I was beginning to understand Conway a lot more.

He really wasn’t that complicated—but layered.

He possessed a dark shadow that followed him everywhere he went, even in the pitch darkness. For someone so wealthy and successful, he seemed perpetually somber. Nothing made him happy—even a kiss from a woman.

He spoke of his family fondly, so he had people that cared for him.

Then why was he like this?

Was this all because of work?

Money was important—but not that important.

Or maybe I just thought that because I didn’t have any.

I spent my day in the stables, grooming the horses, feeding them, and even learning to saddle them. Marco was a nice man, and he never asked about my relationship with Conway. He didn’t even ask where I was from. The only thing we talked about was the weather and the horses.

Which was fine by me.

There were six horses altogether, and each one had a very different personality.

The only one I couldn’t get along with was Carbine, the black stallion that had his own section of land. Completely black with a matching mane, he was majestic and terrifying. Sometimes his neighs would erupt out of nowhere, and he possessed a sinister presence that I could sense—even as a human.

Marco was the only one that handled him, and even then, it was difficult.

“If Carbine is so difficult, why does Conway keep him?”

“He’s his horse.”

“Aren’t they all his horses?” I stood at the fence and propped one foot on the bottom strip of wood. Out here in the countryside, I really felt like I was in a different world. I hadn’t even seen a car in a few weeks. It was nothing like New York, which was full of smog, people, and traffic. Out here, it was nothing but fresh air and beauty.

“Yes. But this horse is special to him. It’s the only one he’ll ride.”

“Carbine?” I asked in surprise. “He won’t even come to the fence when I have a carrot.”

“He’s picky. Has a bit of an ego as the only male on the land.”

No wonder why Conway preferred him—they had the same personality. “Makes sense…”

“And his father gave him that horse.”

“Does his father ride?”

“I don’t know much about Mr. Barsetti.” Marco rested his elbows on the fence. “I just know he’s rich, powerful…and a bit intimidating. Doesn’t say much. The times he’s been here, all I’ve gotten is a nod from him.”

“Like father, like son…”

Marco chuckled. “I think you’re right.”

“Thanks for showing me the ropes around here. It’s nice to be outside in the fresh air. And the horses are beautiful…”

“No problem. I get a bit lonely out here with all this peace and quiet.” He stared at Carbine, who nibbled on the grass clear on the other side. The second we approached, he moved away like we were pestering him. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”

“Do you live around here?”

“I have a little villa in Verona with my wife. My two sons are out of the house.”

“That’s nice.”

“I worked at the tomato plant outside of Verona my whole life. They got a new owner and let go all the people who were close to retiring as a way of avoiding the pension my previous employer promised. When I tried to fight it, they let me go. I didn’t know what else to do because work is hard to find around here. That’s when Conway offered me the job. And I like it a lot more than working in a plant all day. I get to take care of these beautiful steeds with a gorgeous view. I’m pretty lucky.”

I stared at Carbine as the surprise erupted inside my body. I didn’t expect such generosity from a man who claimed to be evil. He danced on the very edge, swaying between good and evil. He was both and neither at the same time. On the one hand, he saved my life by paying a fortune to keep me away from Knuckles. But on the other hand, he took my freedom in compensation.

Didn’t make much sense. “I don’t understand Conway.”

“He’s complicated, to say the least,” Marco said with a chuckle. “He cares about money too much. I think if he walked away from it, he would be a lot happier.”

“But it seems to be the only thing that does make him happy.”

“No. Success is what makes him happy. He wants to leave a mark on the world. But since he’s always in competition with himself, he always wants to improve. He’ll work himself to death even though he’s already the best at what he does. Work will be his downfall.”

Conway wanted to keep me because of the way I inspired him. And he refused to feel any connection with me or any other woman to keep things meaningless. Marco knew Conway well, and he’d made the same observation I did.

Work really was all he cared about.

---

I had a towel wrapped around my body and was just about to hit the pool when Dante appeared. “Conway would like to see you in his studio.”

I pulled my hair into a bun to keep it off my neck and kept walking toward the patio. “I’ll be there after my swim.”

“Uh, miss. He expects to see you now.”

I didn’t like being treated like a dog. He issued a command, and I was supposed to follow it like a mindless idiot. No matter how much I owed him, I couldn’t shake off the irritation. I turned back around, seeing Dante stand in the hallway with his hands held together at his waist.

Then he gave a nod toward the stairs. “If you defy him, we’re both responsible.”

Dante would look incompetent if he failed to follow his master’s orders, and while I didn’t appreciate Dante’s dislike of my character, I didn’t want to cause problems. I headed up the stairs. “Wait, where is his study?”

“Second floor with the double black doors.”

I moved to the second floor, a level I hadn’t even seen before. In one of the sitting rooms was a black piano along with a bar. Another living room featured a large TV. A gaming console was there, and I wondered who it belonged to because Conway didn’t seem like the video game type.

I located the double doors and stepped inside. “You called?” I asked sarcastically.

He stood at a table identical to the one in his studio in Milan. He was examining a white fabric with his fingertips, feeling the softness between his thumb and forefinger. “Yes. And I expected you to answer quicker.”

“I was going for a swim.”

“You can swim some other time.” He snapped his fingers without looking at me. “Undress.”

My eyes snapped wide apart. “Enough with the snapping. If you want me to do something, all you have to do is ask.”

He lifted his gaze to me, his green eyes hostile. He was in black jeans and an olive t-shirt, his chiseled arms looking tight as he worked at the table. He hadn’t shaved that morning, so the stubble was starting to thicken along his jaw. I’d never seen him in lighter colors, only dark. But the dark hue looked perfect on a man like him, a man whose eyes contained the underworld. “I thought we established I don’t have to ask for anything.”

“And I thought we established that our relationship would be much easier if you did.”

He dropped the fabric he was holding and straightened his shoulders. Even with slight movements, he appeared far more menacing. “Undress.” He didn’t snap his fingers this time, but his gaze told me I shouldn’t defy him again. “That was me telling you, not asking you.”

It was better than the snapping, so I dropped my towel and removed my bikini top and bottom. He’d seen me naked before, so now I didn’t feel so shy. But the instant I was naked, I felt the heat around him amplify. His green eyes absorbed my curves like two sponges. I could feel his arousal, feel his cock harden without even being able to see it. I felt his eyes touch me, his piercing gaze powerful enough to press into me.

He maneuvered around the table, his fingertips sliding across the surface. The large windows allowed the sunlight to filter through and give his designs exposure to natural sunlight. He approached me from the side and stopped once his body came into my contact with my shoulder.

I could feel everything from him, feel the way he wanted me.

He pressed two fingertips against the top of my spine and slowly dragged them down, following the intricate curve of my spine. I tried not to breathe more heavily at his touch, but it couldn’t be helped. My lungs ached for air because the adrenaline had spiked in my blood. He moved farther down until he reached the top of my ass. He moved his mouth to my ear and breathed into my canal, letting me listen to his arousal.

His lips brushed against the shell of my ear, and he gripped my left cheek. “Jesus…” He squeezed it again before he moved his fingers down the crack between my cheeks. He moved farther and farther until he brushed against a place I’d never been touched.

I breathed in deeply, my nipples hardening at the foreign experience.

He moved even farther down, following the curve of my ass, and then pressed his fingers over my clit.

“Ooh…” Instinctively, I closed my eyes and felt my nerves begin to throb. I could never touch myself the way he touched me, and he did it with such perfection…like he knew exactly how a woman wanted to be touched. He rubbed it in a circular motion while he continued to breathe into my ear. Then his other hand groped one of my tits, his thumb flicking over my left nipple.

He rubbed me harder than dragged his fingers to my entrance. A single finger pushed inside gently, exploring my tightness. The second he felt how wet I was, he moaned into my ear. “Jesus Christ…”

I shouldn’t be wet right now, not when this man was the owner of my soul. I shouldn’t want to come, not when he refused to kiss me. My body shouldn’t react this way, shouldn’t be turned on by just listening to him be turned on by me.

“Fuck…” He released a pant into my mouth then swallowed. “I can’t wait to fuck this pussy.”

I secured my hand on his arm for balance because I felt my knees grow weak. I felt the unbridled passion rush through me, the overwhelming desire to be with this man. It wasn’t romantic, but my body didn’t seem to care.

He leaned down and kissed my shoulder, his tongue moving across my warm skin in a caress. Then he kissed my neck, his hot kisses trailing all the way back to my ear.

I tilted my head so he could have all the access he wanted. I closed my eyes, felt him shift to the other shoulder, and gripped his arm tighter for balance. I shouldn’t think about my situation, not when it didn’t matter. I wanted to be with him—and I should only focus on that.

When I felt this connection, I actually wanted him.

I loved it when he kissed me like that.

Made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.

I turned my head toward his, my lips aching to kiss the man who had touched me more than anyone else. I leaned in, feeling his finger move in and out of my tight entrance. My lips landed on the corner of his mouth, and I let them linger.

He didn’t move. He stared at me with his lidded eyes, his gaze focused on my mouth.

My affection had been rejected again. But I refused to accept defeat. If he wanted me, he had to compromise. If he wanted all of me, he had to give me all of him too. So I leaned in again, and this time, I kissed him right on the mouth.

He didn’t pull away. He let the kiss happen, but his lips were immobile. His eyes were closed, and he took a deep breath, his breath coming out shaky. His hand tightened on my tit, and his finger stopped moving inside me.

Since he didn’t pull away, I pushed onward. I pivoted my body toward him and kissed him hard, getting his entire mouth with mine. My hands moved to his shoulders, and my fingertips dug into the fabric of his t-shirt. I was naked, and now I wished he was too. This time, I wasn’t touching him for him—I was doing it for myself.

After a brief resistance, his mouth finally responded. Like everything else about him, his kiss was exceptional. He smothered my upper lip with both of his, using a slight tongue that was so erotic, I felt the bumps rise across my skin. He separated his mouth before he smothered me again, his stubble rubbing against the softness of the skin around my mouth.

His hand left my tit then moved to my cheek. Softly, he pulled the hair away from my face, tucked it behind my ear, and then slid his hand down until he reached my neck. His rough fingertips grazed down the artery in my neck, feeling my wild pulse, and then he gripped the back of my neck with his hand entirely.

He kissed me harder.

His breaths filled my lungs, and his kiss electrified me. His large hand still cupped my pussy from around my ass, and he started to finger me again, my juice seeping out of the entrance and dripping onto the floor. “So fucking wet…” He spoke against my mouth, his breathing escalating. “Muse…”

My arms circled his neck, and I silenced his words with my kiss.

It was the most I’d ever experienced of this man. It was the most connected I ever felt. Now I had all of him, had his breath in my lungs and his arousal between my legs. I could feel how much he wanted me, and he could feel how much I wanted him in return. I hardly knew this man, and I was also his property. But my body couldn’t distinguish right from wrong, not when he felt this good.

Not when he kissed like this.

His large hand moved to the back of my head, cupping me gently before he gave me his tongue.

My tongue met his, and they danced erotically like they’d met before. He moved his with mine then pulled away before he sucked my bottom lip. Every kiss was purposeful, making each embrace last. It felt intimate, just the way he warned it would.

I felt my restraint slip away, felt my hands grip his body more tightly.

He pulled his finger out of my pussy and gently rubbed my clitoris, his large fingers working my small nub aggressively. He circled harder and harder, his movements almost violent.

Now I could barely kiss him because all I could do was pant. My fingers dug into his biceps, and I moaned in his mouth, his soft, plump lips making me feel wonderful things. I’d been kissed before—but not like this.

And then I came.

I dug my fingers into his muscles as I moaned, riding the high into oblivion. I clawed at him like a cat on a scratching post, trying to climb an invisible wall to the other side. My hips bucked slightly, and I ground against his fingers harder. “Conway…”

His kiss paused against my mouth, and a quiet moan moved directly into my mouth.

The orgasm slowly faded away, making the tips of my toes tingle. This man had made me come several times now, but this time was the best. With his powerful arms around me and his mouth embracing mine…I really felt something.

I felt like this was more than just a man and a woman.

I felt a connection, some affection.

He pulled his fingers away from my clit then ended our kiss so he could look at me.

I knew what would come next. He fulfilled his end of the bargain. Now he wanted me to fulfill mine. If that’s what he wanted, I would give it to him. Now that I’d had him in a more meaningful way, crossing the line didn’t seem so scary. When he stared at me with those gorgeous eyes and that hard jaw, I wanted his mouth all over me again.

Instead of throwing me on the table or pushing me back on the sofa, he dropped his hands from my body and grabbed the white fabric he’d been working on when I first arrived. Before touching his forefinger to the material, he popped it into his mouth and sucked my slickness off.

Shivers moved down my spine.

He grabbed the small white material and then hung it up for me to see. It was a white piece of lingerie, the lace over the breasts see-through. The rest was made of a shiny material, and it was so short it would barely cover anything. Real diamonds were in the straps that went over the shoulders, sparkling from the light of the sun. “Put this on.”

I took it with a shaky hand, unsure what was going on. We’d just had the most passionate moment I’d ever experienced in my life, and now he was focused on work again. Too stunned from that powerful orgasm to do anything else, I pulled it on.

He grabbed his pins and returned to me, an obvious bulge in the crotch of his jeans.

I’d get on my knees if he asked. Actually…he didn’t even need to ask.

He moved around my body and pinned the material in the appropriate places. He made it tight in certain areas and then readjusted the straps. His hand moved down my front, checking the tightness of my belly and the length of the gown.

He hardly looked into my eyes.

“Take it off.” He spoke quietly, not with anger, but defeat.

I pulled it off my body carefully, not touching the pins that kept it in place.

He took it from me and placed it on the mannequin. His back was turned to me, his broad shoulders wide and powerful. He never turned back around. “I don’t want to see you until tomorrow night.”

It was probably a stupid thing to do, but I did it anyway. “Why?”

His fingertips got to work, and his back expanded as he took a deep breath. “Because I said so.”