Epilogue
Three weeks later
Isabella
I don’t usually lurk about in the corridor when Antonio’s in a meeting, but I am dying to know what he and Piotr Reznov are discussing. It can’t be Boris’s upcoming marriage to Ava. That’s all in hand and neither my husband nor the Russian ice prince have shown the slightest interest in the arrangements. I suspect Piotr’s come to exact his price for helping Antonio to rescue me.
As the door to the study suddenly opens, I startle.
“Mrs. Volante,” Piotr acknowledges me as he passes. The man is impossibly handsome, but his eyes are so cold I shudder.
Spooked all of a sudden, I hurry into the study and close the door behind me. Antonio is behind his desk. He hasn’t grown any more expressive in the past few weeks, but the grooves on his forehead tell me he’s not happy.
“What did he want?”
Antonio arches an eyebrow as if I have no right to ask. I think he’s going to tell me as much, but then he sighs. “Olivia.”
“What?”
“He wants to marry her to seal the relationship between the Bratva and our family.”
“But his uncle’s marrying your mom.”
“Yes, but since he stepped down, his men have been making noises about Piotr settling down. He needs a wife to win support from the old guard who want to see him married, with an heir or two.”
Antonio gets up and walks to the window. His shoulders slump as he looks out into the gardens. My heart sinks. “You said yes, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but only if he can gain her consent. I’m not prepared to force my sister into marriage. I let her down enough in the past.”
It kills Antonio that despite his efforts, he still hasn’t found the photos of Olivia that Joey Gallo tried to blackmail me with. If it wasn’t for Olivia’s confirmation they exist, I would think Joey made the whole thing up. But the pictures are out there somewhere and they won’t stay buried forever.
“But she’s in Italy.”
Although he relented on sending me away again, Antonio insisted Olivia go to Italy. He thinks being around their cousins there will help her mature a bit. Matteo accompanied her. He was supposed to see her settled and then return. For some reason, he’s chosen to stay in Tuscany for now. It’s pissing Antonio off, especially since Gio leaves for Scotland in a few weeks, when he gets the all-clear from his doctors. He pretends it’s because Matteo’s absence leaves him a man down, but really he just misses him. If he isn’t back before Gio goes, Antonio will be impossible to deal with.
“I told Reznov that. He’s going to fly out there.”
“You don’t think he’ll put pressure on her, do you? I mean, he could try to force her consent.”
“That’s something Olivia will have to deal with.”
“Antonio!”
“She’s old enough to know her own mind, Bella. Fuck, she challenges me and Leo at every turn.”
“But…”
Antonio cuts me off. “Are you trying to interfere in my business, Bella?”
His tone is stern, but not particularly harsh. Obviously fed up with this conversation, my husband wants to play.
I flash him a coy smile. “Maybe.”
“You know what happens to bad girls who interfere with their husband’s business, don’t you?”
Oh, I most definitely do. I bite my bottom lip. “No.”
“Get on your knees.”
I put my hands on my hips. “What happened to you getting on your knees for me every day?”
“Oh, Bella, that’s not what you want. You need to submit to me.”
He’s right. I crave his dominance. It’s become like oxygen to me. My heart skips a beat as I look into Antonio’s eyes and see past the naked lust to the love he has for me. Over the last few weeks, he’s taken every opportunity to show me just how much I mean to him. Keen to return the favor, I gladly sink to my knees.
The End