Page 32 of Impenitent Claim

There was no escape for her.

The sooner she realized that, the better. I hounded her until her back hit the decorative lattice that created a wall of flowers. Crushed against the vibrant fall colors, it was hard to ignore how breathtaking she truly was. This woman could command kings, gods, and devils to battle in the amphitheaters, and they would die happily knowing they brought a smile to her face.

Plucking a rust-colored dahlia from the display, I pushed it behind her ear. I was neither king nor god, and the devil himself ran from the kind of destruction I was capable of.You’re mine, rusalka.

Chapter 15 – Isabella

You were my fantasy.A dream lover.And now he was here, my own personal tormentor. I chose this stranger because he was unconnected to the Italian Families of Chicago. An easy target, he was every bit the bad boy I craved. My illicit hookup should have been with someone safe. A nobody college student wouldn’t have hunted me across the country and proceeded to incinerate my life.

Stupid! So stupid.

I ground my molars. This stronzo wouldn’t win!

“You have to leave me alone,” I insisted. In every respect, this man currently had the upper hand. He could do whatever he wanted with me, and I wouldn’t be able to save myself. Still, the adrenaline coursing through me didn’t care. There was no proper fear. I didn’t want to examine that phenomenon.

As he caressed the flower, fingers hovering near my skin, I realized I didn’t even know his name. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask, but I swallowed the urge. We didn’t need to fix the disadvantage. I didn’t need to give the nameless shadow haunting my dreams a stronger thread to reality.

His touch dropped to my cheek. Traitorous instincts rose in my body, and my eyes fluttered closed.

“I think not.” The tip of his fingers drew down to my mouth. “Did you forbid me kissing you that night, so you could save those for your husband?”

The wrath packed in that question made my heart shudder.Oh, Madonna!

I jerked away, but he gripped my chin. “Let me go,” I hissed.

“I could take it, you know,” he growled, leaning forward until he was a hair’s distance from my mouth. “I could steal that one thing that you refused me.”

“Don’t,” I said, hating the tremor seeping into my voice against my will. And then, I begged. “Please…. Don’t do that.”

Maybe it was my please, maybe it was my tone. Either way, the monster backed up with a hiss of disgust. The grip on my chin tightened. “I’m coming for you, Isabella. This is your warning.”

Just hearing him claim my name brought the fight to a head in my veins. I couldn’t believe I felt anything akin to fondness just because he’d invaded my personal space and left me gifts. I was a pathetic, attention-starved girl.

But no more.

Those feelings were gone! He could leave all the most thoughtful gifts in the world, and it wouldn’t change the way I felt about him. He was here to ruin me.

Not if I destroy him first.

I grabbed his biceps and dug my fingers into the flesh, refusing to swoon at the hard muscle beneath my touch. This man was built like a fucking tree, but even the mightiest trees fell under the touch of fire.

“I defy you, diavolino. Men worse than you have tried to tear me apart, and I’m still here.” I was crazy. Certifiable. In over myfreakinghead.

A dark chuckle that I felt to my very bones brushed against me. Ilya dropped his hold and took a step back. “Let the games begin, sweet siren.”

In the seconds it took him to leave the room via a back door that I hadn’t noticed, I couldn’t draw a proper breath. But as the door fell into place, a trickle of oxygen returned to my lungs.Holy shit.Describing that encounter as intense was an understatement.

My fingers reached to my cheek and traced the place he’d held me in that unforgiving grip. Now that I knew who my personal poltergeist was and had a vague idea of what he wanted, I could begin to prevent his further advances. This monster wasn’t winning whatever messed up game we were playing.

“Miss Rinaldi?” The goon with the crooked nose grumbled, stepping into the door. “Is everything alright?”

I jumped.

It was embarrassing and contradicted every assertion I made. The truth was, I was a mess. Between acting for the don and the underboss, tolerating the don’s sister, and the trauma of the last year, my nerves were shredded.

“I’m fine,” I gasped.

“What’s taking so long?” the second bodyguard muttered under his breath.

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