The flush to Natalie’s face as she stood in the entry of the suite looking overwhelmed and innocent and just the slightest bit aroused made my dick hard.

I clenched my jaw against the image of her grinding against my cock as she’d devoured my tongue in the back of that town car the other night—an image that was suddenly flashing behind my eyes like a strobe light and mingling with another of her asleep in nothing but that sheer lace bra and panty set—and reminded myself that screwing the naïve girl seven ways to sundown was not why I’d brought her to Rome. I’d brought her here to scare the shit out of her and send her running back to Idaho where she belonged. And there was no better time to start that than now.

“Since you’re already late, you don’t have time to shower.” Sliding my gaze down her curvy body, over the wrinkled blouse and baggy slacks she’d worn on the plane, I forced myself to look disgusted instead of turned on, which—sonofabitch—I was. “A stylist left a few items for you. Find something to wear that’s not wrinkled, fix your face, and meet me downstairs in the lobby in fifteen minutes.”

I strode past her toward the elevator, careful not to touch her. As I drew close, though, I caught a whiff of her scent. That grapefruit and honey combination that made my blood sizzle. My jaw clenched down harder as I pressed the call button for the elevator.

“I don’t understand,” she said at my back. “The woman at the front desk said my room was up here.”

“It is,” I answered, not turning to look at her, knowing if I did, she’d see the bulge in my slacks. “Your room is to the right.” The elevator doors whooshed opened, and I stepped in, pushing the button to close the doors as quickly as I could without turning.

When I was alone and the elevator was moving, I drew a deep breath, leaned back against the wall of the car, and muttered, “Cazzo.”

This was a fucking asinine plan. Two minutes with the girl and I was already harder than I’d been in weeks—no, months. Obviously, I had some twisted hero fantasy shit going on in my head that I needed to squash because I normally wouldn’t be interested in someone like Natalie James. I liked my women tall, experienced, and big breasted—all things this girl definitely was not. When I had a woman pinned beneath me, I didn’t want to question whether she was into the same kinks as me. I needed to know she liked it hard and rough. And I absolutely didn’t want to see innocence or naïvety or fear in her eyes when I fucked her senseless.

By the time the elevator came to a stop on the main level, I was fully back in control and completely relieved I’d made the girl fly commercial instead of with me on the Bombardier. No way could I have survived being trapped with her that long, even with the shorter flight time thanks to the jet’s high-tech engines. While I wasn’t looking forward to sharing a suite with her for the next few days, I wasn’t worried. It was important to my plan to keep her close, and we’d be so busy all day and into the evenings with meetings and events, I knew she’d be sick of me by the time we got back to the hotel each night. So sick and intimidated that she’d hide in her room like a trembling rat until morning.

At least, I was counting on her hiding out each night, because if she didn’t…

Well, if she didn’t, then I was seriously fucked. I had only so much self control after two months of celibacy.

My shoes clicked across the marble floor as I headed for the lobby, dismissing that thought and pulling my phone from my pocket to check emails as I walked. There were several from Ilario Lorenzi, the vice president at Covet, whom I’d left in charge of operations while I was in Rome. Ilario was a competent enough man, but I didn’t trust him. He came from a lesser family loyal to our House, and he had opportunist written all over him. I knew he’d been pissed when my father had appointed me head of Covet after my uncle’s heart attack. Ilario had been gunning for the position for years…and for a bigger role within our organization.

I fired off responses to Ilario’s questions, then sent another email to Ms. Pascal, instructing her to watch Ilario’s every move while I was gone. Sandra Pascal was probably the only person at Covet I trusted. She’d worked there for years and was loyal to the family, but she was also smart as a whip, knew when to keep her mouth shut, and didn’t miss a thing that happened around her.

The lobby was sparsely filled with tourists planning their day and guests checking out. Moving to stand near an empty couch by the vast windows that looked out over the swimming pool and fifteen lush acres of Mediterranean gardens on the property, I scanned the rest of the emails, stopping when I noticed one from Giovanni.

A frown pulled at my mouth. My brother was—as I’d suspected—enraged that I’d swooped in and snatched his “toy” away before he’d had a chance to test her out, and his email was filled with every expletive the dickhead knew how to spell to get that point across to me. Not that I fucking cared. If Giovanni wasn’t my brother, I’d strangle the sonofabitch with my own two hands and rid the world of his predatory perversions, but because we shared blood, I couldn’t do that. I could, however—thanks to my position as CEO—get the fucker as far from New York City as possible, and that was exactly what I’d done when I’d sent him to the Caribbean on that shoot. After that, I was shipping him off to South America, Australia, India, then Mozambique for shoots. My plan was to keep the asshole busy for at least a month. So busy he wouldn’t have a moment to contact Natalie James or tempt the girl into something depraved.

I deleted Giovanni’s email without responding and was just shoving my phone back into the pocket of my slacks when heels sounded on the marble floor to my right. My gaze lifted, and I looked in that direction, and when I spotted the woman at the center of Giovanni’s latest obsession, the breath caught in my throat.

I wasn’t sure what she’d done in those fifteen minutes besides change her clothes and fix her hair, but Natalie James looked completely different, and not in a good way—at least not for me. The rumpled and slightly baggy clothing that had hidden her delectable body from view earlier was long gone. In its place, she’d paired a slim, pinstriped black pencil skirt with a sleeveless red blouse that molded to her curves and showcased her small but very plump breasts. Four-inch heels drew attention to the length of her toned legs and the ample curve of her ass. Her dark hair was pinned up, and several curly strands framed her face, softening her features, and lengthening her delicate neck. And her eyes… They no longer appeared tired and overwhelmed. Now those blue gems sparkled with a strength and defiance that amplified my blood and made me itch to dominate her in a thousand different ways.

She stopped several feet away from me, the strap of a chic black purse slung over her shoulder, a smartphone in her hand, but I could still feel the heat radiating off her skin, sizzling over mine even a short distance away. And that scent—that wild grapefruit and honey combination—was even stronger now, making me hard in a heartbeat.

“I’m ready.” I knew she had to be exhausted, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she lifted her chin and pinned me with those mesmerizing eyes. “I already called the driver and told him to meet us out front. Your first appointment is at Valentino in twenty minutes. Shall we?”

I didn’t give a rip about my appointments. All I could think about was the fact I didn’t have a clue how to answer because the self control I’d been counting on keeping my masked desires in check wavered as I stared at her.

In a rush of blood that went straight into my cock, I realized I wanted this girl. I wanted her in the worst fucking way—beneath me, on her knees, pinned to the wall, unable to move in a dozen different scenes as I pounded into her again and again. My dick swelled harder as I pictured my hand sliding around her slim throat while I drove into her, as I envisioned squeezing the arteries on both sides of her delicate neck until her face flushed and the slight diminishment in oxygen drove her toward the most intense orgasm she’d ever felt. Until the sights and sounds of her pleasure drove me there as well.

“Mr. Salvatici?”

I blinked when she said my name. Then blinked again when I realized I’d just tripped into a fantasy right in front of her. “Yes,” I managed, clearing my throat and looking away from her. “Let’s go.”

She eyed me speculatively, then turned and headed for the lobby doors. At her back, I drew a breath but couldn’t keep my gaze from her shapely ass swaying in front of me.

Fuck me. Regardless of whether or not she stayed locked in her room, I was screwed and I knew it. If I didn’t get my shit together soon, I was never going to survive this week. And I needed to get through this week without manhandling the girl if I had any hope of getting her away from Covet and out of my life for good.

Because that was the only thing I cared about now. Not letting anyone manipulate her as they had her friend Elena.

Not even me.

---

I almost made it through day one without losing my shit.

Almost.

We met with four designers and only returned to the hotel to change into evening attire before heading back out to a runway show. Natalie—even jetlagged and out her element—had handled the day like a total professional, managing my schedule and appointments better than Ms. Pascal, only fumbling over a couple of names when she made introductions, ones even I sometimes had trouble pronouncing.

I, on the other hand, had been semihard the whole fucking day just because I’d been close to her, and that had left me rattled and on edge. So on edge that when Natalie had emerged from her room later that evening in a deep red, asymmetrically hemmed cocktail gown that dipped low at her spine and hit high on one thigh, I’d nearly said fuck it to my stupid plan, pinned her up against a wall, and screwed her right there and then. The only thing that had stopped me was sheer strength of will—which I knew would crumble soon if I didn’t find a way to get this girl out of my head fast.

So I hadn’t sat with her at the fashion show. I’d stood across the room and talked shop with anyone I could find. Then I’d flirted at the after-party with every willing model I could, which hadn’t been difficult since they all knew who I was. Many, even, were more than familiar with my family and were up for any kinky shit I might ask of them. And I’d almost taken one blonde up on her offer. I’d been a heartbeat away from dragging her too-skinny ass into an empty back room and screwing her brains out just so I could stop lusting over my simple and naïve assistant. Until, that is, I spotted Natalie across the room, a drink in hand, a flush to her cheeks, talking quietly with David Bonello.

My blood pumped hot—but not from arousal. Bonello was one of Giovanni’s friends. The two went way back, and they shared the same perverted tastes—and often the same women.

“Excuse me,” I said to the model who could easily have sucked me dry with her collagen-enhanced lips. Turning away from her, I headed across the ballroom. At my back, I heard the model call my name, but I didn’t glance back. All I could see was the piece of shit in my line of sight playing the part of Prince Charming when I knew he was really Lucifer in disguise.

Sonofabitch. I had not dragged the girl halfway around the world to keep her out of Giovanni’s clutches only to have her fall prey to David Fucking Bonello.

“Luc,” Bonello said as I drew close, his black eyes catching sight of me over Natalie’s shoulder. “Your beautiful assistant here was just telling me about your meeting with Valentino this morning.”

I didn’t bother to glance at Natalie as I stepped up next to her, but from the corner of my vision, I caught the way her smile wobbled.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I asked Bonello in Italian, not bothering to hide my contempt. The asshole knew I didn’t like him. He knew, and he’d targeted Natalie on purpose.

Bonello’s eyes narrowed with a familiar, malicious glint, and in Italian, he fired back, “Enjoying myself. Something you should learn to do.”

All I wanted to do was pound my fist through this guy’s nose, but I held back my rage—barely.

“Call the driver and meet me in the lobby,” I said to Natalie in English without looking away from Bonello. “We’re leaving.”

Natalie glanced from me to Bonello. “But—”

“Do it,” I snapped, still not looking at her.

Her face reddened. I knew I’d just humiliated her and that she was pissed, but I didn’t give a shit. Quietly, she said, “Good night, David,” and turned to leave.

As the sound of her footsteps faded at my back, I watched Bonello watching her. He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “That is one very fine piece of ass,” he said in Italian. “If you’re not gonna fuck her, Salvatici, there are plenty of us who can.”

The cap on my fury blew free. I captured Bonello by the throat and slammed him up against the column at his back. Bonello’s eyes flew wide with surprise, and the glass of champagne in his hand shot from his fingers and shattered against the marble floor to my left. The group of models chatting in a cluster nearby yelped and jerked away from the broken glass. Voices in the ballroom quieted, and at my back, I knew all eyes were watching, but I barely cared.

“Touch her, and I’ll kill you,” I growled in a low voice.

Bonello’s soulless gaze locked on mine, no longer shocked but calculating. “She means something to you. Interesting.”

I tightened my hand around his throat, silently cursing my short temper and the fact I’d reacted without thinking. “She’s my assistant. That makes her my responsibility, and I don’t need her distracted from her job. She’s not a fuck toy for you or anyone else.”

“News flash, Salvatici.” His eyes darkened until they were nothing but hard cold pieces of coal filled with the promise of retribution. “They’re all fuck toys, and you know it.”

Fury coiled tight in my muscles as I held him against the pillar, but I forced myself to relax my grip and finally release him. I’d made my point. He knew not to cross me. “Stay away from her,” I said in a low voice.

Bonello rolled his shoulder, and as his gaze held mine, a cocky grin pulled at his lips. One that told me he’d absolutely go after Natalie again as soon as my back was turned. “Good talk, Luc.” Casually, he slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks and moved away. “You have a pleasant evening now.”

I watched the asshole stroll across the ballroom toward the bar, my heart pumping hard, my body still tight and ready for a fight. Disgust rolled through my gut with the force of a tidal wave. In this sea of immorality, Bonello had managed to zone in on the only truly decent person here, as if she’d been wearing a flashing neon sign that screamed Innocent. I couldn’t be satisfied with only keeping her close to me at night. From now on out, I’d have to keep her close every other hour of the fucking day as well.

A string of expletives filled my head as I clenched my jaw and moved through the crowd, heading toward the lobby door where Natalie—the current source of every one of my fucking frustrations—waited outside with the car. I didn’t want this girl anywhere near me. I didn’t want her in my world at all. But for the immediate future, I was stuck with both.

She was already in the back of the town car when I exited the building. I slid into the backseat, careful not to look at her to my left, just as careful to stay on my own damn side so I didn’t accidentally touch her. At the moment, I wasn’t sure what that would do to me.

She sat a foot away—still too close for my liking—and stared out the window as we headed back to the hotel, seething, I knew, at the way I’d treated her. I tried to bite my tongue—I really did—but that fucking dress rode too damn high on her thigh, tempting not only me but every other sick sonofabitch out there, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

“If that man is at any other event we’re attending,” I said in a low voice, keeping my gaze locked out my window, “you’re not to talk to him, you’re not to look at him, you’re to stay the hell away from him.”

Her head swiveled my way, and from the corner of my vision, I saw the way her deep blue eyes narrowed with veiled anger. “I’m not to? Is that an order?”

“Yes, it’s a fucking order,” I snapped, pinning my gaze on her and wishing that I hadn’t, because the defiance lurking in her eyes only fired me up more and made me want to bend her over my knee to teach her a lesson.

I didn’t care if she’d done a good job today. All I could think about was David Bonello and what the fucker could have done to her if I’d disappeared with that model as I’d planned. “While you’re working for me, you’ll do every single thing I say, and if you defy me, I’ll toss you on the first damn flight back to Idaho. If I tell you not to look at someone, you won’t look. If I tell you to hurry the hell up, you’ll bust your ass. And if I tell you not to dress like a slut, you’ll fucking listen. I don’t want to see that dress on you again.”

Her eyes flew wide with shock, and her teeth ground together, turning her delicate jaw to a hard slice of steel beneath her skin. I could literally see the rage rolling through her, threatening to consume her, just as it had in my office that day when I’d told her she wasn’t Covet material, but she didn’t let it out. She snapped her head away from me and stared out the window once more, every muscle in her body tight, her hand curled into a fist against her bare thigh.

My body vibrated as I waited, watching her across the car. Somewhere inside me, I wanted her to fight back, though I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t like women who were headstrong and independent. I liked them kinky and submissive, both things I knew she wasn’t. I didn’t like to be challenged, and she seemed to want to challenge me on every front—except this one.

The contradicting thoughts whipping through my head didn’t settle my roaring pulse. All they did was fucking confuse me.

Forcing my gaze away from her, I stared out my window as we wound back up the hill toward the hotel, knowing the driver had heard every word we’d said. Focusing on that—instead of the alluring, pissed, insanely sexy woman next to me—I wondered who the driver was loyal to. In this country, I couldn’t trust anyone. A fact that only enraged me more.

We pulled up in front of the hotel. Natalie popped her door open before the driver brought the car to a complete stop, climbed out, and rounded the car toward the lobby doors. Drawing in a breath for patience, I told the driver not to bother getting out. I opened my own door and followed her into the hotel.

Her heels clicked ahead of me on the marble floor as she made a beeline straight for our private elevator. I didn’t think it was possible, but she was even more appealing to me now, fired up and spitting mad, a fact my body recognized because it was heating up all over again. Except now that we were away from that party and back at the hotel where I knew she was safe, my own anger had dampened, cooling down at least one part of my brain, leaving me feeling like shit.

“Merda.” I rubbed a hand across my forehead, trying to figure out what it was about this girl that made me so insane. My goal in bringing her on this trip had been to piss her off so she’d run home to Idaho, right? I’d done that tonight. So why the fuck did I feel guilty about it?

Her arms were crossed tightly against her chest as she stood at the elevator, waiting for the car. I reached her just as the double doors opened. Jaw tight, she moved inside and stepped toward the wall, standing as far from me as possible.

Sighing, I followed her in and slid my hands into the pockets of my slacks as I tried to come up with something—anything—to say to diffuse the explosive situation I’d created. I couldn’t think of one damn thing. All I knew was that regardless of my goal where she was concerned, I didn’t want to spend the next week—or however long she decided to stay—at war with her.

The elevator doors opened, and she immediately stepped out of the car and moved through the living room of the suite with quick steps, heading right for her bedroom.

Fuck it. “Natalie, stop.”

Her shoulders tightened, but she listened and stilled in front of her door.

In the silence, I was achingly conscious of the fact it was the first time I’d spoken her name aloud. Every other time I’d addressed her, I’d called her Ms. James, but after tonight—after everything today that had gone through my head—Ms. James no longer seemed to fit.

“When I tell you to do something, I do so for a specific reason.” Dammit, I didn’t owe her an explanation. I just wanted her to get it. But I also recognized that for her to “get it,” I needed to cool the fuck down. “The man you were speaking to at the party is not a friend. He’s dangerous. I do not want you anywhere near him.”

She didn’t turn. Didn’t speak. Didn’t give any indication she’d heard me. Just stood still as a stone facing away from me.

I tipped my head, a little ticked by that fact and even more turned on because it was definitely an act of defiance. She’d kept her mouth shut in the car, she was keeping it shut here as well, but she was challenging me just the same. In a way that made my dick absolutely ache.

“Did you hear me?” I asked calmly, itching for her to turn around and lay into me, though why, I didn’t know. I craved a physical altercation with her almost as much as I craved her hot little body. Was so excited by the idea of it, my blood was practically humming. “Natalie, answer me.”

“Yes, I heard you, Beast. Loud and clear.”

Those eight simple words roared like fire through my blood, shooting me forward. She reached for the door handle of her room and the freedom it contained, but before she could even turn the knob in her hand, I was on her, my fingers closing over her wrist to prevent her from opening the door, my body pressed up against her back, pinning her between wood and vibrating stone.

She sucked in a surprised breath and stared down at my hand wrapped tightly around her slender wrist, but didn’t move.

I could feel her pulse thump faster with every heartbeat where I held her. Could hear her shallow, scared breaths as her sexy spine brushed against my chest. And I could smell her excitement all around me, making me light-headed, making me ache, making me hunger with a need I was afraid only she could sate.

“What did you call me?” I asked in a low voice, challenging her to say it again, hoping and praying that she wouldn’t so this volatile lust suddenly churning inside me wouldn’t detonate into something I couldn’t control.

For several moments, she didn’t move. And then, instead of cowering like I wanted her to do, she shifted around to face me so her back pressed into the door and her breasts grazed my shirt.

My pulse jumped at the light contact, but I didn’t step back. Didn’t release her wrist against the door handle, and she didn’t try to wriggle free or put space between us either. She lifted her chin and locked her gaze with mine. Defying me with those gorgeous eyes all over again.

“I didn’t call you anything.” Her hot breath tickled my mouth, drawing my gaze to her succulent lips. “I said yes I heard you, at least. Loud and clear.”

The phrase sounded idiotic—not something a smart girl like Natalie James would say—and it forced my gaze away from her tempting lips and back up to her eyes. And that was when I saw it. The smug victory in those glittery blue pools that said she’d won.

From anyone else, that look would have enraged me because I didn’t let others win. Even when I was cornered—as I was currently with Covet—I always found a way to come out on top. But this girl… For some reason, I wasn’t enraged by her now. I was amused. That haughty little spark in her eye that said she thought she’d beat me shattered the rest of my anger and tugged one corner of my lips up into a smile.

She’d called me a beast. I hadn’t missed that. And I couldn’t stop myself from wondering just how long she’d been thinking of me as a beast or how long she’d been thinking about me period.

“Am I dismissed now?” she asked in a superior voice, her gorgeous eyes still filled with defiance and victory. “Or do you want to order me around some more?”

My whole body hardened. Yes, I wanted to order her around. I wanted to order her to her knees. I wanted to order her to suck me dry with that insolent little mouth. I wanted to order her to bend at the waist and slide her dress up like a naughty girl so I could shove my cock inside her and fuck her until we both screamed.

But mostly I wanted her.

Slowly, because I was afraid of what that realization might make me do next, I released her wrist and moved back. Cool air washed over my palm, replacing all her sultry heat, leaving me feeling empty in a way I didn’t expect. I fought back the disappointment letting her go shot through me, though, and told myself I was doing the right thing, but my voice was tight as shit when I said, “Yes, you’re dismissed, Ms. James.”

For a heartbeat she didn’t move, but something that looked a lot like her own disappointment shone in her eyes. And when her gaze slid down my body and held on my straining erection, I thought I saw it shift to desire.

She moved before I could figure out what I’d seen, slipped into her room, and slammed the door in her wake. And as I stood still staring at where she’d been, wondering what the hell had just happened, I realized that defiance she kept showing me wasn’t a product of her hatred for me as I’d thought. It was hunger. Raw, primal, erotic hunger. The same kind of hunger I felt every moment I was near her.

The little minx wanted me as much as I wanted her.

My mouth went dry because that knowledge didn’t just light me up like a firecracker, it terrified me right down to the core of my soul.

She had no idea what kind of beast I really was, but I did. And if I didn’t do something to stop this combustible attraction between us, Giovanni wouldn’t be the biggest threat to her safety.

I would be.