Temporarily His Princess (Married by Royal Decree 1)

Vincenzo’s temperature started to rise, his muscles turning to stone. “The sides I’m negotiating with are privy to the same info, and the leak could be on their side.”

“It isn’t.”

At the curt final statement, he found himself on his feet, agitation no longer in check. “Why on earth are you suspecting Glory when she had no part in any of this?”

“You mean she isn’t privy to the details of your dealings and the innermost workings of your mind this time around?”

He shook his head, felt his brain clanging against his skull. “No—I mean, I do consult with her—you know there’s no one better than her when it comes to negotiations—and she has been advising me, and I’ve used every shred of advice she gave me to my advantage, but that doesn’t mean she—”

Brandon interrupted his ramblings. “Do you observe all the security measures I devised in your shared space?”

Vincenzo hadn’t even given security a thought around her. But… “No. Stop right there. This isn’t Glory’s doing. I’m certain. Whatever happened in the past, it must have been against her will. She’s worked so hard ever since to make good, to turn her life around. With only the power of her benevolence and perseverance she’s done more for more people than I’ve done with all my power and money. I’m never suspecting her again.”

Brandon gave him the look of a disapproving parent. “May I remind you it wasn’t ‘suspicion’ last time? I gave you proof, proof you yourself verified, from her closest people.”

Vincenzo’s voice rose, no longer under his control. “I told you the past has nothing to do with the present. And then it turned out she actually saved me from making the worst mistake of my life.”

“So you should forgive someone because she didn’t succeed in killing you, but inadvertently made you jump and save yourself from falling into a pit? How far are you willing to stretch to make excuses for her, Vincenzo?”

“As far as I need to. When all is said and done, I’m in a much better place now and it is because of what happened.”

“Even if it turns out for the best, a failed attempt at a crime still deserves punishment.”

“And I did punish her,” he bellowed. “I passed sentence on her without a trial, without even giving her the chance to defend herself. And what did all that righteousness get me? Six years of hell, without her. Now I have her back, and I’m never losing her again.”

Brandon gaped at him for a long, long moment.

Then he grimaced. “God, this is worse than I thought. You’re totally under her spell.”

“I love her.”

“And she betrayed you again. What a mess.”

Vincenzo barely held back from punching him. “Stop saying that and look elsewhere, Brandon. You’re not infallible, remember? You made a mistake with Eduardo’s wife.”

“It wasn’t a mistake. Jade was hacking into his system.”

“Under duress,” he gritted out. “And she was doing that in order to fortify it, so no one could infiltrate it again. As I said, everything isn’t always as it seems. You were right, but you were also wrong. You’re wrong again now. I don’t only love Glory, I know her.”

Brandon pinned him with a conflicted gaze before he finally squared his shoulders and held out the dossier he had with him. It had the Steele Security insignia on it. Vincenzo knew from experience those were only used for final reports and verified evidence.

Trepidation overwhelmed Vincenzo as he looked at it. He snatched his gaze back to Brandon’s, as if to escape an image that would sear his retinas if he gazed at it a second more.

Brandon looked at him like someone would look at a patient before amputating a limb. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Vincenzo, but this is a compilation of all emails and text messages leaking the info. The originating addresses were expertly hidden, just not expertly enough to hide them from me. Everything was traced back to Glory’s phone and computer.”

Eleven

Vincenzo had no idea what he’d said to Brandon or when the man had left.

He found himself sitting in the bedroom he had only ever used with Glory. He’d bought this place six years ago when she’d consented to be his. He’d left it when he sent her away, but hadn’t been able to sell it off. He’d only come back when he’d decided to have her back in his life.

The life that was falling apart all over again.

This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

And he refused to believe it was. There had to be some explanation other than the obvious, other than what Brandon sanctioned. But Vincenzo couldn’t think what it was. So he wouldn’t even try to think. He’d stop everything, his very heartbeat if need be, until she told him what to think.

He sat there for what might have been hours until he heard her coming into the penthouse. The sense of déjà vu almost overwhelmed him, of that day more than six years ago when he’d waited for her in this room, listening to her advance and feeling that every step was inching toward the end of everything worth living for.

Then she entered the room. For the moment she didn’t notice him as he sat to her far right on the couch by the floor-to-ceiling windows, her expression was subdued, pensive. Suddenly she started, her head jerking around, as if his presence electrified her.

Her uncensored reaction the split second she saw him was a smile that felt like a flare of light and warmth in the cold darkness that was spreading inside him.

Her rush toward him felt as if life itself was rushing back into his veins. Her eagerness flooded him, submerged him as she straddled him on the couch.

He let her deluge him in her sweetness, drink him dry in the desperation of her need.

Her kisses grew wrenching, her gasps labored. “I missed you…missed you, darling…Vincenzo…”

And how he’d missed her. Three days and nights without losing himself in the depths of her and drinking deep of her pleasures had him raving mad with starvation.

Her hands fumbled with his clothes, and he knew. The moment she touched his flesh he’d go up in flames, and he owed it to her to settle this before he let her drag him into their realm of delirium. His hands covered hers, stopping her.

She stiffened. Then slowly, as if afraid something would shatter if she moved too fast, she took her lips away from his neck. After a harsh intake of breath, she turned her head away and her rigidity increased as her gaze fixed on a spot on the couch. The security report file lay close to him. He knew she’d recognize it for what it was. But her gaze was fixed farther away, on the prenup.