Wife (Betrothed Book 1) Read online

  “I’m only interested in you for one reason—so it doesn’t matter how you earn your fortune.”

  Like a bullet to the heart, she pierced me all the way through. It was the most hurtful thing she could have said to me, that I meant so little to her that my job didn’t matter. This was going to end anyway—and soon.

  “But I think Gustavo has the right to know. Tell him, or I will.”

  Gustavo hadn’t broken the news to her yet. Maybe I should have waited until that conversation was complete. I didn’t want to be the one to inform her that her family’s legacy was part of a laundering scheme, that it was the site for most business deals in the underworld. All I did was give her a nod.

  She grabbed her glass to take another drink.

  I should be relieved she wasn’t repulsed by me, but I would have preferred that reaction to this indifference. Every woman I’d been with wanted more of me…but Sofia could take me or leave me.

  It drove me crazy.

  Made me want her more.

  “Will I be in danger if I keep seeing you?” Finally, she asked a logical question.

  “No one crosses me. I’m also quiet about my private life.”

  “Not to Damien, apparently.”

  “He’s different. But I don’t even tell him about you.”

  “And why is that?”

  Because she was the first woman I actually gave a damn about. I wouldn’t describe her perky tits, her tight cunt, the way she swirled her tongue around my dick as she sucked me off. I wouldn’t shatter the holiness of our intimacy with gossip. Her scratches, her moans…they all belonged to me. “I’m a very dangerous man. I kill people. Does that bother you?”

  “It sounds like you’re trying to get rid of me. If that’s the case, just be a man and give it to me straight.”

  That was the last thing I wanted. “It seems like you aren’t taking me seriously.”

  “Who are you killing?”

  “People who cross me.”

  “So criminal men, not innocent people.”

  I nodded.

  “Then it doesn’t matter to me.” She swirled her wine then took another drink, her tongue swiping across her lips to catch the drops. When there was only a small pool at the bottom of her glass, she set it down and rose to her feet. “I appreciate your honesty, but you don’t owe me anything. Just as I don’t owe you anything either.”

  Nails cut into my skin as they dragged down my back. Digging deep and leaving scratches behind, they were aggressive…carnal. This woman was white-hot for me, whispering the dirtiest things into my ear. “Yes…fuck me.”

  I had her pinned underneath me, her tits pressing against my chest as we thrust together. We were both covered in sweat, soiling the sheets with our bodies. I trailed my tongue up her neck so I could taste her saltiness, taste her exertion.

  Her fingers dug into my hair, and she moaned.

  This woman had been frozen at the dinner table, but now she was a supernova. How could she go from one extreme to the next? How could she feel something then nothing at all? How could I become obsessed with a woman who didn’t give a damn about me?

  She came around my dick, her eyes looking into mine as she put on a brilliant performance. She arched her back and screamed, my name echoing off the high ceilings of my bedroom.

  After a few more pumps, I came inside her, groaning as my body bucked involuntarily. My muscles twitched with completion, and I gave in to the instinctual pleasure. I filled her pussy for the third time, satisfied but also frustrated by this evening.

  Just when I thought things were changing between us, she coldly reminded me that I meant nothing to her.

  Not a damn thing.

  I rolled off her and lay beside her.

  She immediately turned away and got comfortable, falling asleep in seconds. Her breathing deepened, and she turned into sleeping beauty on my bed. With her back to me, she had no further use for me.

  My job was done.

  “You did it.” Damien weighed the containers and jotted down the notes.

  I ripped off my gloves then shed my protective gear. “Don’t act surprised.”

  “I picked another cook, so you’re off the hook.” He finished writing down the numbers before he joined me at the sink.

  The lab was downstairs in the basement of the building. Only steam evaporated from the building, so no one had any idea crystal was being produced right in the center of the city. I washed my hands then patted them dry. “When can he start?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “I don’t need to train him, right? Because I’ve got shit to do.” I grabbed my jacket off the hook and put it on. My watch was returned to my wrist, and I glanced at the time. I had a large stack of paperwork on my desk waiting for me at the office. This job was never done, so I always had shit to do—maybe that was why I liked it so much.

  Damien set the clipboard on the counter. “You alright, man?”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  He raised his hand and shrugged. “Just seems like you’re pissed off about something…more than usual.”

  I would normally storm out of there without answering him, but my relationship with Sofia was weighing me down, suffocating me. There was a solution to every problem, but with her, there was no quick fix. Unless I kidnapped her and forced her to be mine, I would never really have her.

  It was tempting.

  “Talk to me.” He leaned against the counter next to me, his arm touching mine.

  The lab was deserted except for the two of us. The equipment needed to be scrubbed down, and the cleaning crew would be there in a few minutes to do the job. For the moment, we were alone.

  “It’s about Sofia, isn’t it?”

  Wow…how far I’d fallen.

  “You haven’t been the same since you met her. Instead of being in a good mood from all that pussy, you’re extra pissed off.”

  Because she was a pro at pissing me off.

  “Talk to me.”

  We teased each other all the time and were only serious when it came to work. But right now, it was obvious that he was deadly serious, that he wanted to listen to me without casting judgment, that he wanted to help me in whatever way he could. “I told her the truth.”

  “About this?” he asked, nodding to the equipment we used to make crystal.

  “Yeah.”

  “She didn’t take it well?”

  “Actually, she did.”

  “Then I’m not following.”

  “She’s a good girl. She’s ambitious, honest, full of integrity…so I assumed she would blow up over this. But since she’s just using me, she didn’t care at all. She didn’t blink an eye over it. She’s gonna dump me when she’s bored of me, and that will be it. So what does it matter that I’m a drug lord?”

  This was the time when Damien would tease me for saying such pussy shit. He would knock me out and hope his punches would beat some sense into me. He would tell me to stop thinking with my dick and start thinking with my goddamn head. But none of that came out of his mouth. “Why did you tell her the truth in the first place?”

  “I didn’t want to build a relationship on lies.”

  “But she doesn’t want a relationship.”

  “Now, that’s clear, more than ever before…”

  “And that bothers you.”

  It didn’t bother me…it drove me fucking crazy.

  “Are you in love with her?”

  I’d only known her for a month. I didn’t know shit about love, but I knew feelings like that built up over a longer period of time. “No.” Love was something I’d never encountered, something I’d never considered. Women were all the same—just sexy. But I wanted more than sex with this woman. “But I want to fall in love with her.” I said the words out loud, confessing my sins to the priest that was listening.

  It was a testament to our friendship when Damien didn’t talk shit. “Then keep trying. She’ll come around eventually.”

&n
bsp; “You don’t understand…she’s ice-cold.”

  “But she’s still sleeping with you—and only you.”

  I stared at the ground.

  “Hades, you never give up on anything. You always get what you want. Why is she any different?”

  “Because I’ve never been in this situation before. Women don’t mean a damn thing to me. But the one woman I actually want won’t give me the time of day. She just wants my dick—nothing else.”

  “Then make her want everything else.”

  I had no idea how to do that.

  “Hades, she’ll get sucked in so deep, she won’t be able to walk away. You have so much power, you could make her never walk away.”

  I didn’t want to force her. I’d never abused my power in that regard, and I wouldn’t start now. “No…that’s not how I want this to be.”

  “Then keep trying until she changes her mind. She will change her mind.”

  He had a lot more faith in my abilities than I realized.

  “She’ll come around…I know she will.”

  10

  Sofia

  I sat in Gustavo’s office and listened to him drop a bomb on me. Everything I believed about my family and its legacy were lies. The Tuscan Rose wasn’t a quaint hotel where guests made amazing memories. It was a front for crime.

  A front that fooled me.

  Gustavo watched me for a minute, anticipating my reaction.

  I couldn’t think of anything to say, it was so shocking. “I don’t believe you…”

  My stepfather lowered his gaze and sighed. “I know it’s hard to take in…but this is how the real world works.”

  “No, it’s not. There are lots of people out there who earn their living the honest way.”

  “But anyone who’s successful doesn’t.”

  I’d had issues with my father growing up, especially with the way he treated my mother sometimes, but we’d always had a good relationship. He seemed to be ethical, to care about his shiny reputation. It was hard to believe he would be a part of this. “My father wouldn’t do that.”

  “He’s the one who started it. It’s been going on for decades, Sofia. It doesn’t make him a bad man. It doesn’t make me a bad man. Not your mother either. It’s just how it works.”

  “So those men who came into the hotel…”

  He nodded. “They were men you shouldn’t cross. They use our hotel for meetings and drop-offs.”

  “That man who committed suicide…”

  “No, it wasn’t a suicide.”

  I’d been ambitious about taking over this hotel, but it was a circus of crime. Hiding in plain sight, it’d been there all along…I just didn’t want to see it. “So, Hades launders your money?” Now I understand what kind of service Hades offered to my family. He was the middle man between Gustavo and the criminals who used the hotel for their own gains. “All those random deposits are from drug dealers and the mafia…”

  “Basically.”

  “The hotel is successful without it. We don’t need it, Gustavo.”

  “Not quite. In the winter months, we’re usually barely breaking even. In order to keep all the staff on duty, we need to generate revenue in some other way. This is how it has to be. Since you’re so ambitious about taking on this project, I thought you should know. You might want to focus your energy on another career.”

  Running this hotel, along with the others, had been my dream since I could remember. “These hotels belong to me, Gustavo. What happens when you die? When my mother is gone? I just sell it?”

  “No. I’m sure I’ll be around a long time, and after you find a suitable partner, he can take over the role.”

  “I would never marry a man who would want to be part of this operation.”

  He shrugged. “Then you’ll have to sell it.”

  “And why couldn’t I run it myself?” I didn’t want to be associated with this kind of deceit, but I also didn’t want to be chased away. This was my birthright, an asset I was entitled to. I could always change everything once it was mine, cut ties with all that bullshit my father got mixed up in.

  He shook his head slightly. “It’s nothing personal, honey. But with these men…it wouldn’t be wise.”

  “I can handle myself.” At least long enough to cut ties.

  “If that’s something you really want, you would need a suitable husband to help you. You would need someone who can do things you can’t.”

  “I can do anything a man can do,” I snapped. “And more.”

  “That’s not how I meant it, Sofia. One day, you’ll understand.”

  One day, I would understand that my family was made up of criminals and liars, that they chose to do things the easy way instead of the right way. One day, I would understand that this beautiful hotel was overrun with criminals…including the man I was sleeping with. I was supposed to come to terms with that, just accept it.

  Like that would ever happen.

  When Hades told me he was a drug dealer, I didn’t allow myself to think about it. Just as his customers were addicted to his product, I was addicted to him. My nails were in so deep I never wanted to let go; I didn’t want him to slip through my grasp. Ignoring what he said was the only way to accomplish that, to pretend it didn’t really happen. I tried not to think about it, to pretend I hadn’t heard his confession at all.

  Because I wasn’t ready to let him go.

  I’d finally found exactly what I was looking for, an intense relationship with a man without commitment, something that didn’t require a single thought. It was just good sex with a deep connection, something so combustive that I could hardly think about him without my neck getting warm.

  I knew there was only one Hades Lombardi in the world, only one man who could fuck like that, could be so damn gorgeous. Once he was gone, it was over. Sex would be mediocre. There would be nothing to look forward to.

  Because no man would ever compare.

  I sat in the living room with the TV on, an empty bottle of wine on the table. I’d been drinking all night, my thoughts becoming blurrier with every single glass. I tried to process my emotions, tried to process the reality of my life. Everything I believed in was a lie.

  It would take more than a bottle of wine to process that.

  My family’s legacy was intertwined with criminality. And the man I was sleeping with was a kingpin, apparently.

  Maybe I’d always known…deep down inside.

  Maybe I was a criminal myself without even realizing it.

  A knock sounded on my door.

  The TV was on, so I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t home. I set down my glass then walked to the door. After glancing through the peephole, I realized Hades had dropped by for a visit. He probably knew Gustavo told me the truth. It seemed a strange coincidence that both men came clean about their identities just days apart.

  I didn’t want to let him into my apartment.

  But there was nothing I wanted more than to feel his hand slide into my hair as he kissed me. Feel his strong arms carry me to bed so he could fuck me until we went to sleep. He was my escape from reality, the drug I constantly needed in my veins.

  I unlocked the door and let him in.

  He was in jeans and a leather jacket, his jawline cleanly shaved. He showed off the masculine structure of his face, the beautiful complexion of his skin. His brown eyes burned into mine the second he looked at me, claiming me right there on the spot.

  My hand grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him into me, bringing our lips together for a passionate kiss in my entryway.

  He kicked the door shut behind him and dug his hand into my hair, making me go weak at his touch. He pressed me against the wall and stripped off his jacket.

  My hands moved underneath his shirt and touched the warm skin that was heated from his muscles. My fingertips drifted up and felt his hard chest, felt the body I could picture with my eyes closed. This man released endorphins into my brain, gave me such a high that I couldn’t quit
even if I wanted to. I needed this man to find someone new and forget about me. That way, I would be forced to move on.

  He ended the kiss and subtly licked his lips. “You taste like wine.”

  “You are what you eat, right?” My hands grabbed the bottom of his shirt and slowly peeled it over his body.

  He pushed my hands away. “I want to talk.”

  I pouted my lips and sighed. “Ugh…I hate talking.”

  “I’ve noticed.” His arms hugged my lower back and placed our foreheads together, holding me in the entryway like he didn’t want to talk either. He obviously didn’t want to screw either. Otherwise, he would be carrying me down the hallway right now. It seemed like he just wanted to hold me, just feel our beating hearts next to each other.

  I was drunk, so any affection was nice. There was nowhere in the world I felt more at ease than when I was in his arms. His kiss made me forget reality, made me forget about all the bullshit in my life.

  “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” I whispered. “Do I not look fine?”

  He glanced at the coffee table and noticed the empty bottle sitting next to the remote. “No.”

  My hands slid down his chest, and I gently pushed him away. “I don’t want to talk about it. So, if you want to have sex, that’s fine. But if not…then you can just leave.” I grabbed the bottle and flipped it over to get any extra drops at the bottom—but it was dry. “Actually, you can take me to pick up another—”

  He snatched the bottle out of my hand, along with the glass, and carried it to the sink.

  “Wow…I didn’t realize drug dealers were so boring.”

  When he walked back to me, he wore a cold expression on his face, not finding my drunk act very cute. He stopped in front of me, so handsome that I forgot my train of thought. “Baby, be real with me.”

  “Baby…?”

  “Yes.” His hand slid into my hair, but he didn’t kiss me. He cradled my cheek with his palm, his thumb gently caressing my skin. “Now, talk to me.”

  “About what?” I whispered. “That my family’s legacy is a lie? That everything I believed was just a dream? That one day I’ll inherit a corrupt business infested with rats…including you?”