Page 178 of Claimed At First Sight

I glance toward the exit again, remembering the way Shay looked at me and the quiet calculation behind Cormac’s smile.

Maximo isn’t wrong.

I could have interrupted, but he handled the confrontation with far more restraint than I could have managed. He never raised his voice or openly threatened anyone.

He just made it clear that whatever plans the Donnellys had for me were no longer theirs to pursue.

“I didn’t like being discussed as though I wasn’t sitting there,” I admit. “But in that particular moment, no, I didn’t mind you stepping in.”

Satisfaction flickers across his face.

“Don’t look so pleased with yourself. It doesn’t mean anything.”

I reach for my wineglass and drain it, not that there was much left. I barely taste the fine vintage, my nerves still a little frayed.

“It means you preferred my claim to theirs,” Maximo says, smugness threading his voice.

I chuckle. “I preferred your guards between me and them.”

“They were there because of my claim.”

The bastard has an answer for everything.

I sit back in my chair. “As long as you understand that staking a claim doesn’t make it real.”

His gaze holds mine. He just smiles, not bothering with an answer.

Probably a good thing. I can already imagine what it would have been.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Maximo

Cormac Donnelly and his sons are fortunate they walked away when they did.

Outwardly, I gave them nothing. No threat they could repeat to their allies. Not even the satisfaction of seeing how close Shay came to testing my control.

Inside me, fury still burns cold and steady.

Cormac can believe that agreement survived Antonio Accardi all he likes. It changes nothing.

And Shay… the way he looked at Mia makes me clench my jaw again.

The moment I chose Mialina Accardi, every other man lost the right to consider her.

She is mine.

Mia sits across from me, her empty wineglass still held loosely between her fingers. She appears composed again, but I saw the way she gripped the chair.

I also noticed how carefully she controlled her breathing while they stood too close to her for my liking, assessing her as though she were something they might acquire.

I’m surprised she stayed as calm as she did. Even more that she let me handle them.

She challenged me afterward, naturally. Mia would argue with God himself if she thought he was being unreasonable. Yet when I asked whether she truly minded me staking my claim, she admitted she hadn’t.

It is not surrender. But it is progress.

The Romeros reminded her why she can’t move through Chicago without security. The Donnellys showed her what Antonio’s plans could mean if another family decided to enforce them. Neither encounter was welcome, but both may ultimately have served me.