Chapter 9
The bird resisted River’s attempts to transfer it off his shoulder, so after a few moments, Nico waved her off. “It’s fine,” he muttered. “She can stay while we discuss this.”
“Pretty bird,” Feather Locklear repeated, staring up at him with more than a little hero worship in her eyes.
Meanwhile, her owner was staring at him like he was a roadside bomb that might blow up in her face at any moment.
She sat back down on the loveseat, and he took a seat next to her with the bird still perched comfortably on his shoulder.
He didn’t like how quiet River was. He’d already learned she spouted random facts when she was nervous.
She was chatty when she was sad and annoyed, too. So, this silence was unnerving.
“Talk,” he encouraged. “I know you have concerns and questions. Let them out, fiorellino. Speak freely.”
She sucked in the biggest, longest, deepest breath he’d ever seen a human take before emptying the contents of her brain on him.
“I thought I knew a lot about the mafia because I saw Mean Streets when I was ten and was fascinated with it, so I read everything I could find. I mean, I learned that Lucky Luciano purposefully contracted gonorrhea to avoid the draft, and one time, Al Capone accidentally shot himself in the groin, and his friends used to call him Snorky, which sounds bad but is actually just slang for a well-dressed gentleman. And I know historical stuff, like the mafia here in America came to power during Prohibition. I’ve even read my share of mafia smut books, which are pretty freakin’ awesome.
But nothing—not any books I’ve read or anything I’ve watched—prepared me for any of that. ”
His brain got a little hung up on the fact that there were mafia smut books and that River read them. But he shook it off. That was information he could save and unpack later. He nodded. “It was a lot to take in.”
“And honestly,” she went on, “the mafia stuff wasn’t even as overwhelming as all the marriage talk, because that would basically be an arranged marriage—or is it a marriage of convenience?
—and I don’t know as much about the history of arranged marriages, except that most marriages in medieval times were strategic, and after the ceremony, newlyweds had to consummate the union in front of all the wedding guests. ”
No way. No way would he ever let a bunch of random wedding guests see his bride like that. The mere thought of Alexi and his goons seeing River naked made him want to crush their skulls with his bare hands.
Which probably wasn’t a normal reaction to have about a woman he’d just met. He realized that. But realizing it wasn’t enough to make him stop feeling it. So…here he was.
“My first marriage didn’t work out so good,” River went on.
“I assumed I just wasn’t the marrying kind.
I wouldn’t have thought you were either, until you told him I was your fiancée.
Not that you’d ever really want to marry me.
I mean, I realize that was just a ploy to get Alexi out of here, because you’d never expect me to—”
He grabbed her hand to stop her nervous spill of words. “I promised I’d never lie to you, and I don’t intend to start now. Make no mistake, fiorellino, you will marry me. Soon.”
“But…but…but…you don’t even know me!” she sputtered. “Worse yet, what you do know about me includes kidnapping and verbal diarrhea! Why on earth wouldn’t you just, I don’t know, force me to leave town, or something? Put me in some kind of mafia WITSEC?”
The idea of River—bringer of the only fun he’d had in years—disappearing forever caused an uncomfortable tightness in his chest he’d rather not analyze.
Not yet, anyway. “Leaving wouldn’t work.
I have a man working for me, a hacker, who could find you, wherever you went.
I’m sure Alexi has someone who could do the same. He’d find you.”
Her smooth brow furrowed. “He has his money, though. Why would he care about me anymore?”
Because he wanted you for himself. “It’s a matter of pride.
He suspects I lied to him. If he had proof I did—say, you disappearing, for example—he’d be honor-bound to retaliate.
Besides, I’m sure he still wants to teach your ex-husband a valuable lesson about what happens when you fuck around with the Russian mafia.
Keeping tabs on you is probably their only potential lead on him. ”
She bit her lip. “Why would you want this?”
Because I want you for myself. But he wasn’t going to say that part out loud just yet, either.
Why terrify her more than she already was?
“You fascinate me,” he admitted. “You’re actually the only thing that’s fascinated me in a long, long time, and I’d prefer the Russian mafia not kill the only person who has fascinated me in years. ”
“The fascination will wear off quickly. It did for my ex,” she said quietly.
“I’m not your ex.”
She snorted. “Once again, you are not lying.”
“Then it’s settled,” he said, knowing good and well they hadn’t settled anything. She just didn’t have a choice in the matter. Not if she wanted to survive. “We’ll marry as soon as possible.”
“I…you’re truly going to force me to marry you?”
“Yes.”
A fiery hot blush stole across her cheeks, making him very interested to know what kind of thoughts were bouncing around that big, beautiful brain of hers. If he didn’t know better, he’d say they weren’t of the clean and pure variety.
But eventually, she cleared her throat and asked, “What else will you force me to do?”
“Are you asking me about sex, fiorellino?”
She shifted nervously in her seat. “Yes.”
He let his gaze drop to her lush mouth for a second or two longer than what would be deemed socially acceptable.
“You asked me at the club if I wanted to have sex with you. My answer was yes then, and that hasn’t changed.
I’ll take you anytime, anywhere, any way you’d like.
You need only ask. But I’m a patient man, fiorellino.
I can wait until you’re ready. I’d never force you. ”
There was that blush again. He was ashamed to admit how much he liked that color on her. “What if…I’m never ready for…that?”
One corner of his mouth quirked up involuntarily. By God, she did entertain him. “You will be. One day, you’ll beg me to fuck you. And I’ll oblige.”
Her breathing quickened, and for a split second, he thought she might ask another serious question. Instead, she blurted, “Did you know alligators have permanently erect penises?”
His brow furrowed. “Truly?”
“Yes. It lurks inside their bodies and then bursts out suddenly when the time of mating comes, almost like the alien burst out of that guy’s chest in, well, Alien.”
“Interesting,” he murmured.
“Um hmm. And there’s a mouse-like marsupial in Australia that copulates to the death. They just keep going until the male is so depleted in vital proteins that it dismantles his immune system. The males just drop dead after that.”
He shrugged. “I can think of worse ways to go.”
She swallowed hard. “Female ducks can keep the muscles in their vaginas so tight that penises can’t even get in.”
“That’s not very hospitable.”
“It’s not. Meanwhile, female kangaroos have three vaginas.”
“Seems gratuitous.” He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Ask me more questions if that helps soothe your nerves.”
After a long pause, she said, “The Russians told me you’re a killer. Are you?”
He sighed. The truth probably wasn’t going to win him any points this time.
“I have killed, yes. No one who didn’t deserve it, but I’ll kill again if it means protecting what’s mine.
I’ll happily destroy anyone who is a threat to you without suffering so much as a twinge of conscience, fiorellino.
But I’ll never hurt you. You have my word. ”
An emotion he couldn’t identify flashed across her features. Had he scared her? Was she disgusted by his willingness to take human life? He couldn’t tell. God, what he wouldn’t give to be able to read her beautiful mind.
A convulsive swallow rippled down her throat. “Would you…have sex with other women after the wedding?”
Well, that was an unexpected change of subject, but one he wholeheartedly welcomed. He waved the question off. “I have no interest in an open marriage. For either of us. I expect loyalty. And you can expect loyalty from me as well.”
Her eyes lifted to his, searching. He had no idea what she was searching for. She’d find no logical reason to trust him in his gaze. There wasn’t one. But he meant every word. When she was his wife, he’d remain loyal to her. Even if it meant he’d die with blue balls.
At least he’d be entertained with fun, weird facts he’d otherwise never know in the meantime.
She snorted. “Loyalty shouldn’t be a problem. I haven’t had sex in five years, and I’ve only been divorced for two, so I’ll just let you do the math on that one.”
Now that was maybe the most interesting thing she’d said yet. “Really?” Was her husband blind as well as dumb?
“It’s not a big deal. Jeremy was terrible in bed anyway. Not because of the micro penis. But just selfish, you know?”
So, he was blind, dumb, selfish, and had a tiny cock. Wow. Who had River wronged in a past life to be stuck with that? “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged and bit her thumbnail. “After a while you kind of forget what an orgasm is like and you don’t really miss them all that much.”
The bird finally hopped over to her shoulder. Apparently, it felt as sorry as he did for River’s appalling lack of orgasms.
“You shouldn’t have to miss them,” he said quietly.
After a moment, she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. “I don’t know why I told you any of that. My point was just that being loyal wouldn’t be a problem for me. There’s not a lot of sex available to me.”
He couldn’t stop himself from brushing his knuckles over her smooth cheek. “From now on, you’ll have as many orgasms as you want. I’ll make damn sure of that.”