Chapter 7
Enzo
To say the dinner went terribly would be an understatement. And I had no fucking idea how to make it any better. Every time I called Serena, she sent me to voicemail. Every time I sent her a message, it went unanswered. I made several attempts like my family asked me to in order to get in touch with her, but everything was fruitless.
“Did you compliment her?” my father asked.
“I did.”
“Did you ask questions about her to show interest?” my mother asked.
“I did that as well.”
“Well, there must have been something you did to upset her, Enzo. And whatever that is, you have to fix it. We have a wedding to plan and we can’t do that with the two of you bickering already like this,” my father said.
“I’m trying the best I can. But there isn’t anything I can do if she won’t take my calls or return my voice messages,” I said.
“Then dig down into that creative mind of yours and find something,” my mother said. “Because if she’s this unhappy, there’s a chance Gino Conti will back out of this deal. And that will spell disaster for whatever job you wish to have in the business.”
My family was right. No matter what it took, I had to try and make nice with Serena. There were details for the wedding that needed to be ironed out and things that needed to be discussed. And if she thought ignoring me would get me to go away, then she was going to understand how much she really underestimated me.
After washing off my bloodied hands in the sink, I went home and got changed. A fresh suit and a spritz of cologne would go a long way in showing Serena why I was there. I gave myself one last look in the mirror before I grabbed my things, then I hopped into my car and headed to her parents.
When I got to their homestead, no one was there but the butler. He let me in with a smile, then ushered me to the room where both of our lives had changed. A fire was roaring and the furniture was beckoning for me, but I didn’t want to sit. I clasped my hands behind my back and stood by the fireplace and asked the butler to let me know when Serena was home.
Then, I waited.
I waited for almost two hours before I heard the door open. I heard Serena conversing with the man at the door, but then I heard her voice grow louder. Agitated. Clearly, she knew I was here, but it was her stomping down the hallway that alerted me to her anger.
I turned around as she came around the corner and flashed her a kind smile.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
My eyebrows raised at her choice of words as she took a few more steps towards me.
“I already told you. I’ll marry you, but I’ll never love you,” she said.
“You never said anything about love,” I said. “Merely that we would never become an item.”
“What are you doing in my house?”
“I want you to go out with me,” I said.
“This is the easiest thing you’ll ever have to do,” she said. “All you have to do is show up on your wedding day, Enzo.”
“You can call me ‘Enzo’, if you’d like.”
“I’d rather call you ‘asshole’.”
“If it suits me, then so be it. Though I’d like a chance to change that.”
“How? By throwing a little more money at me?” she asked.
“By taking you out to a proper dinner and getting to know you,” I said.
“Stop the antics, Enzo. You don’t need them with me. This is already arranged, whether we get along or not.”
“Though if we’re going to spend a lifetime with one another, I’d like to at least get along,” I said.
“Not necessarily a requirement.”
“My parents thought so as well.”
“Then you have the perfect example,” she said.
“It took my father almost four years and a near-death experience to tell my mother he loved her.”
“Then you don’t have the perfect example,” she said.
I took a step towards her and rose my eyes to the butler. I gave him a glare and he bowed before he left the room. Serena took a step back from me, the backs of her legs hitting the edge of a chair.
Then, I lifted my hand to her cheek.
“No matter your opinion of how I treated you, it was an accurate representation of myself,” I said.
“Is that supposed to… sway me?” Serena asked.
“It’s an accurate representation of how I treated women. Temporary fixtures in my life while my parents set up a union. It’s not an accurate representation of how I will treat my wife.”
My eyes darted down to her lips as she licked them quickly.
“How can I believe you in that?” Serena asked.
“Give me the chance to prove it to you. Have dinner with me. Just one dinner,” I said.
Her hand rose and wrapped around my wrist, but she didn’t pull my touch away from her skin. The fire was beating against our bodies and I could see her skin flushing. Her eyes were dancing around my face as she sat down onto the edge of the chair behind her. She started staring at my chest, turning my words around in her head as my thumb traced the outlines of her apple-peaked cheeks.
Her skin was soft, and I wanted it as mine.
I watched tears rise to Serena’s eyes and I knew why. She was scared. And any woman would be in this situation. She saw the crass and coldness I was capable of despite being respectful. She was scared the rest of her life would be like that.
But I was determined to show her differently.
Being my wife came with perks no other woman on this planet would ever have.
I dipped down to her lips and captured them within mine. I felt her draw in a deep breath as my hand gripped her chin lightly. Her hands slid along my shoulders, gripping my upper arms as she steadied herself against the arm of the chair.
But she didn’t stay that way for long.
She shot up from the chair and fell into my body. My arms cloaked her, pulling her soft curves closer to me. My hands worked her beautiful hair out of the bun she had it in, and I groaned as it cascaded down her back. I fisted her hair and pulled her back, watching her gasp as my lips nipped at her neck.
I felt my cock aching for release. Stiffening against her body as her hands flew to my belt. She shoved my clothes down my legs before she jumped into my arms, her lips colliding with mine.
I sat down into the chair, my cock standing at attention. Her skirt was rolled up her legs and her panties were soaked with her arousal. Our teeth clattered as her hands ran through my hair, gripping tightly and pulling me closer to her. My hands slid her panties off to the side, removing the barrier between my body and hers. Her fluids dripped onto my cock as I slicked myself up in her juices.
Then I slid into her warmth, relishing the feel of my future bride.
She moved with desperation. With tears in her eyes and a grimace on her face. Her want was painful. The fight in her was strong. She was a woman fit to be anyone’s wife, and I would make sure she was taken care of for the rest of her days. I fisted her hair and pulled her forehead to mine, my eyes taking her in as she took what she wanted. I felt her pussy clamping down onto my cock, pulling from me an orgasm that crashed quickly over my body.
We panted, breathing one another’s air as my toes curled and my balls shot up into my body.
I grunted and groaned, listening to her whimpers fall from her lips. My hands released her hair, allowing her face to fall to my neck as I gripped her waist. Her body was comforting. Familiar. Something I could call home if she gave me the chance.
I felt her trembling against me, riding the aftershocks of her orgasm as my come dripped from between her legs.
“Okay,” she said breathlessly. “I’ll go to dinner with you.”
I cupped the back of her head, allowing my cock to stay sheathed within her as I held her close to my body.
“You won’t regret it,” I said. “Not now, and not ever.”