Danielle Lori

“Fine.” He shook his head, his eyes flashing with darkness. “How about because I love you, Gianna? Because I think I have since the moment I saw you? Because if you weren’t in this world anymore, I would find a way to take myself out of it?”

She had a long way to go to be a Russo, but hell, I’d walk with her the whole way.

“Nobody touches you, Elena, no matter what you do tonight. Do you understand me?”

“Nobody touches you,” I shot back.

What do you want from me, Christian?”

He turned to me, eyes dark. “Everything.”

Lovely. I’d let the disgustingly handsome fed ruin an entire eye color for me.

“Ty samaya krasivaya zhenshchina kotoruyu ya kogda-libo videl.”

He grabbed my hips and set me on the island, spreading my legs to stand between them. He slid his hands up the sides of my thighs, and the warmth of them made me shiver.

In annoyance at the entire situation, my eyes had narrowed slightly before glancing at my future brother-in-law, only to find he was already looking at me. That was how the glaring occurred—an accident, you see. But I could hardly convey that to the man, and if I had smiled it would’ve come off condescending, so I just . . . went with the glare and hoped it wouldn’t get me killed.

Nicolas’s gaze had hardened a flicker to show he didn’t like it, but after a second of heavy eye contact, he returned his attention to my papà like I was nothing but a leaf blowing by.

. He’s just a man, I reminded myself.

I had the strong urge to avert my gaze and focus it eye-level on his black tie, but it felt like he’d be winning something if I looked away, so I held his stare