Page 35 of Legacy

Her unguarded smile hit me in a way I wasn’t sure I liked. But how it lit up her face and accentuated her beauty was worth it.

“Let’s say the Vitalis women watch out for each other. Maybe one day you will garner an invitation into our circle.”

Ten

Avra

I released a deep breath, unsure how to describe my first few weeks as a married woman. I rolled to my side on the bed and gazed out the window of Eli’s estate home in the countryside. The warm weather and the blue sky gave the room a whimsical atmosphere, but life wasn’t exactly that.

Most newlyweds would spend their days on an official honeymoon, except Eli and I weren’t like other couples. This union was a business arrangement, not a marriage in the traditional sense. Honeymoons and time off with one’s significant other weren’t part of the equation.

Thankfully, Eli kept his promise and never forced me to stay a single night under the same roof as Ozias. When thewedding festivities ended, Eli swept me out of the city and took me to one of his other properties.

I watched the birds fly over the water and pulled the sheet tighter to my chest as a breeze filtered through the sheer curtains.

I planned to enjoy these few moments with myself before Eli charged out of the bathroom, expecting me to jump at his order to prepare for our return to Patras.

The man loved to boss me around, and of course, that meant I challenged him. Why I enjoyed doing or saying the opposite of everything he said or wanted made no damn sense. Maybe some twisted, sadistic part of me had decided to emerge and make its presence known.

Whatever it was, I couldn’t get enough of his hands on me, and poking at him in some way or another got me fucked.

This couldn’t be normal.

I winced and rolled to a sitting position before reaching for a glass of water on the side table and drinking the contents.

I studied Eli’s packed suitcases and my open ones and shook my head. We’d barely spent more than a few nights in one place for nearly a month.

Work, work, work. It was all Eli did.

Then again, the family would run itself into the ground if Eli wasn’t in charge. Ozias liked to play leader, but everyone at every estate knew Eli ran the Xenos family, from the controlling lieutenants to the vineyard workers.

The biggest surprise over this past month, outside of hisinsistence we were never to sleep apart unless absolutely necessary, was that he wasn’t bothered by my presence while he conducted business with his lieutenants.

I kept telling myself it was a mind game to trick me into dropping my guard and trusting him.

Eli ran things in a fashion that reminded me so much of Papa. His methods of managing the Xenos and Vitalis territories garnered respect and a bit of fear. There was no favoritism in his management. He expected results and wanted all under his watch to be thriving.

However, when it came to the private side of things, our relationship made no damn sense. We lived a pattern of arguing and fucking, with a little bit of getting to know each other thrown in on occasion.

Eli still wasn’t over the whole thing about my confronting Cristo, Morisi, and Pello. Every chance possible, he voiced his frustration and irritation about my approach at the wedding. And it was always the same song and dance about taking risks with my life.

Whatever.

He could hold a grudge and judge me about my behavior all he wanted.

I had no plans to back down.

I would not apologize for telling those three they had targets on their backs.

Whenever we argued, Elias quickly tossed my words about consequences back in my face. Which, of course, led to fucking. It wasn’t make-up sex. There wasn’t anythingforgiving or sweet about it. Hard and fast, vicious and demanding, and in every torrid way possible.

The fact that every argument led to him filling me with his long, thick cock made me wonder if he picked a fight just to have an excuse to fuck me.

Well, there were a few times all I had to do was scowl at him, and he’d pounce, making me come until I couldn’t think straight.

If I didn’t know better, I’d assume he wanted me and couldn’t get enough of me.

The only explanation was the newness of it all or, perhaps, us succumbing to the heat of our tempers and fucking like rabbits was the only way to calm us down.

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