This isn't the ruthless businessman or even the merciless crime boss I know lurks beneath Dario's calculated exterior. This is something darker, untamed, and terrifying.
"Dario," I plead, grabbing his arm. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
NINETEEN
DARIO
“Don’t fucking touch her,”I seethe.
Fury courses through me as Rafael steps in to handle the pathetic fool who dared lay a hand on what's mine. I barely register the crunch of bone as I release the man's shattered wrist.
Never mind that we’re in a room full of constituents and a news crew or that Mia is clawing at my wrist to get me to let go of this asshole. I don’t care that any one of the people here tonight may have witnessed their city council candidate committing assault.
All I see is red, the anger damn near blinding me.
Rafael pries my hand away, and with a tip of his head, he silently lets me know he’ll take care of this mess. I turn my gaze to Mia, taking in the fear and disgust in her eyes, her disdain for me rearing its ugly head.
She sees me as a monster, and what little progress we’ve made is gone. We’d been good for a while after I took her in the library I had built for her. All the fight she had toward me seemed to fade away. No, she doesn’t greet me with sunshine and rainbows, but she doesn’t exactly hate being near me.
Now we’re back at square one.
But the thing is, that means nothing to me. All that matters is Mia.My Mia.I’ll be every demon on the planet when it comes to someone fucking with what belongs to me.
I reach for her arm, but she pulls away while attempting to tend to the man.
“Jake. Are you—” is all she gets out before I grip her forearm and drag her, yanking her away from the crowd that seems oblivious to the violence unfolding before them.
Useless, the lot of them.
Mia thrashes in my iron grip, but it's futile. "Dario, let me go! You can't just--"
Her words are drowned out by the roar of possessive hunger thundering in my veins. I need to stake my claim to remind her who she belongs to. That delicious body, that fire and defiance, it's all mine.
We step out of the main room, and I haul her down the corridor, searching for solitude to unleash the storm raging within me. We round a nook that’s tucked in a corner at the back of the establishment. It’s small, with just enough space for the appliances used to create this makeshift kitchenette area. I throw Mia into the space, blocking her escape.
"Are you insane?" Mia hisses, shoving at my chest as she tries to slip past. "You can't just barge in and act like a goddamn Neanderthal."
I grip her wrists, holding her at bay as anger burns in her pretty eyes.
"Don't pretend you didn't enjoy having that man's hands all over you."
"What are you talking about?”
“That asshole touching you.”
“You’re crazy.” Mia bites out, trying one more time to move around me.
I hold her in place, still seething. Mia twists and turns to break free, but my grasp is unwavering.
“He’s fine,” I deadpan.
“You broke his wrist like some fucking lunatic. Why would you do that? And here of all places?”
“Because you’re going to be my wife.”
Mia stares at me, almost as if she can’t believe the words coming from my lips. “I'm not some piece of property for you to lay claim to."
The ferocity in her voice, the challenge implicit in those words stokes the inferno smoldering in my gut. My grip tightens, and a delicious shudder ripples through her. Even now, she can't hide the way her body betrays her, how it yearns for my dominance.