Something hot and possessive swelled in my chest. Luca had stolen my bride, and not simply by kidnapping her and forcing her into marriage. He’d somehow acquired her loyalty, possibly even affection, in the short time he’d held her captive. He’d taken what was mine.

Drawing on years of practice, I kept my expression carefully cool and unperturbed. “You think this is torture, darling?”

She didn’t know the first thing about true suffering. I would shelter her from harm. I would protect her from everyone who might hurt her. Except me.

I would never brutalize her, but she would suffer for me. In the woods last night, she’d been breathtaking as she’d screamed in my ropes and begged for mercy.

If it weren’t for that bastard Vitale, I would’ve been the first man to touch her virgin pussy. The orgasm I’d forced from her quivering body would’ve been her first with a man. I would’ve been the one to introduce her to sexual pleasure, to own that piece of her soul forever.

Luca would pay dearly for that. I had plans for him, once he arrived to try to take Nora back from me. He would fail, and I would bring him lower than he ever could’ve imagined. Death was too merciful for my most hated enemy.

She didn’t answer me, and her eyes sparked with spite.

I hadn’t broken her to my will. I had no desire to crush her spirit completely, but she would learn to obey me. I needed her to be more malleable by the time Luca arrived, or she would spoil my plans for him. He would come for her soon. I had no doubt that he was currently gathering the men and firepower necessary to launch an assault on my fortified estate. He might be here in mere hours.

I needed to accelerate her obedience training.

I guided her off my lap, setting her on her feet before taking her hand in mine. “Come on, little bird. Time to show you around your new home.”

She hissed in a sharp breath, and I watched as she caught her lower lip between her teeth, holding in a retort. My wife was no longer calmly composed, but she was still resisting me, tempering her responses to maintain some small sense of control.

But she had no control, not in this house. Not with me. It was time she understood that. I would imprint the lesson deep in her psyche, so she would know that I owned her, body and soul.

I led her out of the dining room, and she followed with light, graceful steps. She truly did have a dancer’s form. I’d have to ensure that she had a space to practice. I intended to spoil my pretty wife, as long as she remained compliant and submissive.

As long as she knew that she belonged to me.