A Thousand Cuts (Underworld Kings)

My nerves blistered from the force of the threat.

I’d had some very dangerous people threaten my life lately. But the threat never felt more real than it did coming from Sofia’s mouth.

Chapter Nineteen

“Do you accept your fate now, fiancée?” Cristian asked, circling his arms around me as I applied an elaborate skincare routine.

I met his eyes in the mirror. “Do I have a choice?” My tone was meant to sound hostile, bitter. But I wasn’t capable of even faking it any longer.

Cristian’s hand skimmed over my naked stomach, pausing there for a moment.

My mind went to the dining room. To what Cristian said about birth control. About what that meant. A child.

He wanted a child.

With me.

An heir to his throne.

What did I want? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I couldn’t have this conversation right now. That it was still my choice to take those pills, regardless of what he said.

“You have a choice, Sienna.” Cristian continued observing me in the mirror, as if he was watching the thoughts move through my mind.

I had not set out to be a mafia wife.

I came into this home, into this life, as a hostage.

He was nothing more than my captor.

A murderer. A criminal. A monster.

Until he became more than that.

I always knew there was something wrong with me. That the life I’d made for myself was nothing but an intricate web of lies.

I sighed staring at Cristian, at the man I was falling in love with. “I’ve made my choice, Cristian. For better or for worse.”

Cristian gripped my hips so I turned and our bodies pressed together, our eyes meeting.

“For years, Sienna, I’ve cared about one thing. This family.” His hand lifted so he could run his fingers along my jaw. The touch was tender. Barely there. “Women didn’t matter to me. Love certainly didn’t.” His eyes ran up and down my body. “But then I saw you in the restaurant. You captured me and I didn’t even fucking know why. I didn’t know anything about you.” He cupped my jaw. “And I vowed to myself that I’d know you. That I’d take you home and make you tell me everything about yourself. And then, I’d be safe. Because you’d be boring. Vapid. Unable to rouse anything in me.”

Cristian moved the strap from my shoulder, then the other so my silk nightgown slid down my body and pooled at my feet.

My nipples hardened when exposed to the air.

“But then you told me everything,” he whispered, mouth inches from mine. “You gave me everything inside you. And it wasn’t vapid or boring. It was fucking riveting.” He placed his hand flat on my chest, right over my thundering heart. “You had me then, Sienna. Even if I couldn’t recognize that. You fucking had me. And I swore to myself that I wouldn’t give you anything. I’d have you because there was no way I could stay sane knowing you were walking this world belonging to anyone else but me. I’d be cold, cruel and monstrous so you hated me.”

He moved his hand to circle my neck.

“I wish I hated you,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.

His eyes flickered with something resembling amusement. “I know.”

Cristian didn’t move, didn’t try to touch me anywhere that was throbbing with need. We weren’t done.

“Ask me,” he said, voice low.

I tilted my head. “Ask you what?”

His hazel eyes burned into me. “What I asked you on that first night.”

I blinked as realization thrummed through me. “Tell me about yourself, Cristian,” I said, my voice throaty.

“I belonged to no one until I belonged to the Catalano family,” he said immediately. His voice wasn’t cold. Wasn’t devoid of emotion. It wasn’t warm exactly, either. But it was ... open. Rough. Soft. Rich.

“Before I met Isabella, I was being raised by an aunt that I killed not long after Isabella was murdered. She was not kind. In fact, she was fucking evil. Killing her brought me great joy,” he continued, eyes never leaving mine. “That was the last of my family line. My last name exists for tax purposes only. I am a Catalano, because I am nobody else. Because no one ever cared for me before this family. Which is why I will die for this family. Kill for it. Why it was the only thing that mattered till me ... until a couple of months ago.”

Cristian gripped my hips and lifted me onto the bathroom counter. Beauty products smashed to the floor and I barely noticed. I was captivated by Cristian, this new version of him. I was never going to find the bottom of him. He was fucking endless.

He moved between my legs, his hard cock still encased in his pants pressing into my naked pussy. I let out a groan, angry at myself for desiring him so intensely. For the first time ever, I didn’t want him to fuck me.