Page 69 of His Vicious Desire

“Let me guess, with how protective Sandro is of you, he doesn’t approve of the guy?”

Sheepish, I nod.

“Maybe getting pregnant would be a good thing.You pregnant would mean Sandro had to accept him.He’d probably marry you so Sandro wouldn’t kill him.”

“I don’t know…that feels wrong.Especially when I told him that I was on the pill,” I whisper.

She laughs.“You’re so funny.The pill can fail, too.It’s the reason I’m here, as my mother loves to tell me often.Just like not everyone is aware Plan B won’t work if you’re over a certain weight, the pill fails because of stuff people don’t know about taking it.”

“Seriously?”

“Oh yeah.The pill isn’t foolproof.There are all these things that can make it fail.Like, you have to take it at the same time every day, if you’re on certain antibiotics, if you get sick and miss even one.I know of a handful of girls who got pregnant while on the pill.Hell, I know two girls who got pregnant on the shot.”

As she’s talking, I’m thinking.“Maybe.”

Bianca

I hit reject on the call from Gaetano as I roll off the bed.He really waited until the last minute.It’s Saturday and Sandro is due back in about two hours.My guess is I have ten minutes before he gives in and comes into the penthouse.

In my closet, I find the perfect thing, his silk shirt I stole from him before I left.I step out of the leggings, then remember I have one chance to get this right and remove my panties.I only do three buttons across my stomach.

I go out to wait on the rooftop balcony.It’s beautiful out here.Maybe I’ll have a late-night swim.I love to swim, but don’t do it often.We had a pool at the house I grew up in, and I swam often.Sadly, there was no pool in the hotel in old Vegas.

While Luca told me often that I could use the pool at the hotel here, he meant the pool for guests.I was never confident enough to wear a swimsuit around people.So, it’s been a few years since the last time I swam.I’m not looking forward to buying a new swimsuit.

“Bianca,” Gaetano yells.

Strolling into the penthouse, I find Gaetano with his mouth open, as his hungry eyes roam over me.

“You yelled.”I sigh as I settle on the couch with a plop that has one of my breasts hanging out of the shirt.

He squeezes his eyes tightly shut as he sits down on the loveseat across from me.“Bianca, what in the fuck do you think you're doing?”

I shrug.“Nothing.”

“Go get dressed.”It’s an order.

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?”The words are ice cold, daring me to argue with him.

“No, means I’m dressed.This is what I want to wear.What do you want?”

His jaw tightens.Air escapes him in a slow, measured sigh.“Bianca, we have to be on the same page here.What happened didn't happen?—"

“No,” I work very hard at not letting my anger show.The minute I do, he’ll flatten me.

“What do you mean, no?”

I let out my own slow sigh.“I mean it happened, and there's no changing that.There's no way to undo what was done.So no means no.”

That hard jaw is working.“Are you going to tell your brother?

I consider the question.“If you mean, am I going to run up to him, welcome him back with a hug, and inform him of what happened.The answer is no.”

“Good.Because it can never happen again.Really, never, ever again.”He’s firm.

This idiot.I’m not sure why I love him.Maybe it is a touch of masochism.“You think we're going to go another year, two years, three years, and it's never going to happen again?You’re lying to yourself and you know it.Because I’m only going to give you so long to keep pissing me off before I give up and find a man who wants me no matter what.”

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