Chapter 16
Sixteen
A vra
What was wrong with me? Why was I so anxious for Eli to be home?
After adding the finishing touches to the pots simmering on the stove before me, I adjusted the temperature to low and turned to wash my hands.
My stomach shouldn’t be in knots like this. Maybe it was because it was the first time since we married that we had spent more than a few hours apart.
Was I looking forward to spending time with him?
No, that wasn’t possible.
Who was I kidding? Somewhere along the way, the man had grown on me, and now my emotions were all mixed up when it came to him.
Not that my heart is getting mixed up here. It couldn’t be.
“Just stop,” I whispered to myself and shook my head.
I might as well take advantage of this quiet, empty house. I doubted I’d have evenings like this to myself very often.
Inhaling the scents of all the spices in the air, I sighed. Tonight was the first time in a long while that I’d allowed myself the pleasure of escaping into a simple task like cooking. Our lives had been busy with Vik’s schooling, so my sisters and I had made it a requirement to gather at least once a week to create our favorite recipes to remember Mama.
This domestic side of myself was only a tribute to my mother, nothing more. I still had an agenda. Marrying Elias was a means to an end, a crucial step to position myself to avenge my family.
Who was I kidding? What I intended it to be and what it had become were two different things.
I was so fucked. Damn Eli and his magic cock.
A pain ignited deep in my heart, knowing my plans for the future could end this thing I’d built with Eli. I wouldn’t stop until I’d killed everyone involved in the conspiracy against my family, which meant eliminating Ozias.
I couldn’t let him live even if he was Eli’s father. The bastard had killed Mama and orchestrated the destruction of my family.
I turned off the burners and poured myself a glass from the decanter of wine I had been aerating on the counter. Inhaling the bold, rich scent of the Bordeaux, I moved to the sunroom, which overlooked the Gulf of Patras.
Maybe it wouldn’t be a deal-breaker.
Warmth, love, and affection were nonexistent between father and son. Based on my few conversations with Eli and my observations from the wedding, Eli detested Ozias.
It wasn’t to the level of my extreme hatred, but it was close.
I took a healthy swallow of my wine and hummed to myself. Eli might not object to disposing of his DNA provider after all.
His support would make things much easier, but there was no guarantee.
Dammit, why did I want him by my side so desperately all of a sudden?
Logic said Laya, Cali, and Vik were the only people I could trust. But that stupid part of me desperately wanted to believe Eli would stand by me.
Shit. That lunch had fucked with my mind.
Downing the rest of my glass, I allowed the alcohol to numb my thoughts as I stared out at the waters as the boats came into their docks.
I was thirty years old, hardened, and matured from a long life of loss and fear. I wasn’t some green teenager in love with life, my head in the clouds. Why was I allowing my thoughts to overwhelm me like this?
Fuck. I needed another drink. Or maybe I should eat something first, or risk letting the wine have fun with my head .
Moving back into the kitchen, I set the glass on the island and pulled out a plate. It looked as if it would be dinner for one tonight.
I’d barely refilled my wine when the door opened and closed, signaling Elias’s return.
I pushed back all the turmoil and attempted to wear my mask of cool indifference. If Eli came here and suspected something wasn’t right, he wouldn’t ask but demand to know what was happening.
The fact he could read me was a very annoying ability of his.
When he entered the kitchen, his face showed annoyance and something that sent a wave of uneasiness down my spine.
No need to worry about him sensing anything with me when he was a tangle of irritation.
“You cooked?” he asked, but his tone showed no real interest outside of the fact I was in the kitchen.
I pulled out an additional dish. “Yes. I wanted to make something from my childhood. So I gave the chef the night off.”
He nodded and headed toward the stairwell leading to our room. “Give me five minutes.”
Well, okay then.
When he returned, there was this look in his eyes that had me worried. I couldn’t tell if he was upset or angry.
“What’s wrong?”
He exhaled long, taking a bottle of water from the fridge. After he drank half of it, he capped the container and shook his head. “Meetings. ”
“That’s not vague.”
He grunted, peeking around me as though to guess what I was making. “What is that?”
“Comfort food.”
“And you accuse me of being vague,” he muttered.
I poured him a glass of wine and passed it to him. “Did Ozias piss you off?”
“That. And other things.” He took it and drank nearly the whole glass before running his hand through his thick hair.
I couldn’t help but stare as his shirt clung to the bulge of his biceps with his mindless movements. The man was completely unaware of how his agitation was a complete turn-on.
I bit my lip, tormented with the temptation to push for more. Eli, being so close-lipped and secretive, nudged at some sadistic part of me to poke at him.
“What other things?”
His focus homed in on me, making my heartbeat accelerate. “Why do you want to know?”
“We’re a couple. We discuss troubles. Isn’t that how it works?”
“Is that what we’re doing, Avra? Sharing our troubles?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“Is this going to be a fair exchange?” His question sliced along my skin, making it clear we were entering more than a negotiation.
“What is it you consider fair, Eli?”
“Let me see.” He held my gaze as he crept slowly, methodically, around the large island as if he were a predator. “I give you information. You give the same. No lies, no evasions, only truth.”
“I’ve never lied to you.”
“But you’ve never given me the whole truth.”
“You haven’t asked the right questions to garner the answers you seek.”
“All of the same can be said in reverse for me.”
“Fine. Let’s have a question-and-answer session. Brutal honesty is all that is allowed.”
The intensity of his presence caused goosebumps to prickle over my skin. “Ask your first question.”
“How well do you know them? Are you friends with them, or is it just Ozias? Are you in business with them as well?” I asked.
“Can I assume you’re referring to Cristo Caras, Morisi Bella, and Pella Korba?”
I nodded.
He padded closer, coming within arm's reach, his presence a heady sensation on my nerves. My eyes connected with his, and a pulse of lust burned across my skin.
Getting right up into my space, he shot his arms out around me. He dropped his hands to the counter, caging me in, bracketing me.
I gazed into his face as he point-blank put me on the spot.
“Is this an assessment so you can kill them for their part in your father’s assassination?”
I lifted my chin slightly, not afraid to answer. “Yes.”
“It will cause an uproar. It will destabilize territories. ”
So, he’d thought of this too. “I don’t care.” As he narrowed his eyes, I went on. “People need to know they can’t go against the Vitalis Family and get away with it.”
He pressed his lips together, exhaling through his nose as he looked me up and down. His gaze lingered on me, igniting a spark of desire. Even when I had no right to think about anything but standing my ground, his warm proximity never failed to arouse me.
“Are you officially claiming the status as godmother of the Vitalis Family, Avra?”
I swallowed, hearing that title for the second time today. Just like before, the weight of those words stacked on my conscience.
“I did this before we married, Eli.” I allowed my cheek to brush against his as he moved closer.
His hands settled on my hips. “Are you waging war? One target at a time?”
I smirked, loving the proximity of his large body to mine. “You should know the answer to that already. The Vitalis’s power remains. Once my plan is complete, no one will forget the price of betrayal. It’s all about collecting the pieces to set us back on top.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Are you saying that I’m part of the collection? You did marry me to secure the future of the Vitalis legacy, after all.”
“I never lied about my motives.” I inhaled his crisp scent, allowing my lips to coast over his cheek.
“You never gave me all the details either.”
I licked my lips, fueled by this growing thrill of fighting with him. “I never thought this marriage would amount to more than duty and positioning.”
“Are you saying it’s more than revenge now?” His expression changed, reacting to my words with an emotion that crossed so quickly that I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t looked at him then.
“How can you ask that after the other night? You already know—” My throat burned, and I turned my face away.
He captured my jaw, forcing me to look up at him. “Know what?”
“This is our children’s future. Work with me. We can do this together. I’m going to follow through with this plan no matter what.” My voice quivered, stating the truth but not the words I wanted to say.
He squeezed tighter, forcing me to angle my face up. “No evasions, Avra. Those are the rules. Finish the sentence. Know what?”
I drew a quick breath, desperately wanting to keep this part of me locked away. Eli’s fingers squeezed, and the pressure there, the show of his craving for dominance, had my pussy waking with need. I pressed my thighs together, trying to stem this instant flare of desire from his fierce grip on me.
“I told you before, I won’t let you take everything from me.”
He pushed me against the island, his cock pressed thick and hard between us.
“Did you forget I already have it?” he warned lowly. “You orchestrated our marriage. You sold yourself to me. I own you. You belong to me. Everything you are is mine, your body, your soul. Every part of you belongs to me.”
I shook my head, which only made his fingers tighten around my throat.
He brought his face right to mine, bringing us nose to nose. “Do you understand what it means to be mine?”
The intensity of his gaze sent a wave of uncertainty down my spine. However, it wasn’t because of fear but an emotion I refused to allow myself to feel.
“Don’t look at me like that, Eli.”
“You’re my wife. I can look at you any fucking way I choose.”
My lips trembled. “Please don’t make decisions about me that you will regret.”
If he changed his mind in the future, what would I have left?
“You can’t trust me. You said it yourself,” I reminded him.
“Look me in the eyes and tell me you believe this.”
I tried to turn my head away, but he refused to let me budge, so I could only glower at him. Fucking man had my mind all twisted.
Before I could say anything else, he said, “I have a proposition for you, wife.”
“And that is?”
“If I help you complete your plan…” He brought his hot lips closer, brushing them over my mouth. “There is no going back for you. ”
I frowned, tipping my face back, making sure I understood his words.
His eyes were obsidian pools filled with emotions that sent my heart into a wild, thundering rhythm.
“Are you saying what I believe you’re saying?”
He nodded.
“But he’s your?—”
“I protect what’s mine ,” he vowed, sinfully possessively. “There is no escape for you now, Avra.”
“I never said I was going anywhere.”
He tugged me to him. “I find that acceptable.”