Page 33 of Shattered Engagement

“Oh... oh... fuck!” Isadora screeches.

Even though she’s gone, she continues rocking her hips forward and back, swirling my tip against her G spot, urging the orgasm to continue.

We break at the same time, grunting, moaning, growling, her face twisted into an expression so erotic it should’ve made her blush. When her spasms subside, we breathe as if we’ve run a marathon, enjoying the pleasure-drenched calm that follows.

I wrap my arms around her waist, holding her in place.

“Did you like that?”

“Very much.”

I search for any hint of hesitation or regret in her gaze, but all I find is warmth.

“I know what Maria wants me to do,” she says, the intensity in her eyes matched by the firm set of her jaw.

She knows the consequences of her choice. The lives it could endanger—perhaps even her own. Yet determination outweighs any fear, in this moment, at least.

“If we cross this line,” I warn, tucking a stray curl behind her ear, “there’s no going back. A De Angelis betrothal to a Calviño, if broken, can destroy two decades of unwritten peace between the families.”

“I’m tired of playing the pawn in someone else’s game,” she answers, reaching out to trace a finger along the ridge of muscle separating my neck and shoulder. “No more letting my future be chosen for me.”

“That’s a dangerous path.” I kiss her temple, reveling in the small shiver that follows. “Powerful men don’t make good enemies.”

She leans into me, her warmth pressing against me in ways I want to memorize. “The question is, which men?”

My pulse kicks with a combination of lust and alarm. Vengeance and something more. Desire that has nothing to do with alliances or business agreements.

She searches my eyes, knowing there’s no guarantee with the plan she’s proposing. And for the first time in my life, I find myself wanting to believe—believing that not all losses are inevitable, that maybe, against all odds, this gamble can pay off.

I shift her from my lap onto the mattress, my blood racing with equal measures of desire and unease. Can I truly do this? Cross the lines so thoroughly it will unleash an avalanche I have no hope of controlling?

But what if doing so offers something truly new? Something brighter than the dark certainties I’ve allowed myself to believe?

“I’ll help you,” she says again as if wanting to make sure I understand. “With Giancarlo.”

“You understand what that means?” I ask, needing to be sure she knows the danger she’d be putting herself in.

“It means betraying my father’s alliance. It means risking everything.” She props herself up on one elbow to look at me properly. “It also means stopping a monster who murdered his own wife and tried to kill his child.”

“The risks—”

“Are mine to take,” she interrupts. “I’ve spent my entire life being a pawn in other people’s games, Stefano. A bargaining chip. An asset.” She traces the line of my jaw with her fingertips. “This is my choice.”

My chest warms up. Perhaps with hope, or the dawning realization that I’m no longer alone in my mission.

“What changed your mind?” I ask. I have to—no, I need to know.

“Maria,” she answers honestly. “Seeing how much she sacrificed to save you. The life she built for you here.” She gestures to my modest childhood room. “And you—the boy who became a ghost to survive, the man who never forgot who he really was.”

I pull her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead that feels more intimate than our lovemaking. “Six days until the wedding,” I murmur against her skin.

“Six days until Giancarlo Calviño discovers that his past has come back to haunt him,” she corrects me.

My smile against her temple feels like a victory already. “Luca will never forgive you.”

“I never wanted Luca,” she says simply. “I never wanted any of it.”

“And now? What do you want now?”

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