“How dare you? You can’t just reserve me like a table in a restaurant and go on living your man-whore life while I sit back and wait for you to make up your mind about our wedding.”
“I’m a Falcone. I can do whatever the fuck I want, Gemma. And I want you, so no one else is going to get you.” He leaned closer. “Nobody will as much as look at you, or I’m going to rip the fucker to shreds, got it?”
I swung my arm back and punched him. Despite his quick reflexes, my knuckles grazed his chin. For once, I’d taken him by surprise. If I hadn’t been this enraged, I would have celebrated my success. I turned on my heel, burning over with rage. An arm wrapped around me and before I could aim a backward kick at Savio, he lifted me off the ground and lowered me to the sofa. I lay flat on my back while he knelt over me and held me down with his bigger body. He didn’t look pissed. The bastard was actually amused by my outburst. “I can’t wait to find out how much of a wildcat you’ll be in bed.”
I couldn’t believe his audacity. “If you think I’ll sleep with you anytime soon, Savio, you’re insane. I’d rather eat one of Diego’s dirty socks than have your hands on me. So if you’re here because of that, you wasted your time.”
Savio leaned down as if he was going to kiss me. I snapped my teeth at him, trying to bite his lip. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to kiss him. I’d spent countless minutes imagining how it would be to kiss Savio, to feel him close, but not like this, not when he kept kissing other girls. “Don’t you dare.”
Savio chuckled then kissed the tip of my nose. “Don’t worry, Gem. I won’t touch you until you’re officially mine. I can wait.” His smile widened. “Especially since no one else will touch you either.”
“You’re not always around, and Diego is neither. There are enough guys who’d love to be with me, Savio.”
It was true and yet an absolutely ridiculous thing to say.
His eyes darkened and my belly did a little flip. “Everyone in this city knows you’re mine, and just remember Gemma, if a guy touches you, Remo, Nino and I are going to dismember him slowly. You know the rumors about how we deal with traitors.” As quickly as it had come, the darkness disappeared from his eyes and was replaced by the usual arrogance. “And we both know it’s me you want, not some loser. You said it yourself, you believe in waiting until marriage, so as your future husband, all your firsts are mine.”
I glared at him. “Get off me.”
He pushed up and jumped to his feet, then he held out his hand. I took it and allowed him to pull me to my feet. “I was thinking, why don’t we work out together again? That way, we can spend more time together doing something we both enjoy until you’re ready to try something else we’ll both enjoy even more.”
“You’re unbelievable.” I stalked away. Despite my annoyance, his stupid comment made me smile. I wasn’t even sure why I couldn’t resist his strange humor. “There’s cake in the kitchen if you’re hungry.”
It was a chocolate cake with eighteen candles. I didn’t bother lighting them. That was Dad’s job. Instead, I cut two pieces off, sad that Mom wasn’t doing it like every year. Feeling Savio’s eyes on me, I tried to get a grip. “I’ll get plates.”
“Wait a sec,” he said, grabbing a lighter from the counter. He lit up all the candles then raised his eyebrows expectantly. “I know you already got your biggest wish, but give it a try.”
I scoffed. “You’re impossibly arrogant, do you realize that? Who says you were my biggest wish?” I blew out the candles, feeling lighter than before.
Savio leaned forward, peering into my eyes. “So what was your wish?”
“I’m not going to tell you.”
“I bet I know it. You want to see my tattoo.”
“No,” I said quickly. Though, I was really curious about it.
Savio narrowed his eyes. “You’re a bad liar.”
I was, but I hadn’t lied. Since Carlotta had been born, I had only one wish. “I want Carlotta to become healthy, that’s all.” My voice broke and I quickly looked away from Savio’s intense gaze. Tears prickled in my eyes. Way to go to ruin the mood.
“Hey,” Savio murmured and pulled me against him. It was an innocent hug, but the feel of his warm, strong chest so close still awakened my body.
His palm stroked my back, again the most innocent touch, but my insides seemed to come alive with a need that terrified me. Clearing my throat, I pulled away. “How about we eat cake and watch a movie. Or do you have somewhere to be?”
Another woman, maybe.
“I have all night,” Savio said as he took our plates and carried them into the living room. We sank down on the sofa. I reached for the plate that Savio held out to me and took a bite.
Savio had already shoved a big chunk of the chocolate cake into his mouth. “Your nonna is a goddess in the kitchen.”
“She’ll slap you for the blasphemy if you tell her that, and she won’t even care that you’re a Falcone.”
When he lifted the fork to his mouth again, my eyes fell on the tattoo on his wrist. Not the Camorra tattoo on the right but the broken watch, speared by a knife on the other. Savio noticed my gaze of course and some of the lightness disappeared from his eyes. I didn’t want to ruin the mood but at the same time, I wanted to find out more about the man whom I’d marry in the not too distant future—hopefully.
“What’s the meaning of that tattoo?” I asked, and Savio relaxed again. Had he thought I’d ask him about his mother and how she’d tried to kill him and his brothers? Savio turned his body to me and extended his arm so I could see the tattoo more closely. The watch was so intricately inked that it looked real, just like the knife which had been driven into it from above. If you didn’t know they were there, you could even miss the scars. I didn’t dare to touch him, not just because I worried this spot was too personal for him but also because I didn’t trust myself this close to Savio. My body had never before felt this abuzz.
“The watch symbolizes time and mortality. People always tell you time’s running out. We have limited time on this earth and that we have to make every moment count.”
“But don’t you live by that credo? You seem to be enjoying your life more than a little, so why the knife destroying the watch?”
“Because I don’t let anyone, not even time or death, dictate how I live my fucking life. So the knife stops the watch from ticking, from reminding me that every moment could be the last. I don’t need reminding.”
I released a small breath. “I feel as if I haven’t really lived yet. You have already experienced so much, and I haven’t.”
Savio moved closer and cupped my face. I became still, as a war raged inside of me. Part of me wanted to kiss him, to feel his closeness, but the other part couldn’t commit to this, not as long as Savio couldn’t commit fully. He couldn’t have part of me, when he saw fit. I wouldn’t allow him to half-ass this. Yet, I didn’t pull back.
Savio searched my eyes. “You’ll experience everything you want with me, Kitty.”
His face came closer and I still didn’t move. My brain didn’t function, even when my mind started screaming at me to stop this.
Our lips were only a couple of inches apart. The lock turned and I jerked away.
“Gemma, I’m home!” Diego called.
I quickly moved to the other end of the sofa, as far from Savio as possible, before Diego stepped in. He was carrying takeout from the Capri. His smile fell the moment he saw Savio. His eyes darted from him to me. “What’s going on here?” He stalked into the room, dropped the takeout boxes on the table then glowered down at us.
Savio leaned back and motioned at the cake. “We celebrated Gemma’s birthday. I didn’t want her to be alone so I kept her company.”
Diego looked at me for confirmation.
“I was lonely.”
Savio’s expression flickered with protectiveness, but then he stood. “I’ll leave.”
Diego shook his head. “I brought enough food. You can eat with us.”
Savio seemed as surprised about his offer as I was. He met my gaze. “What do you think, Gem?”
“Stay.” I didn’t say more.
Savio sank back down and stretched out his legs while he rested his arms on the backrest. His shirt rode up, revealing those infamous horns. Noticing my gaze, Savio smirked.
“What have you got?” I asked Diego who was unpacking the boxes.
“Lasagna and gnocchi.” He fixed Savio with a hard stare. “Why don’t you grab plates and cutlery?”
Savio heaved a sigh but pushed to his feet. “So you can interrogate your sister? Don’t worry, no traditions have been broken.”
He left for the kitchen and Diego turned to me. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I said with a roll of my eyes.
“Because I came home?”
I flushed. Diego cursed. “I knew it. I just knew it!”
“Nothing happened, Diego. We almost kissed, but we didn’t and we won’t.”
“Next time you’re considering kissing Savio, just remind yourself that his mouth has been between another girl’s legs not too long ago.”