Page 30 of Ties That Bind Us

“Twenty?” Nick laughed. “I told you I’d wait, but I’m not sure I can wait that long.” Our hands fit perfectly together, and he gave mine a light squeeze. “Just not interested in the black tux, white gown thing, or what?”

“More like the relationship kind of thing.” I paused. “I’m not very good at that.”

“Nobody is good at relationships,” Nick said. “We live in a country where half of marriages end in divorce. And that’s not even counting failed relationships where couples didn’t even tie the knot.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better about our marriage?”

“Damn it, you’re right. That was a horrible choice of words.” Nick ran his fingers through his hair anxiously. He quickly spun in front of me and took both of my hands in his. “Ava, I can’t tell you I’ll be any better at any of this than you. I’m gonna fuck this up, I’ll be hard to love, I’ll drive you insane most of the time, but I can tell you that we will figure it out together. Like I told you, we’re a team.”

“And what if we don’t figure it out?” Nick was acting very nonchalant about the whole thing in an attempt to reassure me.

“We will. Divorce won’t be an option for us. It would send both of our families into complete turmoil.” I wasn’t sure if he was actually that confident in us or if he just knew we’d have to suffer through whatever might come.

“Don’t you ever get tired of all the pressure?” I bit my lip, letting the weight of his words fall on my shoulders.

“Pressure makes diamonds.” Nick flashed me his Hollywood smile and I couldn’t help but laugh as I rolled my eyes. “Speaking of diamonds . . .” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my hand.

“I’ll marry you,” I said, surprising the both of us. The words rolled off of my tongue so easily it almost felt like someone else was speaking, but I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. It gave me butterflies to finally say it out loud and to feel good about it.

“You will?” His face lit up like a little kid on Christmas. He was actually excited about this, and it eased my apprehensions a little bit. An arranged marriage could be a lot worse; Nick would be a lot worse. I was pretty sure if I tried hard enough, I could convince myself this wouldn’t be that bad. Maybe even good.

I nodded, giving him a precocious smile. “But I’ve got a few conditions.”

“Conditions, huh?” He smirked at me, snaking his arm around my waist protectively. He spun me around until my back was against the wall of one of the shops. “You think you make the rules around here?” He nuzzled my neck, kissing the tender skin. Yeah. The no-touch policy was all but gone at this point. I wasn’t complaining, though.

“Nick, stop!” I giggled, trying to wiggle away from the strong grip and the ticklish feeling he gave me. My attempts were futile; I was powerless against him.

“Oh, no, you said yes. That means I’m in charge now.” Nick grinned and continued peppering kisses along my neck and collarbone. His lips felt like velvet, moving with purpose and precision. All of the pent-up sexual energy from the last few weeks was released, and his hunger for me was insatiable. At the very least, we had the physical attraction thing to our advantage.

His tongue brushed against my lower lip before delving into my mouth, searching every corner and deepening our kiss. His hands roamed my body, exploring every inch and creating friction between my clothes and my skin. Nick knew exactly what he was doing, awakening every sensation in my body and leaving me wanting more with each move. He was teasing me until we could get somewhere more private. God, could this man get to me.

He pulled away briefly, both of us frantically catching our breath. “Is this a bad time to tell you I’m saving myself for marriage?” I shot him a playful grin, teasing him right back. His hand traveled down my back, resting on my ass and giving it a sharp squeeze.

“Oh we’re way past that, my smokin’ hot fiancé. Jules would definitely disagree with you.” Nick’s voice was low, almost primal, and it ignited a fire inside of me like I had never experienced.

“Nick Caponelli,” a gritty voice sneered from a few feet away. Nick craned his neck toward the voice, his mood immediately souring.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Alek?” Nick snarled in a voice I’d never heard before. His tone was terrifying as he instinctively moved in front of me, shielding me from whoever this man was.

The man standing in front of us smirked, chuckling at Nick. His posture was threatening in a creepy sort of way, his eyes so icy that they seemed to be piercing into me.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your ‘smokin hot fiancé’?” Alek moved a few steps closer to us and my eyes fixed on the gun-shaped outline on his hip. “I have to say I agree with your assessment of her.” He looked me up and down, then shot me a menacing wink.

Nick stiffened, his grip on my arm tightening. “Back the fuck up before I do it for you.”

“No need to get defensive, Caponelli, I just had to come see it for my own eyes. I’d heard about the infamous Caponelli-Moretti union but I didn’t believe it.”

“Well, believe it.” Nick was postured like he could launch himself at this guy and beat him senseless at the drop of a hat. I hadn’t seen this side of him yet, and even though his anger wasn’t directed at me, it was intimidating.

“Ava, is it?” Alek said, ignoring Nick and turning his attention to me.

“Yes,” I said, pressing my lips together tightly and appraising the situation.

“Nice to finally put a face with a name. You know, you’re the one they’re counting on to bring down the Asnikovs. My family. With this bullshit sham of a marriage,” he hissed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Well, of course you don’t, darling. They like to keep women in the dark and just use them as their pawns.” Alek chuckled and rolled his eyes.

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