Page 41 of The Don's Prisoner

I opened my mouth to tell her to stop, and Rex stepped forward. But before he could take another step towards her, Isabella pulled out a taser from her purse and held it out towards him, her fingers ready on the buttons on the side of it.

“I will fry you like a moth in a bug zapper if you even try it, big guy,” she warned. Rex stopped moving and looked at her. It was like he was seeing her for the first time. He looked her up and down and narrowed his eyes at her.

“Is that how you want to play this De Carlo?” he asked, spitting out her last name like it tasted bad in his mouth.

She blinked at him like she was surprised to hear that he knew who she was.

“Yes, well, seeing as you know my last name, I assume you know who my family is, so you know I’m not bluffing.”

Rex raised an eyebrow and smiled, taking a step back and cracking his knuckles. He looked from Isabella to me, locking eyes with me again. I wondered how it was that I had ever found him charming. He had become someone completely different to me, someone I had never met before. I remembered going out on the few dates we had and the kisses we shared. Had I really thought he was a good kisser? Had I really considered making him a permanent boyfriend? How had I thought he was sweet and kind? I had even thought he was shy, for crying out loud. The Rex I had known was certainly not this man.

“Oh, I know very well who you and your family are, princess. And now I know that you and your slime of a brother are stealing my girl away for good, I’m no longer playing fair.”

“Oh, as if breaking into my condo was ‘playing fair’?” I demanded, and he turned to me, his expression changing into one that might have been flirting if it wasn’t so damn cold looking. I had seen that look before. On lizards.

“Oh, it was. I just wanted to make sure you were still thinking of me. I really like the new sketch by the way. The last one was too fluffy for my taste.”

I felt like cold water had been poured down the back of my neck. The sketch in my studio at home was of a sleek silk dress that I had been playing around with. The one I had been working on before had been a dress covered in rose-shaped toil that trailed down in a princess style. That sketch had been at my condo the previous week, but I had brought it to the office so I could compare it to a similar dress that was being created there. That meant he had either been sneaking into my place for longer than I had realized, or he had also broken into my place of work. My mouth went dry, and I stared back at him, trying not to show him how scared I was. Had he been there while I was there? Had he come in while I was sleeping?

“Get the fuck out of here, you creep!” Isabella shouted, and several people in the parking lot turned their heads to look. Rex saw it and, seemingly reluctantly, took a few steps away from the car.

“Have it your way, princess. You’re safe for now, but I’ll be coming back for you. I’ll be coming for the whole De Carlo family if you stand in my way. Victoria is mine.” he growled and walked away into the parking lot. He disappeared behind a big black truck, and I was finally able to breathe again.

Isabella turned to me, her hand firmly on the taser.

“Who the hell was that?” she demanded, and I sighed, hung my head, and groped in the pocket of my dress for my phone.

“That was Rex McMillon, the guy I was dating when everything went down between my brother and your brother. I broke up with him to be with Gio, but he hasn’t gotten the idea that I don’t want to be with him anymore,” I explained and flipped through my contacts until I found Gio’s number.

“Clearly,” Isabella said and got into her car. I walked around it, got into the passenger seat, and hit the call button. Gio picked up as Isabella was throwing the car into reverse.

“Victoria,” he said my name as if my call would be the best news he had gotten all day. I wished I didn’t have to change that tone in his voice.

“Gio…” I looked at Isabella who was very focused on driving us out of the parking lot.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice going worried. I closed my eyes, hating that I had to give him bad news.

“Rex was just in the parking lot, waiting for us at Isabella's car.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time.

Chapter twelve

Giovanni

Victoria spending the day with Isabella was really weird for me. I had never had a woman I was having sex with meet my family, let alone spend time with them. Then again, I rarely had sex with the same woman twice—it was easier for them to not form an attachment. It was also weird for me to have sex with someone in my own bed and then have them picked up from my house by my sister.

The day was just full of a whole lot of weird.

After they left, I decided I would work out in my home gym in the basement. I cranked up the music and worked on my arms for a bit. Then I got in a few core exercises. All the while, all I could think about was Victoria.

About how I had loved taking a shower with her that morning. Her mouth on my cock had felt fucking amazing. And the way she had gone after it, like she was devouring it, was more than I had expected. I had had sex with professionals who couldn’t give me a blow job that felt that good.

Seriously, whatever I had done to put her in my life, I was grateful I had done it. And to think, I almost missed the poker game that led me to her. I needed to thank Vito. Hell, after last night, if Victoria backed out of marrying me, I would be alright with it as long as we could still be together because I wanted more of what she could do. I wanted more of her in general.

When I left the basement, I wanted to call out to her, ask her if she liked to work out too or if her body was that nice because of diet. I wanted to ask her what her favorite song was, what her favorite color was. I realized I knew so little about her, and yet she had somehow gotten under my skin and made me want to know things. Made me need to know things.

I scrubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands, trying to scratch out the need for her I was beginning to feel. I didn’t want to feel this way. I wasn’t meant to feel this way. The whole marriage thing was just supposed to be a front for my family. Sure, we had to make it seem real, but I had figured we would just be fuck buddies or something. We would have to live together too, but she worked so much that it wouldn’t really matter.

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