My fists beat against Luca’s back, my body refusing to simply surrender to this awful fate. His thick fingers dug into my upper thigh, just beneath my bottom. I cursed him and twisted, unable to shift so much as an inch out of his hold.

Then I was in the car, his strong arms caging me as the door slammed shut like a prison cell. We peeled away from the curb, leaving my sister screaming on the pavement outside our family home.

I looked up into my captor’s light brown eyes, finding no warmth in their caramel depths.

“Where are you taking me?” I demanded, voice shaking almost as violently as my hands.

“To get married,” he said coldly. “You’re not Dante’s bride. You’re mine.”

Chapter 2

Nora

“This is insane,” I said before I could think better of it, the accusation breathless and a little too high-pitched. “You can’t just steal me away like I’m an object. I don’t want to marry you.”

Luca’s eyes darkened. “And you prefer Dante as your husband? The man is a sadist.”

I shuddered at the warning in his tone, but I couldn’t stop protesting. The shock of being kidnapped and told I would be forced into marriage was too terrifying to suppress my emotions like I usually did. “I don’t want to marry anyone!”

His square jaw firmed to a grim line. “I hadn’t planned on marriage today either, but sometimes we don’t get a choice. Dante can’t have you. I won’t let him take what’s mine.”

“I’m not yours!”

“I’m talking about my birthright,” he snapped. “But yes, Elenora. You’ll be mine within the hour. It’s done. Don’t be difficult.”

I stiffened. “And what are you going to do? Beat me if I don’t agree to walk down the aisle?”

He was suddenly in my personal space, looming over me. The air in the car turned thick, too heavy to breathe. There was only his menacing power pulsing over me, emanating from his huge frame to suffocate me. His big arms caged me, one hand pressed against the seat and the other on the window beside my head.

“Listen to me, Elenora. I have no intention of abusing you. But you will be an obedient wife.”

Fear raced down my spine, but I tipped my chin back, defiant. “I won’t. I won’t marry you.”

Dark brows drew together. “Do you have any idea what Dante does to women? If you were his, he would hurt you, and he would enjoy it.”

I thought of Dante’s twisted snarl as he’d strangled Giorgio, the violence that’d rippled through his muscular body. I didn’t manage to suppress a shiver.

Luca’s lips twisted with distaste. “That’s your alternative. If you cooperate, you have nothing to fear from me.”

“Why do you even want to marry me?” I challenged, desperation bleeding through my anger. Luca had never paid any attention to me before, even though I’d harbored a crush on the ruggedly handsome man.

That crush seemed ludicrous now. All I wanted was to escape from his overbearing aura and insane demands.