I walk farther inside without meaning to, my eyes flitting over every detail because there’s too much to take in all at once.
That’s when I notice a dark gray suit jacket draped over the back of one of the chairs, and a frown forms on my forehead.
“Whose jacket is that?”
Adriano walks to a glass table where three expensive-looking bottles of alcohol stand. “Mine.”
“You live here?” I gasp.
His expression doesn’t change while he pours two tumblers of amber liquid. “No, I only stay here when I have business in the city.”
He makes it sound like having a penthouse permanently ready for him in what is clearly a very expensive hotel in Manhattan is completely normal.
Unable to stop myself, I walk toward the windows, and my breath catches in my throat at the striking view.
The city stretches endlessly below us, sunlight reflecting off the glass skyscrapers while streams of yellow cabs and cars crawl through the streets.
I can see Central Park in the distance!
Adriano stops behind me, close enough that I feel the heat coming off his body.
“Do you like it?” he asks, his tone much quieter after all the shouting, growling, and threatening.
I let out an incredulous-sounding chuckle, and still staring at the skyline, I ask, “Do people actually live like this?”
“Yes.” I turn around and watch as he takes a sip, his eyes locked on my face like a heat-seeking missile. “You can live like this too.”
Another chuckle escapes me as I roll my eyes. “Phft…right.” Moving away from him, I say, “As long as I do anything you want, right?”
“Yes.”
“Mmm…” I look at Little Ricky, who’s paging through a leather-bound booklet, then ask, “What’s the catch?”
“I’ve already told you.” Adriano’s gaze follows me like a hawk watching its prey. “You belong to me.”
The way he says it makes it sound like a done deal, and I shake my head. “I haven’t signed anything…yet.”
My words seem to anger him, and narrowing his eyes, he tosses the rest of the alcohol down his throat before walking to the glass table and setting down the tumbler.
The next instant, Adriano stalks to me, and grabbing hold of my wrist, he tugs me in the direction of what I can only assume is the bedroom.
I dig my heels into the expensive carpet and yank back against his hold, but that only makes him jerk me so hard that I plow into his muscled body.
“What the hell?!” I shriek right before I go airborne and I’m hauled over his shoulder.
My eyes touch on Little Ricky, who’s watching us with an amused expression, and knowing he won’t help me, I begin to slam my fists against Adriano’s back, shouting at the top of my lungs, “You asshole! Put me down!”
Adriano stalks into the bedroom and kicks the door shut before hauling me down his front, and as I take a deep breath to scream my head off, I’m shoved up against the nearest wall.
Just as I begin to fear that he’s going to demand I have sex with him, he grips hold of my jaw, and the next second his mouth crashes into mine.
It feels like my eyebrows shoot right off my forehead as shock shudders through every cell in my body and any brain function I have comes to a sudden halt.
Adriano’s lips take ownership of mine, and I’m kissed thoroughly, making any other kiss I’ve ever had feel like nothing more than a peck.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice whispers for me to do something to stop this, but when his tongue strokes forcefully over mine, I struggle to remember my own name.
It feels like the particles in the air ignite and heat licks hungrily at my skin.