Chapter 17
Nora
Six Months Later
“I have something for you, darling.”
I tipped my head back and beamed up at my sadistic husband. “You spoil me too much. I don’t need any more gifts.”
His sharply delighted grin made my belly flip: a thrilling, primal warning at a predator’s approach.
“I’ll spoil you as much as I want,” he admonished me. “And this gift is just as much for me as it is for you. And for Luca.”
“Luca’s home?” I practically bounced with the force of my happiness.
Both of my men were back on the estate with me after a week of taking turns watching over me.
They’d been dealing with some bloody business pertaining to the Bratva, and I hadn’t asked for details.
I didn’t like to think about the Russians at all; it was enough to know that my husbands were avenging me whenever they saw an opportunity to eliminate some of the men responsible for my suffering.
Most days, I was in Luca’s arms more often than Dante’s, but that arrangement didn’t seem to upset him. He was perfectly content to share me with the man who was once his most hated enemy. He was reassured to know that Luca was protecting me when he couldn’t be at home with me.
My dark protector skewered me with that sharp, slightly maniacal smile, but his hand was gentle around mine as he led me through the house.
My feet stalled out when I realized our destination.
“Don’t be afraid, little bird,” he coaxed. “Luca’s waiting for us.”
“In there?” I squeaked.
We hadn’t returned to Dante’s kinky dungeon since the day he’d set Luca free.
I’d avoided the space, worried it would be haunted by dark memories that were best left in the past. We were all in a relationship as equals now, and I didn’t like to reflect on those harrowing first days of our fraught time together.
“I won’t force you, Nora,” he swore. “But I think we need to face it.”
“But I forgive you,” I said quickly.
I’d fully forgiven Dante for his cruel actions a long time ago, but that didn’t mean I liked to linger over them.
As dark as those days were, I wouldn’t undo them if I could.
I never would’ve found love with my dangerous, fiercely possessive men if we hadn’t endured those horrors together.
We’d all been broken when we’d come together in a rush of pain and mutual suffering.
We picked up each other’s broken pieces and put them back together as best we could.
We supported each other: a true family, even if the men shared more of a respectful friendship than the intense love that I felt for both of them.
Dante brushed a kiss over my knuckles. “And I’ll always be grateful for your forgiveness, even if I can’t fully understand it.”
I traced the hard line of his jaw. “You’ll believe that you deserve it one day. I’ll keep telling you until you do.”
He pressed a swift, hard kiss to my lips. “I love you so much, Nora. You don’t know what you do to me.”
I offered him a lopsided smile of my own. “I have a general idea.”
Even after six months of our secret marriage, Dante made my knees weak every time he walked into a room. He was just as magnetic and terrifying as ever, but he was my monster now. My beautiful, cruel fallen angel.
I took a breath and put my trust in him.
“I’m ready,” I assured him. “I want to see Luca.”
Dante led me the short distance to the space that’d been the scene of some of my worst nightmares, and my breaths quickened as we approached.
“Say the word, and we’ll leave immediately,” he promised.
I nodded, and the door swung open to reveal my other husband: the ruggedly handsome man I’d secretly wanted for years before he’d stolen me away and made me his wife.
He held out his arms for me, and I was instantly caught up in his warm, reassuring embrace. Nothing bad could touch me when he held me with fierce possessiveness. He wouldn’t allow it.
“Are you all right?” he asked, leaning back slightly to study my face. “Dante wanted us to meet here. I agreed, but—”
“But we’ll leave if Nora is at all uncomfortable,” Dante finished for him. “I already promised her.”
And he always kept his promises.
I reached for him, drawing him closer to Luca and me, so that their strength surrounded me in a protective cage. Even my darker memories couldn’t get to me when I was in their arms.
“I’m okay,” I promised, studying the erotic space with fresh eyes.
The whips that’d once terrified me now piqued my curiosity.
And the coils of rope that hung neatly on the far wall sent an echo of remembered pleasure shuddering through me.
I loved when Dante bound me and toyed with me for hours on end, taking my mind to the transcendent peace that I could only find with him.
Maybe I’d been wrong to avoid this place. We had each other now, and we didn’t have to be afraid anymore. We could reclaim the space for all three of us, a kinky haven where we could engage in the most wanton, deviant acts, and no one would judge us.
I glanced between the two men. “I think I’d actually like to spend more time in here if that’s something you would both want?”
Dante grinned. “You make me so happy, darling.”
“Anything for you, Nora,” Luca swore.
I searched his caramel eyes, but I didn’t find any shadows haunting their depths. He’d left the pain of those awful days behind him too.
“I have something for you,” Dante reminded me. “Both of you.”
My brows lifted, surprised that he’d gotten a gift for Luca too. They got along, but they weren’t exactly affectionate.
Before I could puzzle over it further, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar length of rose gold chain. He opened his fist, revealing the delicate heart-shaped padlock that marked me as his.
My heart clenched at the sight of it. I thought the Russians had stolen it from me, a trophy to remember how they’d defiled Dante Torrio’s wife.
A shiver raced over my skin, and my men stepped closer, enfolding me in their comforting, steady heat.
“You got a new one?” I asked, my voice small.
He shook his head once, jaw tight with his own awful memories of that terrible day. “I took it back from them. But look. I fixed it for you. For both of you.”
At first, I thought he meant he’d gotten the broken lock repaired. I peered at the trinket, and my breath caught. Dante’s initial wasn’t etched into the gold; Luca’s was.
My eyes burned. “What is this?”
Was Dante further distancing his public association with Luca and me? We managed to share this massive house without anyone asking too many questions; the mansion was enormous enough to house several families.
But it was Luca’s ring that I wore. It was his last name that I’d legally taken.
“Turn it over,” Dante commanded gently.
I obeyed and released a sigh of relief. The delicate D was still etched into the padlock.
I traced the curving lines with reverent fingers before meeting his glittering gaze. “I’ll wear this side against my heart.”
I couldn’t go around wearing a trinket that marked me as Dante’s wife. If I had to love him in secret, I would keep him close to my heart.
“I want you to wear it for both of us,” Dante rumbled. “If Luca wants that too.”
“Yes,” he answered immediately, love spilling from his caramel eyes to flood my soul. “You belong to us, Nora.”
“So, you accept our claim over you?” Dante pressed, waiting for my response.
I went up on my toes and brushed a tender kiss over his lips. “Of course I do. My Master.”
I’d never willingly called him that before, and his jaw went slack with something between shock and wonder.
“You don’t have to say that,” he offered, but his voice was rough with longing.
“I want to,” I insisted, gentle but firm. “I want to give myself to you in every way you desire. Both of you.” I included Luca in my fierce pledge.
“Lift her hair for me,” Dante commanded Luca.
He complied without hesitation or complaint. His pride no longer chafed at following my sadistic husband’s carnal orders. He enjoyed our dark games just as much as Dante.
Luca wrapped my hair around his fist, tugging it out of Dante’s way sharply enough to capture my full attention but not to punish.
Dante’s hands encircled my throat, and the chain slid into place. The padlock clicked softly when it closed, but I felt the sound thrum through my heart.
They were each dangerously possessive in their own way, but they shared me willingly. My husbands would do anything for me, and I would always love them for it. I would spend every day of the rest of our lives proving that I was worthy of being their wife.
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