Page 24 of Power
My stomach drops. He says it so plainly, like it’s already decided. Like I have no say in it.
Because I don’t.
His voice is controlled, but there’s something beneath it. Something I can’t quite place. I stare at him, searching for a crack, but Dario Bellini is nothing if not a fortress. Impenetrable. So I do what I do best—I build my own walls, brick by brick, hiding behind them so he doesn’t see what he does to me.
“I want only my husband.” The words taste like a lie, and we both know it. His smirk deepens.
“I’ll return you to your husband, princess,” he murmurs. “But not until I’ve had my fill of you. Not until I’ve fucked you in every position I’ve imagined. Until I’ve consumed every part of you that makes you think you love him.” He tilts his head, voice turning lethal. “Yes, I’m going to use you as leverage against Enzo, but first, I’ll break you, until there’s nothing left of you for him to love.”
I shake my head, my pulse pounding. “What is this even about? What happened between you two?”
His expression shifts, darkens.
I lift a brow. “What, is this over a girl?”
Nothing.
“Or did he steal something from you?”
A muscle in his jaw ticks. Bingo.
Dario’s calmness is clearly a warning, but I ignore it. “Come on, tell me. What did he do to piss you off this badly?”
“You’re asking the wrong questions.”
I tilt my head. “Am I?”
His patience snaps. One second he’s standing a few feet away, the next he’s out of the pool and right in front of me, crowding into my space, his presence a force that pushes against my skin.
“When Enzo comes for you, you’ll be just a shadow of your former self.”
A chill skates down my spine. “What the hell does that mean?”
His fingers graze my jaw, light, almost gentle, before sliding down my neck, tracing the line of my pulse. My breath stutters, but I keep my spine straight, refusing to let him see how easily he unsettles me.
"You’ll understand soon enough," Dario murmurs, his eyes locked onto mine like he’s daring me to break first.
I grit my teeth. "You talk in circles like that’s supposed to scare me."
His lips curl into something that isn’t quite a smile. "You’re not scared?"
"No."
His hand moves lower and brushes against my collarbone. "Not even a little?"
I shake my head, but the small betrayal of my pulse hammering beneath his touch gives me away. He notices. Of course he does. His smirk widens as he watches the rise and fall of my chest, as if my body’s reaction is an answer I can’t take back.
"Liar," he whispers.
I slap his hand away, ignoring the way my skin burns where he touches me. "You don’t know a damn thing about me."
Dario doesn’t look remotely offended. If anything, he looks amused. "I know more than you think, princess. And I know your husband hasn’t moved the earth to find you, no matter how much you want to believe he has."
I stiffen. "You don’t know that."
"Don’t I? It’s been days. No ransom calls. No desperate negotiations and searches. It isn’t even on the news. Doesn’t that seem odd for a man who supposedly loves you beyond reason?"
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
