Page 230 of Claimed At First Sight

My name rolls from him in that deep, controlled voice, and the heat I’ve been trying to suppress curls low in my stomach.

“Do come in,” I say sweetly. “We wouldn’t want the Don of Chicago freezing to death on this doorstep.”

Actually, I wouldn’t mind that. It would take care of my Maximo problem rather neatly. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t help Isa.

He enters, passing close enough for the scent of his cologne to reach me, and my body reacts before I can stop it. Memories of his lips on my skin, of me writhing against his hard…

God, Mia, stop now!

I close the door harder than necessary.

“You’re still angry with me,” he observes as he shrugs off his coat and hands it to Simon.

Great observational skills, you manipulative stronzo.

“What gave you that impression?” My smile doesn’t falter, and I silently congratulate myself for maintaining it.

“The excessive politeness.” His gaze settles on my mouth as he steps closer, and I have to force myself not to retreat. I won’t give him the satisfaction. “The fact that you appear to be imagining my death.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I was imagining something far less dramatic.”

The gleam that enters his eyes makes my heart skip.

“Were you?”

He says it as if he knows exactly what else I might have imagined. My cheeks turn red, which only makes me more irritable.

I turn toward the hallway. “Aldo is waiting for you.”

Maximo comes up beside me instead of following at a respectable distance. Apparently, after everything that happened yesterday, personal space is no longer something he considers necessary.

His presence crowds the corridor, making me acutely aware of every inch between us. I keep my gaze fixed straight ahead.

“You stormed off without saying goodbye yesterday,” he says.

“I assumed discovering you’d been manipulating me was sufficient farewell.”

His jaw tightens, but his voice remains calm. “I did not manipulate you.”

“You withheld information because it suited you.”

“The engagement was not mine to announce.”

“No. You merely sat there knowing that my entire life had changed while I made plans to return home.”

“You are home.”

I stop and turn on him. “Chicago is not my home.”

He doesn’t look away. “You know it will be. One way or another.”

A fresh wave of anger surges through me. He thinks he has only to wait and I’ll eventually surrender to whatever future he has planned.

I won’t.

I resume walking before he can see how much he has unsettled me.

“Try not to declare ownership of anything while you’re in Aldo’s office,” I quip as we reach it. “I know that may be difficult for you.”