Page 18 of The Don's Prisoner

“So, you flirt so much that you can’t even see you are flirting. That’s good to know. I will remind myself not to take it personally then,” she folded her hands in her lap and looked me straight on, the smile gone. “With your looks and money, I’m going to assume you are a man-whore.”

I couldn’t contradict her there. I thought about teasing her or cracking a joke, but seeing as the whole point of this lunch was to talk and straighten things out, I figured that would just make things worse.

Sometimes I could have a brain.

“You aren't wrong,” I admitted, and her eyebrows rose. I was pretty sure she didn’t expect me to be honest with her.

“So, do you plan on continuing your man-whore ways?” she asked, and I shrugged.

“I had no intention of stopping.”

“Does that mean I can sleep with other men too while we are married?”

Something inside me shifted, and I suddenly felt cold. Cold and still inside like when I knew I was going in for a kill. I felt emerging the side of me that I tried to hide from everyone, including myself sometimes. The part of me that made me so valuable to my father.

“No. I do not share,” I said coldly. It was low and menacing. It was a threat.

Victoria must have recognized it for what it was because her face went blank and she sat up straighter in her chair. I had unnerved her at the very least. Good. It might do her some good to remember that I was dangerous.

“Well, I don’t share either,” she said, and I raised an eyebrow. She matched my cold gaze with one of her own. It was good, very good, but I had seen much worse looks on faces much more dangerous than hers. “If I am expected to give the marriage everything, make it real, and actually go through with having children with you, then I will need to know that I am the only one you are sleeping with. If you are going to marry me, if we are actually engaged, then no fucking other women.”

I thought about it for a moment. I had a feeling Victoria would be worth it, but there was no guarantee when she would finally put out. For all I knew, I could be waiting for years.

No, I was pretty sure I could make her crack before then. No one could resist me for long. If I was a betting man—and it so happened that I was—I would say she couldn’t hold out on me for more than three months.

“Deal. From this point on, we are an actual couple about to be married and neither of us will be sleeping with other people,” I declared. She nodded, though she looked more bored than anything else. That was until something crossed her mind. I saw it in the widening of her eyes and the subtle parting of her lips. A look of concern on her face.

“What is it?” I asked. Just then a waiter came over and asked if we needed anything to drink. I ordered a whiskey sour while Victoria ordered a Moscato wine. Once the man left, I raised an eyebrow at her. She sighed heavily.

“There is one slight issue I need to resolve,” she admitted. “I have… a boyfriend.”

A twinge of anger sparked inside me, but I pushed it down. Of course, she had a boyfriend. She was successful, smart, and fucking gorgeous. I also remembered Caroline mentioning something about a boyfriend. Of course, I had never bothered to ask Victoria about it.

“How long have you been with him?” I asked bluntly.

“Not long. Three months or so.”

“Have you slept with him yet?” I asked and her face twisted in anger.

“That’s none of your damn business,” she snipped.

“Actually, it is,” I told her. “Everything about you concerns me now, Victoria. So, have you fucked him yet?”

She shifted in her seat, annoyed. I liked watching the color rise from her cheeks to her ears and then sink down along her neck. I smiled at her knowingly. She opened her mouth to say something, but then the man appeared with our drinks. He handed Victoria her wine and me my whiskey sour. I sipped my drink to make sure it was made correctly. It slid down my throat easily and left behind the slightest hint of a burn. Perfect.

“No,” she finally said and drank some of her wine.

“No? What do you mean by ‘no’?”

“No, I haven't… had sex with him yet,” she admitted and I almost hid my grin from her. Almost.

“So, when was the last time you had sex then?” I wondered out loud, and she glared at me again. I was really starting to love that look on her. It was kind of adorable actually. She probably thought that she looked menacing. To me, she looked like a kitten that had just fallen into a bathtub.

“I’m not answering that.”

“That long huh?” I clicked my tongue and brought my drink to my lips. “You poor thing. I can fix that for you, you know. Just say the word, and I’ll bring you back to my place, lay you down on my bed, and eat you for lunch. Forget the sushi.”

She suddenly stopped mid-sip, as if she were frozen in time. Then she coughed slightly and set her drink down, clearing her throat before she spoke.

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