Gripping her tighter I speak clearly, loud enough for everyone in this room to hear. “You are mine and Romano lied to me when he gave me to you,” I hiss.
“Bullshit!” Romano dares to interrupt me and my hackles rise, the anger brimming. But I’ll deal with him once I’m through with Aria. She will always come first.
“You were damaged.” Her expression crumples at my words, shame filling her hazel eyes as I add, “You were so fucking broken I couldn’t have my hand in it.” I turn my head to sneer at Stephan. “Not when someone else has such control over you.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, and the tip of the knife hits the table as her grip loosens.
“Did I tell you to drop the knife?” I ask her and instead of taking the hint and holding it tighter, she drops it to the table, covering her face with her hands and leaning into my chest.
“I really thought…” she pauses as her chest heaves and I give her this moment. I comfort her and make the men wait. They will wait for her. And so will I.
For this I’ve waited so long already, another minute can be spared for her pain.
“I thought,” she continues to stammer, and I kiss her hair, rubbing her back as she tells me, “I thought you were done with me.”
Pulling at her shoulders, I force her to arm’s length in my lap. “Never,” I tell her with all sincerity, feeling the truth down to my core, coursing through my blood and in every thought I could ever have.
Aria’s breathing calms as she stares into my eyes, while a softness I’ve never felt drifts over me. “You scared me,” she whispers.
Running the tip of my nose against hers, I whisper against her lips, “It’s a gift for you.”
When I pull away, her eyes are still closed, but slowly they open and I nod toward the knife.
“Kill him, Aria.”
Romano curses, but one of my men presses the barrel of his gun to his head.
“Pick up the knife and end him.”
I watch Aria’s shaky fingers pick up the knife, and then she stares at her prey. He scowls at her, but she doesn’t back down. Her chest heaves again and the way she holds her chin up lets me know she’s scared but doing her damnedest not to be.
Fear can never hide though.
“I won’t be with you if you don’t,” I tell her and instantly regret the words. Her eyes widen, and she sucks in a breath. “I can’t let you continue like this,” I tell her, wishing I could take back the first words I gave her.
Her eyes flicker from me to Stephan and she nods her head slightly, but still, she doesn’t move.
Even knowing she has the knife in her hand, I lean forward and rest my head against her chest. “This is for you, Aria,” I whisper in the hot space between us. “It’s all for you.”
Inhaling her scent and feeling her body against mine, I kiss her throat and move to the crook of her slender neck. Her nails dig into my shoulder as she gasps.
It’s an apology for the threat I just made that never should have left me.
My lips slip down her shoulder and she moans softly, relaxing into me as my hands travel up her waist.
“Kill him, Aria,” I command her and continue kissing her neck, my touch turning ravenous.
Raking my teeth down her jaw, I worship her.
My brothers are witnesses to what I’d do to have her be completely mine. Romano and the dead fuck Stephan watch with a series of slurs and profanity.
Let them all see. Let the entire fucking world see.
My cock is hard when I pull away, seeing her breathless and in need.
“First, you take care of him.” I nod toward Stephan and then tell her, “And then you will be truly mine.”
Aria’s nod is swift and she’s quick this time to leave my lap, although her touch lingers on my shoulder as she steadies herself.
Three guns are pointed at Stephan, but he’s only looking at her as she rounds the table. I follow her at a distance, giving her this.
Stephan’s smile is grim and unnerving as he sneers, “She’ll never do it. Just shoot–”
Before he can get the last word out, Aria whips her hand through the air, slicing his neck open and forcing blood to pour from his neck. As his hands reach up to his throat, she screams a bloodcurdling sound, slicing again in the same pattern. Only this time, it cuts through his hands, nearly severing one of his fingers.
She doesn’t stop. She stabs frantically into his chest, hitting his arm, his shoulder, his throat again. Her aim is reckless, and my men take a step back, blood drenching his shirt and spraying from his cuts.