He turns on me, and for the first time I see his face. It’s closed and hard. “No,” he says. Flat. Final.
The rejection shouldn’t sting. I’m the one who’s supposed to be in control of this dynamic. I’m the one using sex as a leash. But standing there naked and being told no by the man who’s supposed to be obsessed with me?—
It stings.
He showers alone. I go back to make my bed and listen to the water run and try to reassemble myself. By the time he’s finished, towel around his waist, I’ve found something close to composure.
“Did you sleep in my bed?” I ask. “Before. When I wasn’t here.”
He pauses, mid-step. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
The smile he gives me is ugly and slow. “Because I used to lie there and think about where you were sleeping that night. Under a bush in Central Park? Behind a pillar in some subway station?” He tilts his head. “Tucked up in a doorway somewhere, hoping nobody found you?”
I did sleep in all those places. And the whole time, Damiano Orsini was snuggled up in my bed, smiling about it.
I swallow it. Move on. “We need to find my cousin,” I say. “Tiberius Vicario.”
“Given up on the Clemenza Loyalists?” He gives a sour smile. “Still waiting on an apology about them.”
“I’m not going to apologize for discovering you’re a liar. If I’d known I had any other option than the Obelisk?—”
“You already sold your ass at the Obelisk before you heard about them. You don’t know what resources your own Family has?That’s on you. And besides…” He grabs my face, squeezing hard into my cheeks. “You’re the runt of the Clemenza litter. Even if youhadpower, you wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
I grab at his wrist, trying to break his hold, but he shoves me away before I can even try.
“You want to find your cousin, it’s not that hard,” he says. “Go to the last lead you had.”
I frown, rubbing at my sore face. I can’t think as fast as I usually do this morning. “Meaning?”
“Meaning, go talk to your Uncle Tony.”
“Somehow, I don’t think he’d see me.”
“Jesus Christ.” He actually laughs. “You think that would’ve stopped your Nonno Lou? This is exactly what I mean. Power doesn’t wait for things to happen. Itmakesthem happen.”
“And how wouldyoumake it happen?” I ask icily. “Since you seem so well acquainted with power and its use?”
“I’d find out next time he’s gonna be in public and I’d go there and get him alone. It’s not fucking rocket science. Most men will do whatever you want if they think it’ll stop you punching out their teeth.”
“Alright, Dami. Let’s play it your way. Find out next time Uncle Tony will be in public. That’s your task for today.”
He stalks toward me again and I back up until my legs hit the bed, making me sit abruptly. He looms over me, blocking the light, and for a moment we’re right back where we started—the beast and the prince, the size difference absurd and terrifying and, God help me, arousing.
“You’re not my Boss,” he says softly. “I’ve got other shit I need to do today.”
“Then you’ll have to find the time,” I say. “Head out early—now—and do it before work.”
We stare at each other until he shakes his head and walks away, heading for the elevator. And I have to jog after him, still naked, worried that he’ll leave me down here again for another full day.
I’m over this damn basement. And I don’t want the reminder of last night in my face all day: my bed, and the stink of sex that still lingers in its sheets.
CHAPTER 18
CALIGULA
We go back upto Damiano’s bedroom, where he dresses without a word and then leaves. He doesn’t attempt to lock me in the bedroom, or even threaten me to stay inside the house.