One Night: Sizzling Attraction: Married for Amari's Heir / Damaso Claims His Heir / Her Secret, His Duty

“It’s beautiful,” she said, her voice a whisper, her eyes soft.

He wanted to tell her to stop doing that. And yet, at the same time he wanted her to look at him like that forever.

None of it made any sense. And he didn’t have the time to sort through it now, in a crowded ballroom.

“You should wear it,” he said, taking it out of the box and undoing the clasp.

“Okay. If you think it goes with my dress,” she said, wringing her hands in front of her as though she were nervous.

“I chose it to go with the dress,” he said. “Of course it goes with the dress.”

He turned to face her, holding the necklace out and placing it gently around her neck. He kept his eyes locked with hers as he worked on the clasp until he was certain it was secured.

He had chosen a heavy, teardrop-shaped emerald, one he had known would settle perfectly between her breasts once the dress was removed. He had lied about it being chosen to go with the dress. He had chosen it to go with her body. With her skin.

He had chosen it because of how she would look later, wearing only that.

But he had a feeling if he said that, the look of wonder and gratitude would slide right off her beautiful face, and he didn’t want to see that happen. If he mentioned it, he would wait until it was dark. Until he couldn’t see. Or, he would wait until he had her mindless with pleasure.

He reached out and slipped his fingers beneath the gem, testing its weight in his palm, before placing it gently back against her skin.

“Perfect,” he said, taking a step back.

She was. Indescribably so. Of course, now he had ensured that he would not be able to think of anything else but her, bare and wearing only that necklace. But then, the odds were high that all he would have been thinking about was her naked whether or not he had given her the necklace.

“Thank you,” she said. She was so sincere. And he wasn’t sure what to do with that. Sincerity usually skimmed right over his hardened veneer of cynicism, but hers had managed to find cracks he had not realized were there. He didn’t like it. But his liking it didn’t seem to be a factor.

“You’re welcome,” he said, knowing he sounded less than gracious. “Shall we?” He extended his arm, looking away from her and at a crowd of people at the center of the room.

He felt delicate fingers curled around his forearm, and he swallowed hard, using every bit of his strength to keep from looking at her. He led them both down the stairs and into the center of the room. And it didn’t take long for the devils in suits to notice that he had dropped a particularly beautiful angel in their midst.

But she was not for them. None of the assholes in here were worthy of her. Hell, he wasn’t worthy of her. But if anyone was going to defile her sweetness it was going to be him. Because she belonged to him.

He tightened his hold on her as they moved deeper into the crowd.

Leon Carides, a businessman from Greece who Rocco had had vague dealings with in the past, locked his eyes onto Charity, then looked back at Rocco, a slow smile spreading over his lips as he separated himself from the group he was talking to and made his way toward them.

“Amari,” he said, his focus now firmly back on Charity, “nice to see you here. And you’ve brought a guest. You normally come to these events alone.”

“Not tonight,” Rocco said.

“Clearly. Leon Carides.”

“Charity Wyatt,” she returned, holding out her hand as she had done to the woman in the boutique yesterday. Really, the only time he had ever seen her betray any signs of weakness was with him. And he was under no illusion that initially she had been using it to try and manipulate him. But later, when she had come to tell him about the pregnancy, when he had gone to see her in the doctor’s office, she had shown him her vulnerability. And he was only just now realizing how rare that was.

“Pleasure,” Leon said, holding on to Charity’s hand much longer than Rocco would have liked. In fact, he was contemplating separating the other man’s hand from his wrist when he finally released his hold on her.

“Did you have business you wanted to discuss, Carides?”

“Not particularly,” the other man said, his eyes still fixed on Charity. “Though, I must say, I’m surprised that you brought a date. You seem to prefer stealing mine at the end of the night to bringing your own.”

For some reason Rocco bristled at the mention of his past behavior. He didn’t want it brought out in the open in front of Charity. Which was stupid. Especially since she knew exactly what manner of man he was, both because of his own words and because of the deeds he had committed against her.

Still, he didn’t appreciate Leon trotting it out for her examination.

“If you think you’re going to return the favor, Carides, think again.”

“That would be up to your guest, don’t you suppose?” Leon asked, his eyes glittering as he appraised Charity.

“His guest who is standing right here,” Charity said, her tone crisp. “And thank you for the offer, if it was indeed an offer. I’m flattered.”

“Oh, it was,” said Leon. “Do you have an answer for me?”

“No,” Rocco said. “Her answer is no.”

He felt Charity stiffen beneath his touch. But he didn’t really care if she was angry with him. All that really mattered was that Leon understood that Charity belonged to him and would be going home with no one else.

“I can speak for myself,” she said.

“You didn’t speak fast enough,” he said, his voice hard.

“Rocco...”

“Trouble in paradise—a shame,” Leon said. “If you have a different answer than your minder here,” he said, directing the words at Charity, “do come and look for me before you leave.” He turned and walked away, leaving Rocco standing there vibrating with rage.

“I don’t need you to answer for me,” Charity said, her voice low.

“I gave you a gift, I can do whatever I like,” he said, knowing he was being unreasonable and not caring at all.

“I will give it back if that’s how you see things. It was my understanding that gifts came without strings attached.”

“How would you know, as this is the first one you have ever received?”

For a moment, he saw hurt, deep and raw flash through her dark eyes before she put her mask back on, leaving her face smooth, unreadable. “I regret telling you that,” she said.

He wanted to tell her not to regret it. He wanted to apologize. But he didn’t know what that would accomplish. Only a few moments ago she had looked at him as though she wanted something from him, something emotional and deep. And just now he had proven he was not the man to give her that. It was for the best.

Decadence he could give her. Pleasure he could give her. Clothing, jewelry, he could give her. As for the rest? He didn’t even know what the rest was.

“I wish I could give you something more substantial than that regret,” he said, and in this instance he was being truthful. “Sadly, I feel if you’re looking for anything more than physical satisfaction with me, regret is all you will find.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I wonder if it’s the same for Leon. Something to consider, as I seem to have an open invitation.”

Rocco slid his hand up her spine, taking hold of the back of her neck. “Tell me, cara, do you want the father of your child arrested and sent to prison for murder?”

Her eyes flared wide. “No.”

“Then do not tempt me to kill Leon Carides.” Charity opened her mouth to speak, but he decided he was done talking. “Shall we dance?”