was. “You did it again.”
“Did what?” she asked in an annoyed tone.
“Ran from me.”
“I didn’t run. I merely left.” She was exasperated like me, but it was her that kept being stubborn and dramatic. If she would meet me halfway, I believed we might find common ground. We might even fall in love. It couldn’t be only me who felt sparks.
I turned on her and put her back against the wooden gate. Closing the gap between us, my nose touched hers and it took every ounce of strength in me not to kiss her. “Do not leave me again, without my permission.”
“Really? That’s how it’s going to be with us? And what will happen if I disobey my master?” she asked in a challenging voice.
“Your sarcasm isn’t attractive right now.”
“But it was attractive before now?”
“Enough!” I ignored her and clutched her face in my hand. “Stop pushing me away. That’s an order.”
She gasped and something, maybe fear or it could have been excitement, flashed in her eyes. “Let go of me.”
“No.” I leaned my body against hers and Lord help me, she felt incredible.
“I don’t want you touching me. Please step back.”
“No.” I lifted her face toward mine and rubbed my nose against her jaw. “I’m trying to figure out what to do with you.”
“Surely, you can do that without touching me.” Her chest rose and fell, and she inhaled and exhaled through her open mouth.
“Why do you test me so much? Can’t you just fall in line and be an obedient wife?
” I caressed her cheek and gripped her hip to hold her place.
She was turning me on, whether intentionally or not.
As much as I wanted to deny I cared nothing for her, it would be lie.
That was the crazy part. In all my adult life, no woman possessed me like Giovanna.
“If you wanted an obedient wife, you should have picked someone else to marry. No man will ever control me.” Her strength and defiance made me want her more than my next breath.
I wanted to find out if I could control her in the bedroom. I needed to find out if I could make her scream my name. Scream in pleasure, of course.
“You’re forgetting I didn’t pick you. The choice wasn’t mine.” As soon as the words left my lips I knew I’d made a grave mistake.
“Damn, you!” Her hand flew toward my face and connected with my cheek. A loud slap filled the space between us, then she yelped in pain.
I hissed and gritted my teeth.
“Oh. I. Um.” A look of surprise flashed on her face as if she couldn’t believe she’d just hit me.
“You’re stronger than you look.” I touched my cheek. The burning sensation made adrenaline shoot through my veins in the best possible way. “I like feisty, confident women.”
“You disgust me.” She shoved me away and put distance between us. “If you think talking to me this way, will win me over, you’re a fool!”
“I’m sorry.” I raised my hands to show her I would keep myself in check.
“I’m certain you’re not.” She blinked and it was then I noticed the emotion in her eyes. I’d hurt her feelings.
“I meant no disrespect. I know you didn’t have a choice either.” I reached my hand out to her. If I could comfort her in some way, perhaps she would see I wasn’t the horrible person she believed me to be.
“No, I didn’t.” She swiped under eye and composed herself. “And I would have never chosen someone like you but here we are.” Her words gave me pain just as mine had hurt her.
“I deserve that.” I slowly moved toward her with my hand extended. “We need to stop fighting. It’s nice out and I know how much you love being outdoors. Let’s try to salvage the day.”
“What else did my mother tell you?” She scoffed, giving me attitude. I was beginning to wonder if she knew how much I liked sassy women. Funny enough, I sensed she had figured out what turned me on, and that was a hard-to-get woman. “You obviously have talked with her more than me.”
“A lot, actually.” But I saw her point. Everything I learned about her had come from her mother, except it had been mine who’d spent hours on the phone with Giovanna’s mamma. Not me because I’d been too busy.
She ignored me and went to pet the nose of one of our horses. I couldn’t help but be captivated by her gentle touch and sweet voice as she cooed to the mare, calling her sweet girl in Italian.
“Would you like to meet your horse? She might be getting jealous at all the attention you’re giving her sister.” I strolled further down the row of stalls, wanting Giovanna to follow me. More than anything, I wanted to spend time with her.
But, so help me God if she left me again, I would not chase after her. I would be done with her, and our marriage would only be a business transaction. I’d fuck her just to get an heir out of her, and I’d go back to Cara.
“What if I said I liked this one?” She kissed the horse’s nose and stroked it.
“I’d say she’s yours.” Shoot, I might be the one getting jealous. It must have felt wonderful to be on the receiving end of her kindness and love.
“Just like that? No fighting to change my mind?” She furrowed her brow suspiciously. Was she testing me? Could she not see that I was trying to get close to her?
Perhaps not. I would do better and make my intentions clear.
“Just like that,” I replied. “Whatever you want is yours.”
She bit her bottom lip and gave the mare one more caring pat on the nose, then she strolled toward me. “Well, I should meet the horse you have for me. At the very least.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I said in a playful voice, doing my best to entice her to join me.
“Don’t confuse me. You’re giving me whiplash.”
“I could say the same to you.” I winked and reached for her hand. This time she let me take it and I had to admit; I was more than a little relieved. “How about we be nice to each other.”
“That’s an appealing thought. I don’t like confrontation.”
“Me either, actually.”
She smiled and curled her hand around mine. “So, we have something in common.”
“I think we have a lot in common. We just need to discover our similarities.” I raised her hand and kissed the back of it. “I’m genuinely sorry for hurting your feelings. Can you forgive me?”
She inhaled a deep breath, staring into my eyes. “Yes. I can forgive you. Can you promise me something?”
“Depends on what it is.” The muscles in my shoulders locked up. Was this another test?
“Will you promise to always be honest with me?” She squeezed my hand, a sign that my response would make or break us. “I need to be able to trust you, Alessio.”
“You can trust me. I promise to be honest about things outside of my family’s business.”
“I understand. But with everything else, you can’t lie to me.”
“Deal. I promise.” I pulled her toward me, needing to hug her probably more than she needed to hug me.
“What are you doing?” she asked, confusion in her voice. Yup, my thoughts were correct. When would she lower her guard and try to embrace me and our marriage?
“This is called a hug. People in Italy do it all the time.” I squeezed her and kissed the side of her head. “We kiss a lot in our culture, too.”
She laughed and tossed her head back. The sound of her amusement made the hair on my arms stand up and fullness spread through my chest.
And then she hugged me back, and it felt better than I imagined. The warmth from our bodies melted together. What would being naked feel like?
“I need to tell you something,” I told her, holding her tightly against me.
“What is it?” She stiffened slightly.
“I ended it last night with my lover. That’s where I went. To tell her I was getting married and we were over.”
She reared her head back to look up at me. “But why?”
“I told her that I wanted to give my marriage a chance and that my new wife deserved to be the only woman in my life.” I’d only been gone an hour when I left last night.
Of course, Cara wasn’t happy about me ending things.
She cried. Yelled. She tried to seduce me.
But sex wouldn’t have changed anything. My mind had been made up.
“Wow. I’m without words.” She blinked rapidly as tears appeared.
“Are you really that surprised?”
“Don’t get angry, but yes. That whiplash I mentioned minutes ago is back.”
“I’m not angry. What else were you to believe after our introduction yesterday afternoon? I wasn’t exactly friendly.”
“No, you weren’t. And not at dinner either.” She sniffled and pressed the tip of her finger to the corner of her eyes. “What if you don’t like me after you get to know me?”
“Don’t be so negative.” I released her and gently cradled her face. “What if I fall in love with you?” What if I was already falling in love with her?
“Nobody would be more surprised than me. We didn’t start out on the right foot.”
“No, we didn’t. But we can try right now.” I slowly, like slower than a snail, lowered my mouth toward hers. If she jerked away, I’d take that as a sign she didn’t want my lips anywhere near hers.
“Are you going to kiss me?”
“What do you think?” I captured her lips and an electrifying energy exploded between us.