The Bastard’s Betrayal by Katee Robert
Chapter 21
For all his confidence in the moment, Dante honestly hadn’t been 100 percent sure Rose would show up. Nothing about that woman was a sure thing, and if he could appreciate that fact, it still made for a frustrating back-and-forth at times. He was in the middle of pacing the living room of the suite for the twentieth time when the door opened, and Rose walked in.
She’d changed out of the gold dress and now wore a pair of jeans and a sweater. It was the way she used to dress when they were pretending to be other people. Even knowing how he felt about her, he wasn’t prepared for the sheer longing that went through him. He wanted that casual intimacy with her again, the soft times to go with the hard edges he craved. He had appreciated that about his time with her as Jackson Smith. He wanted it again.
His gaze landed on the faded bruises around her throat. “I’ll kill the Mad Wolf for touching you.”
Rose closed the door and leaned against it. “You’re going to have to get in line, because the next time I see him, I’m shooting him.”
“Amata, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re not nearly as good a shot as you like to think.”
She smiled slightly. “Haven’t you figured it out, d’yavol? I pulled my shot.”
He’d wondered, but there were too many factors in place to determine shit. He grinned. “Lucky me. Less lucky Casimir Romanov.”
“Da.” She pushed off the door. “Vasily is in the hallway. If something happens to them because of you, I’ll skin you alive.”
Jealousy flared, even as he relished her threat. It likely said something fucked up about him that he liked it when violent words came out of that pretty mouth, but it was also the least fucked up thing about Dante. When one had as much blood on their hands as he did, violence stopped being something to flinch away from. It simply was. “Have you ever done it, amata?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Done what?”
“Any of the things you threaten me with. The more creative killings.”
Rose held his gaze for a moment and then looked away. “There’s a price for power. You know that, even if you’re not the heir to the Verducci family.” She pushed off the door and started for him. “I’ve never actually skinned someone, though.”
“I’ll be your first. I truly am a lucky man.”
Her lips pulled up but fell before he could fully appreciate her smile. “This will never work.”
He expected this. He’d even prepared for it. “And yet here you are. You came even with all the reasonable shit in your head telling you it’s a bad idea. Why?”
“You know why.”
He hoped. Fuck, Dante wasn’t one for hope, but he hoped when it came to Rose. He didn’t move other than to rotate slowly as she meandered around the room, nerves in every line of her body. “Tell me anyway.”
Rose stopped with her back to him. A fine tremor worked through her shoulders, and it took everything Dante had not to go to her there and now. He couldn’t. They needed to have a fucking conversation and the only way that would happen was if they stayed on the other side of the room from each other. If he touched her, they’d be ripping each other’s clothes off in short order. It didn’t sound so bad from where he stood, but Dante had the long game in mind. The more time passed before they settled into something official, the harder it would be to convince her he wanted more than her body.
“You are a Verducci.” She spoke softly. “You come from a family on the other side of the country who’s also the enemy of the Capparelli family, who are our allies here. If I were to choose you, I would be fighting both my family and my allies to do it, which would be challenging enough to navigate, but we have a bigger threat looming. We can’t afford to be divided right now, not with Jovan and his people circling. They already have a target painted on my chest, Dante. If—”
“You have done everything right.”
She stopped short and turned to face him. “What?”
“You have done everything right,” he repeated slowly. “You have been the model heir. Your people love you. Even the Capparellis were willing to work with you instead of starting a conflict when the shit happened three months ago. They’re still willing to work with you, because Romeo married your sister instead of setting something on fire when the wedding didn’t go as planned.”
She made a face. “I’m pretty sure he all but jumped at the opportunity, honestly. He wanted Lorelei initially. I’m the one who offered myself up instead.” She sighed. “For all the good it did. He got what he wanted in the end.”
Dante had done his research on all the Romanov women during the time he spent in New York. Lorelei might be the youngest, but he had a feeling she could hold her own against Romeo. Anya would have been an even better choice, but she was a lesbian, and with her knife skills and cold ruthlessness, no one was interested in forcing her to do anything. If he misjudged Lorelei and being with Romeo damaged her, he’d cut the motherfucker down. No one hurt Rose, not even by proxy. Not any longer. “The fact remains, if you were a man, this conflict with Jovan wouldn’t be happening.”
She blinked. “You can’t be serious.”
“You know it. I know it. They’ve had a problem with you from the moment your father decided not to marry you off to one of your cousins.”
“Dante.” Rose rolled her eyes. “They’re like third cousin five times removed or something at this point. We’re hardly related. You make it sound incestuous.”
“My point is that your father chose to let you stand on your own instead of bringing in another Romanov to marry you and appease Jovan. This was always going to happen. They were just waiting for a moment to remove you and send a message.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “That moment came when you kidnapped me.”
“That moment came when you decided to marry an Italian.”
She jerked. “What? You can’t know that.”
Dante shrugged. “The Mad Wolf booked his plane ticket for the day before your wedding. It’s just coincidence that I got to you first.” Matteo had passed on that little tidbit before Dante got on the plane back here. It was surprisingly but also confirmed what he’d suspected from his and Rose’s many conversations. Jovan was never going to let her live, not without someone forcing him.
Her mouth worked, but no words emerged. Rose stumbled back a step and sank onto the couch. “You’re lying.”
“I have no reason to lie, and it’s easily verifiable.”
She shook her head slowly as if trying to clear a ringing in her ears. “Did you know? On the day of the wedding, did you know?”
If he said he did, if he told her that he’d taken her to save her life, it would rewrite everything that happened between them in a soft light. He’d be the hero who swept in and saved her from certain death. He’d also be a fucking liar.
“No.” No lies between them. No masks. Never again. “You’re mine, Rose, and I wasn’t about to let you marry that motherfucker.”
Her smile was faint but present. “That’s weirdly reassuring. I’d hate to have been wrong about you.”
“I’m not a good man. No one in this life is. If they tell you that, they’re lying, and that I won’t do. We’re starting fresh, and that means only honesty between us, no matter how fucked up.” He finally gave in to the pull of her presence and crossed to sit on the couch next to her. “I will kill the Mad Wolf for you.”
“I’m afraid that will only make things worse.” She slouched and laid her head on his shoulder. Dante’s heart gave a strange little lurch, and he froze. Rose continued, oblivious. “We have to make ourselves too strong to fuck with.”
“You’re the heir to one of the most stable dynasties in the States. How do you make that stronger?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed, settling in more firmly against him. “I just don’t fucking know.”
There was one last element of business to take care of before he could ask her the question that had lingered since she didn’t shoot him in the parking lot last week. Dante leaned back against the couch, taking Rose with him, and wrapped an arm around her. “My father ordered me to kill your youngest sister.”
“What?” She started to jump up, but he tightened his grip on her, holding her in place. Rose elbowed him in the stomach. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Is this why I’m here?”
“Use your fucking head.”
She stopped fighting, though only so she could twist and glare at him. “Excuse me?”
“What strategic value would I have in telling you if that was what I planned?” When she just glared harder, he resisted the urge to give her a shake. “Think, amata. If I’m the enemy you’ve painted me, I have no fucking reason to tell you. Not a single one.”
She pressed her lips together and finally cursed. “Okay, that makes sense, but why drop it on me like this?” She shook her head again, harder this time. “I still don’t understand why your uncle sent you here to begin with. There’s no strategic value in you fucking with me and my family. It’s not like the Verduccis are going to make the jump to expanding territory over here, and we don’t even deal in the same areas of influence.”
Irritation rose, but not at her. They were all logical questions, but logic and his uncle weren’t on the same page. They were hardly in the same universe. “He wanted to kill two birds with one stone.”
“I understand holding a grudge, but it’s still strange that he chose to target us instead of the Capparellis.”
Dante stroked his fingers over her bare shoulder, part of him thrilled that she allowed the casual touch. She even leaned into it. “You weren’t supposed to find out who I was. I’m sure he had some kind of plan for once things had progressed past a certain point.” Likely to order Dante to kill Rose and frame the Capparellis. “I would have died tragically in the fallout, of course. I’m good, but not even I can take on both Romanovs and Capparellis without support.”
“He’s not going to be happy you’re disobeying orders,” she finally said. “Or you still being alive when this is all finished.”
He shrugged. “He’s going to have bigger things to worry about before too long.” When she shot him a curious look, he allowed himself a smile. “My cousin is an ambitious man. War with the Romanovs isn’t profitable. It’s better to pursue peace in the face of combined interests.”
“You’re still a Verducci, Dante. Neither of us can change that.” She searched his face. “If I choose you, I put my sister in danger. I put my family in danger.”
“Rose. Amata.” He caught her chin and tilted her face up. “Do you trust me?”
“I shouldn’t. I have absolutely no reason to.”
She wasn’t wrong and yet… “That’s not an answer.”
Rose closed her eyes. “Yes. Damn you to hell, but yes, I trust you.”
“Marry me.”
She gave a choked laugh. “Just like that?”
“Marry me and I’ll fix this.”
At that, she opened her eyes and gave him an arch look. “You mean you’ll fix the thing you broke to begin with?” She pulled away and he released her. Rose smoothed her hair back. “And don’t come at me with that shit about the threat from Jovan. That might have existed outside of you, but the fault for escalating things with the Capperellis, and the marriage to Romeo lands squarely at your feet.”
“Si.” He shrugged. “I make no apologies for it. Not when I got you in the bargain.”
“Dante, you don’t have me.”
That was about enough of that. “Don’t I?” He caught her around her waist and lifted her to straddle him. She immediately scooted forward to close the last little bit of distance between them, pressing against his hardening cock. “You’re here, at my mercy. I could do anything I want to you.”
“Mmm.” Rose ran her hands up his chest. “It’s my security standing outside the door right. One word and Vasily will break down the door.” She leaned down and ran her mouth along his throat. “But I don’t need Vasily to fight my battles. I can take care of you myself.”
Dante caught her hips. Fuck, she was sexy like this, playful and sweet. Then again, he had yet to see a side of Rose that wasn’t sexy. “Very well, amata. You have me at your mercy. What will you do with me?”
“I have a few ideas.” She brushed a light, teasing kiss to his lips, retreating before he could deepen it. Rose moved, slipping off his lap and down to the floor to settle between his thighs.
Dante’s mouth went dry as she undid the button and dragged down the zipper. He lifted his hips so she could work the pants down his hips. She licked her lips at the sight of his cock, and Dante nearly lost it right then and there. “Amata.”
She wrapped a fist around his cock and gave him a slow pump. “Amata.” Rose repeated it back with a nearly flawless accent. “What does it mean?”
His breath, his words, his fucking soul, caught in his chest as she descended to take his cock into her mouth. They’d done this before, of course, but it felt different. Everything about this felt different. Rose took him slowly, teasing and licking down his length until her lips sealed around his base. In this moment, he could deny her nothing. The truth slipped free. “Beloved. Amata means beloved.”
Rose moaned and sucked him harder, moving nearly off his cock before descending again. Dante sank his hands into her hair, but he wasn’t interested in guiding her movements. She’d chosen this. She would maintain control… For a little while, at least.
It didn’t take long before his balls tightened and he had to fight the rising surge of need. “Amata,” he said sharply. A warning.
Rose opened her eyes and held his gaze as she descended on his cock again. The challenge in those hazel depths… Fuck, it undid him. Dante tightened his grip on her hair and lost it. He came hard, cursing as he did. Rose drank him down with little moans and whimpers, but she didn’t stop, sucking at him as he went soft. “Rosa.” He dragged her off him gently and pulled her up his body to kiss her deeply. Dante nipped her bottom lip. “Take off your pants before I rip them to pieces.”
“Promises, promises.” But she was already slipping out of his grasp to shimmy out of her jeans. She didn’t stop there, thank fuck, skimming off her panties and top. Her bra followed, leaving her gloriously naked.
Dante yanked off his shirt and slid off the couch to the floor. “Come here.” He guided her to stand over him and put one knee on the couch. She was so wet, he could see it, and he parted her pussy with two fingers as he looked up her body to her face. “I’ll take care of you, amata.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Si,” he agreed easily. “All the same, I will also be taking care of you.”
Her lips curved. “I suppose you mean to start with orgasms.”
“Everything should start with orgasms.”
She laughed. It was the first time he’d heard her sound so free. He liked it. He craved it. Dante decided right then and there that he’d do whatever it took to make a life with this woman where she laughed like that on the daily.
Even if he had to bring three crime families to their knees to do it.
