Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 125243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
I swallow, lost. “Is that why you wanted to marry Antonio? For money?”
It was obvious during our negotiations to win Antonio back that her motives weren’t money-driven, so I know I’m not piecing the puzzle together correctly. I’m just too lost not to voice my confusion.
Azra immediately shakes her head. “I wanted Hattie’s house. It was our childhood home. We grew up there and felt safe there… because of Ada. I worked out a way to buy it from Antonio. I would have been indebted to my brothers for life, but when my agent took my very fair offer to Antonio, he told her he had no plans of selling. He wants to bulldoze it and build something new in the new year.”
My jaw tightens as the truth falls over me. “If you married him, Cosa Nostra law would consider the house a joint asset.”
“And thanks to your brothers, I could have had a say in what happens to those assets until they transferred them to me.” She wets her suddenly dry lips. “When a married person dies, assets generally pass to the surviving spouse through the right of survivorship. That’s what happened to Hattie.”
“Hattie owned her mother’s house?”
My brows scrunch when she nods. “Antonio didn’t offer to buy her family home to stop her mother from going under. He showed her how to manipulate the system to get a loan valued far higher than market value.”
“Which would have vanished when Hattie died, even with the deed and the funds being placed in Antonio’s name.” I exhale slowly when she nods again before I pull the rug out from beneath her plans. “What you’re not realizing is that those rules you referenced earlier would have foiled your campaign the instant you married him, la mia tigrotta. You would have been bound to the same rules that allowed those men to leave this room breathing tonight, which means you would have never been able to grant Antonio a vermin-infested burial while carrying his last name.”
“I know,” she whispers. “That’s why I planned to do the same thing to him that he did to Hattie. Apparently, it isn’t murder if you torment someone to their death.”
I stare at her in shock, horror, and so much fucking awe that my cock creates a barrier between us.
“Hattie went from a carefree spirit to a shell of a woman in less than seven days.” She rolls over, her smooth movement aided by the slickness of the oils, then balances her chin on my chest. “She was so strong, Ruso, so strong that I was confident it wouldn’t take much to break a man as weak as Antonio Adami.”
I agree with her, but her plans have flaws. Many of them.
When I say that to her, she laughs a sharp sound. “I don’t think you’re giving me enough credit.” There’s an edge of confidence in her tone I can’t ignore. “Look at how twisted up in knots I made you. I’m sure I would have eventually driven Antonio as mad as I’ve driven you.”
I can’t deny it.
She has made me insane.
Wouldn’t change a damn thing about it, though.
“It’s only been days, and you already have the equivalent of my name inked on your hip, you’ve married me, and you’ve claimed my virginity. You’re practically eating out of my palm.”
I love her attitude, but it won’t stop me from handing some of it back.
“Not sure you can call what happened out there as me claiming your virginity.” Her giggles take care of the last of the tension lingering in the air. “And I’d rather you keep it between us that I’m apparently done after one pump. My reputation may never survive.”
Azra hovers closer until her breaths mingle with mine. “Then maybe we should fix the injustice.”
She steals any protest I plan to give by sliding her tongue across my lips before she kisses me. I don’t have much experience with kissing. It’s always been too personal for me to bother with. But that won’t stop me from declaring that Azra’s kisses are out of this world good.
It’s full of passion and emotion, an affectionate kiss shared between lovers.
“Don’t,” I purr over her kiss-swollen lips. Her hand clutches my cock as she guides it toward her pussy. “You have to be sore.”
“I’m fine,” she denies, lying through her teeth.
Just the quickest brush of my cock’s head over her slit makes her hiss.
“If that’s true, show me.”
Azra’s eyes lock with mine, clouded with lust. “Huh?”
“Show me.” She hesitates, and the rest of my reply tumbles from my lips. “Because I sure as fuck ain’t touching you until I’ve made sure I didn’t tear you.”
She rolls her eyes, wordlessly announcing that I’m a jerk. I see the true response in her expression. She digs my protectiveness as much as she does my possessiveness.