Chapter 19
DARIO
“ W hy are you trying to hide it?” I ask her as I stand in the door frame and watch her breathing in.
“Because I want today to be about my father and not about us,” she points out, releasing her breath and allowing her stomach to pop back out under the black dress she’s wearing. I don’t think she quite understands how fucking sexy she’s looking now she’s showing. Madalina has been sad since her father died and I’ve been doing my best to be sensitive and give her her space.
I’m not a monster, I understand that losing her father and discovering she’s pregnant with twins is a lot for her to take, but I’m finding it progressively harder to keep my hands off her.
“We’re Mr. and Mrs. DeMarco, wherever we go people will talk,” I remind her, moving closer so I can wrap my arms around her. I get the impression she likes it when I touch her stomach, and when she rests her head back on my shoulder and makes that same soft sigh she always does, I admire how stunning she looks in her condition.
“I was hoping to keep it a secret for a little longer.” She smiles.
“Well, the DeMarco heirs have other ideas, they want the world to know they are coming.” I can’t describe the level of satisfaction that knowing I knocked her up gives me. She could not be any more owned by me if I tried. Now she has a part of me growing inside her and everyday it’s starting to be a little more obvious.
“People will stare. They’ll want to congratulate us and I’m not ready for that. I just want to grieve for my father and be there for Nic and Serena.”
“And you must let me be there for you.” I remind her that she’s fragile. Over the past few weeks, she’s tried so hard to be strong, but I’ve heard her crying in the bathroom at night. Every time I try to comfort her she pushes me away, and I’ve quickly learned that it’s not my sympathy that she wants.
She wants me to kill whoever it is who killed her father, and it’s getting really fucking tiring trying to figure out who that person is.
In our world, every man has an enemy. Alfeo Conto was awarded one of the best districts when I married his daughter. Many men will have envied that. I’ve had my men look into it, and yet they have come up with nothing. Alfeo murder remains a mystery and that makes me anxious.
There’s every chance that whoever hurt him would want to hurt Madalina too, and for that reason, her protection will be my priority.
“Serena is excited about the babies, it’s about the only thing that's kept her going,” I remind her, trying to give her something to be positive about.
“Nic isn’t,” she points out. Placing her hand over mine.
“Nic doesn’t matter.” I try to hide my distaste for her brother since I know how much Madalina cares for him, her love distracts her from seeing him for what he really is.
A lia-fuckin-bility.
I hold Madalina’s hand as we stand at the cemetery, and the knee-length coat she wears does its job of hiding her condition. I chose not to argue with her today, there will be plenty of other opportunities for people to know that she is expecting, and given the danger I fear she could be in, maybe it’s wise that we do keep it a secret a little longer. At least until I’ve found out who’s head I’m going to take.
I wrap my arm around her shoulder when she sobs, and her brother scowls at me as he comforts Serena. I’ve never understood what her brother's problem with me is. He was the one who fucked up two years ago, and yet my family were forgiving of it. He should be honored that his sister was selected to be my wife, despite his carelessness. The status it bought him would never have been retained any other way, especially considering how he conducts himself.
“Are you coming back to the house?” Serena asks once the burial is over and when Madalina looks to me for approval, I nod my head.
“Maybe for a little while.” She smiles back at her stepmom, linking her arm in hers so they can make their way toward the car together.
“You and your father have a nerve coming here today.” Nic waits until they are out of earshot before he spits his words out under his breath.
“Do you forget who you are talking to?” I look back at him, realizing that we are alone.
“You arranged for this to happen. You had my father killed so your bastard brother could take our district. Was it always part of your plan?”
I don’t know what he is talking about, but I do know this isn’t the time or the place for the conversation .
“Nicolas, I don’t know what you speak of.” I go to move on but he stands in front of me and puffs out his chest.
“You got what you wanted, you used the district to have my father agree to your lame-assed marriage, and now that you’ve fucked your heir into my sister, you are fixing it back.”
“Nicolas.” I look around us and check that we really are alone. “Your sister’s heart would break if I hurt you, right now that’s the only thing that’s stopping you from choking on your own fucking tongue.
Don’t talk about my wife with such disrespect,” I tell him calmly, tensing my fists and doing all I can not to react. “I assure you, I know nothing about my brother taking your family's district. I will speak to my father about that, but right now, Madalina needs me. She needs us both.” I hate to admit that, but family is important to her and what's important to her is all that matters.
“She will never need you,” he growls at me under his breath as he turns his back on me and heads for the family car that brought us all here.
I try not to let it, but what Nicolas says plays on my mind for the whole time we are at the Conte place. Madalina insists on leaving her coat on and she keeps herself busy by working the room and making polite conversation to those who came back here to pay their respects. My father, of course, left as soon as he could, and I get the sense from the way that he’s been avoiding me that there could be some truth in what Nicolas tells me.
If there is, I can only imagine the rift it will cause between me and my wife, and right now the extra stress is the last thing she needs. A twin pregnancy comes with complications and the only thing she should be worrying about is growing our babies strong. All of this could not have come at a worse time.
She looks exhausted when we finally get home but still manages a smile when I pick her up and carry her up the stairs. Her arms wrap around my neck and the way she snuggles into me makes me wonder if she’s forgiven me.
I want her to need me. I want to be the person she depends on and I don’t care how fucked up that sounds.
“Let’s get you out of this fucking coat.” I unbutton the front and drag it off her shoulders once we’re in the bedroom.
“I've hated you being covered up all day.” I splay my hand over her swollen stomach and lift her chin with the crook of my finger. “Do you know how proud I am of you?” I reach around her body and feel for her zip, slowly sliding it down toward her ass and letting it fall off her body. She looks like a real vision standing in front of me in the heels and lacy underwear she’s wearing. Her perfect, slightly rounded belly only makes her look hotter.
“Stop looking at me like that.” She shakes her head and lowers her eyes.
“Like what?” I laugh.
“Like I’m some kind of exhibit.”
“I love the way your body is changing and I love even more that I’m responsible for it,” I admit, touching my fingertips to her skin. “You look incredible.”
“So, why haven’t you touched me? Why haven’t you fucked me these past few weeks? If that part of our marriage has started already, then I’d rather know about it.”
“What part of our marriage?” I shake my head in confusion.
“The part where I’m no longer desirable and you seek other women.” She chews on her thumbnail, and I can see in her expression that she’s pissed off at herself for allowing me to see that the thought of it hurts her.
“Madalina, that isn’t going to happen.” I try not to laugh, if she knew how hard the past few weeks have been for me, the thought wouldn’t even be in her head. “It sounds as if you’ve missed me,” I point out.
“That’s ridiculous, we’ve been together every day.” She rolls her eyes and tries to save face.
“I mean, you’ve missed me touching you.” I let my fingers move up her body and slide between her tits. They seem so much fuller and I wonder if they’re feeling extra sensitive like the books said they might.
“I still haven’t forgiven you.” She pulls her eyes away from mine and when I quickly snatch her jaw and force her to look at me again, I love the glint of annoyance I catch in them.
“You don’t have to have forgiven me. Just tell me what you need.”
“I need to be fucked,” she admits, raising her eyebrows like she’s laying down a challenge. “I want you to make me hurt, maybe if you do, it’ll take away the guilt and pain I’m feeling.” A tear trickles over her cheek and I catch it with my thumb.
“I can’t.” My eyes drop down to her stomach, I don’t care how safe the doctors say having sex is, what she’s asking me for is different.
“I just want to feel something that isn’t anger.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I’m mad at whoever killed my father. I’m mad at myself for wanting you. I’m still so mad at you for what you did.” Her cheeks flush red and it’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.
“All you had to do is tell me that.” I lift her up from under her thighs and carefully lie her on the mattress so that my body hovers over hers.
“Had I known for all this time that you were so desperate, I’d have put you out of your misery.” I keep my lips close to hers but don’t touch them, and I feel her frustration.
“I’m not desperate,” she tells me, but the way her hands grip my shirt suggests otherwise .
“You sound desperate.” I tease her with my lips. “You look desperate.” I kiss my way all the way down her body. “You even smell desperate.” I slide my nose through her center and when she raises her hips to grind against my face, I pull away and admire her.
“Do you have any idea how fucking stunning you look right now?” Her belly looks even more prominent when she’s lying down.
“This isn’t a game, Dario.” She moves her hand to touch herself but I quickly toss it away.
“No, it’s not a game.” I slowly undo the buttons of my shirt and watch her suffer some more, knowing that grief or anger aren’t what's on her mind, right now. All she’s thinking about is getting what she wants. Her hand moves down to slide inside her panties again and I shake my head.
“The only person you're getting your pleasure from, is me,” I assure her. Unbuckling my belt and letting my pants drop to the floor.
“Do you like being pregnant, Madalina?” I ask, studying her from all angles and liking what I see. Her bump is evidence that this woman is mine and it’s making me wild for her.
She doesn’t answer my question.
“Come on, tell me how it feels to know you're completely owned by me.”
“I hate you for it.” She snipes, trying her best to hurt me.
“You hate me for many things Madalina, but you don’t hate me for this.” I rest my palm flat on her stomach and rub a circle over it. “In fact,” I grab the waistband of her panties and pull them down her legs, “I think you’re grateful for it.”
“Grateful?” She tries so hard to deny it but when I touch my finger to her clit she stops herself from talking and gasps.
“Look at you, so fucking needy. Your pussy wants my attention so bad. ”
“Dario,” she warns me, curling her toes and fidgeting her hips against the mattress.
“All you have to do is thank me.” I watch her still staring back at me in shock.
“Thank you!?” She raises her head and looks at me like I’ve gone crazy.
“Yes, thank me.” I take my cock in one hand and start to stoke it and the way she watches and licks her lips makes me smile to myself.
“Thank me for fucking not just one, but two babies into you, Madalina.” I frame her bump with my hand to remind her it’s there, growing bigger every day. “Thank me for all those times I filled you with my cum and gave you this sexy, little tummy.” Nearing her body, I allow my cock to touch against her taut skin and she sighs so sweetly that it makes me drip precum into her belly button.
“Come on, thank me.” I massage it into her skin and admire how it glistens as I rest both my hands on either side of her bump and press my cock at her entrance. “You’re going to get so fucking big for me, these babies are going to stretch you to the limit and it’s going to make me fucking crazy for you.”
She looks up at me as if I’ve already gone crazy.
“Thank me for those tiny, little flutters you feel that make you smile even when all you want to do is cry.”
I note the way her lips twist into a little smile when she realizes I’ve noticed. This girl should know that not a thing passes me when it comes to her.
“Thank you,” she whispers the words, nowhere near loud enough, but it’s a start, and I reward her by slowly edging my cock into her and watching her eyelashes flutter.
“Next time I fuck you, I’m going to do it in front of a mirror so you can see how pretty you look.” I watch the way my cock slides in and out of her pussy, it looks so fucking perfect, and watching her stretch to fit me almost has me coming far too soon.
“Thank me nicer, Madalina.” I squeeze one of her tits in my hand and when she flinches I figure it’s because they’re sensitive, so I soften my touch into a caress.
“Thank you,” she tries again, looking down at her body like she’s trying to figure out what’s got me so captivated. Seeing her like this almost makes me forget that she detests me for my deception.
“Again.” I fuck her a little harder, trying to keep the balance between being cautious, and giving her what she wants.
“Thank you.” She fists at the bed sheets and rolls her hips some more, making it harder and harder for me to hold off, and when I decide to give her a little of what she really needs, I quickly pull out of her, flip her onto all fours and slide back inside her.
My arm reaches up to take her throat.
“Now, you can tell me that you hate me.” I lean over her body and whisper in her ear. Being careful not to squeeze her too tight, I want to punish her for all the feelings she’s put inside me. I want to make her hurt for making me weak, and the fact I can’t makes this all the more frustrating.
“Come on, Madalina, tell me the truth, tell me how much you fucking hate me!” I strike her ass cheek and feel her body jolt, and when she turns her head and looks over her shoulder to say the words at me, I realize why I instinctively had to turn her around.
“I hate you!” I see the honesty and the fury in them, and realizing she means every word feels like a thousand knives stabbing me in the chest at once .
“Good,” I lie, grabbing at her hair and tugging her head back while I pump my load inside her. Feeling her pussy pulse as her eyes expel all that hatred right into my soul.
“I hope that makes you feel better.” I pull out and leave her on the bed, resting on all fours, dripping my cum from her pussy and, for the first time since she came here, I realize that her hate really fucking hurts.