The Marriage Clause

CHAPTER THREE

Katherine

IN SPITE OF the medication, I couldn’t sleep, unlike Luca, who slept like a baby without a care in the world. While I tried to find a comfortable position, he snored lightly, deep in dreamland.

It was just like a Donato to manipulate a situation to their advantage in any way possible. I sneaked a glance at his profile. Dark hair, sharply barbered with perfect edges, his clean-shaven jaw without a single nick, as if even the blade was afraid of failing a Donato.

But I remembered a time when Luca wasn’t so concerned with the appearance of perfection.

When he’d smiled with warmth, when his blue eyes had sparkled with mischief and fun.

I squeezed my eyes shut against the unwelcome memories that began to spill forward with the slightest encouragement. That was the thing about opening a door, right? Hard to slam shut once the wind started pushing against it.

“You’re so beautiful...”

Luca’s voice echoed, a distant remnant of a different time between two different people.

It’d been a humid day in the city, and my prep school graduation from Dalton loomed. Luca had spirited me away with a promise of a private celebration between the two of us.

I remembered everything about that day—the smell of the wind as it made my hair dance through the open convertible top of his Maserati—how I couldn’t keep the hem of my sundress from rippling up my thighs and Luca couldn’t keep his eyes on the road.

“We’re going to crash.” I’d laughed, gesturing at him to stay focused, but I was drunk on his affection, his seeming obsession with me. I teased him with flirty looks cast his way, knowing I was driving him nuts. “Where are we going?” I asked, grinning.

“You’ll see.”

I loved the way he took control. I always felt safe with Luca. He seemed so worldly, so accomplished.

Of course, he was the Donato heir—the expectations were high. Giovanni Donato had groomed him from the time he was a kid to take the reins when the time came for the mean-eyed bear to retire.

Giovanni scared me and always had. It amazed me that Luca sprang from Giovanni’s DNA. Luca was nothing like his father. Luca was kind, sweet, caring and so romantic, whereas Giovanni was cold, manipulative and quite comfortable playing the bad guy if need be. To be honest, I avoided Giovanni whenever I could, which wasn’t difficult, as Giovanni paid as little attention to me as he would the multitude of servants looking after his palatial mansion.

But who cared about Giovanni Donato, anyway? He wasn’t around. It was just me and Luca, and I was his princess. The sleek car ate the road as we headed to our unknown destination. The joy in my heart was near to bursting. I was living the dream. How’d I get so lucky?

Just as I was about to scream from the building anticipation, Luca pulled into a dirt driveway lined with a white picket fence for as far as I could see. Rolling hills with gently swaying dried grass waved as we drove by, and cows dotted the pastureland.

“Where are we?” I asked, delighted as we parked in front of a huge farmhouse, chickens clucking and scratching around the front yard. It was like the living embodiment of “The Farmer in the Dell.”

“I thought you might like this place,” Luca said, opening my door with a wide smile. “It’s a sanctuary for animals that have been rescued from abusive owners.”

My eyes widened as I exclaimed, “Do they have goats? Oh, please, say they have goats!”

“They have goats.”

I squealed and jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his strong torso. His hands cupped my behind as he laughed at my enthusiasm while I peppered his adorable face with kisses. “You’re the best! This is amazing! I can’t believe you brought me here.”

Luca knew I’d always been obsessed with goats; they always made me laugh and I’d tried, unsuccessfully, to get approval from my dorm manager to have one as a pet.

I hopped down and slid my hand into his as we walked into the farmhouse, a permanent smile on my face. The old hardwood groaned in welcome beneath our feet, and the smell of beeswax and lemon was the most heavenly aroma I’d ever known.

“You must be Mr. and Mrs. Donato,” a plump woman said, coming forward as she wiped her hands on the apron tied around her ample waist.

I blushed at her assumption, biting my lip at the wild thrill of being called Mrs. Donato, but Luca corrected her with a coy “She’s not mine yet, but hopefully someday.” I wanted to pinch him playfully. Of course, I would marry him at twenty-three, after I graduated college, but no one knew that.

“Young lovebirds.” She sighed as if remembering her own youth. “Well, I’m Mrs. Ellering, but you can call me Iris. Welcome to Knucklebocker Sanctuary. We’ve prepared a special day for you and your sweetheart. Just follow me.”

Oh, that sneaky devil had prepared everything in advance, and I loved it.

“I heard someone is an animal lover?” Iris prompted as she led us to the large redwood barn.

“That’s me,” I piped up, squeezing Luca’s hand as I beamed. “I hope to work with animals someday. Maybe go to veterinary school.”

“That’s a noble profession,” Iris said, pushing open the barn doors. The scents of barn wood, hay and horse poop immediately assaulted my nose, but I liked it. It was so earthy and unlike the city that I drank in the ambience. Plus, the fact that Luca had arranged everything made it extra special.

“Harvard,” Iris called out, “we have guests.”

A bald, wiry man in faded overalls and a full white beard appeared from a stall where a horse nickered. “You them fancy folk from the city that’s bought us out for the day?” he asked.

I tried not to blush, but Luca answered for us both, saying good-naturedly, “What gave it away? My soft hands?”

“Oh, go on now, be nice.” Iris waved at her husband with mock disapproval, but it was easy to see they were both playing around. My heart melted a little at how easily the older couple flowed together, an obvious by-product of a long, happy marriage. I tightened my grip on Luca with a wistful sigh. That will be us, someday...

I awoke with a start, realizing that I’d been dreaming and we were landing. Luca was already awake, his attention focused on his phone.

What a difference from then to now. Gone were the smiles, the laughter...the sweet, good-natured Luca who went out of his way to make me happy with an over-the-top gesture, replaced by this manipulative caricature dressed in a ten-thousand-dollar suit.

I absently rubbed at the dismal chord that twanged in my chest. If I cared, I might’ve mourned the loss of the man I used to know, but I didn’t care. Disdain had replaced any pain that lingered, and I was grateful. Just as Luca wasn’t the man he used to be, I wasn’t the girl he used to know, either.

If Luca thought he could persuade me to forget the past with this phony seduction act, he didn’t know how much I’d truly changed. Of course, Luca probably felt secure in the idea that he could win this little wager; otherwise he wouldn’t have extended the offer.

Time to negotiate. “I want our deal in writing,” I said.

“You don’t trust me?” He tsked as if I were being unfair. When I didn’t budge, he relented. “Fine. Anything else?”

“Yes, I will give you seven days, but at the end of those seven days, when I haven’t changed my mind, you will not only agree to end my contract, but you will not seek any damages from the breach and you will leave me to live in peace. I never want to see you or another Donato again. Clear?”

“If I can’t change your mind,” he repeated, but there was something about his tone that sent a warning chill dancing along my skin. “But I will change your mind, Katherine. I have no doubt that by the end of the week, possibly sooner, I’ll be between your legs and you’ll be gasping my name.”

I sucked in an embarrassed breath, glancing around quickly to see if anyone had caught what he’d said. “I said no sex,” I said with a sharp hiss. “Absolutely no sex. No touching, no sucking, kissing or licking...nothing.”

His knowing chuckle undid me, and I suffered an intense need to run far and fast. It was as if he could sense that my heart rate tripled when he was around, that my skin heated and my toes curled inside my shoes against my will.

My attraction to him was mortifying. My dignity cringed and wailed, Remember how he destroyed you without skipping a beat? Do you want to be tied to him for the rest of your life? Afraid of when he’ll, no doubt, do it again?

God, no. Then suck it up, buttercup, and get ready to win at all costs. I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat but held my ground. “No sex,” I growled.

“Fine.” He sighed but then added with a silky whisper against the shell of my ear, “But I promise I won’t think less of you in the morning if you change your mind.”

A tremble rattled my knees. Was I afraid that he was right? That it wouldn’t take much for me to crumple beneath his touch if I so much as gave him one single opportunity? That if I did let him in, I’d willingly bare my neck for the slaughter as I sank into the pleasure that I knew he could wring from my body? Okay, maybe that part was a little dramatic, but my life was on the line. And as much as I hated to admit it, sex with Luca had been pretty good. Okay, spectacular.

True story—after one particularly long and exquisite orgasm, I temporarily went deaf. Yeah, that had done wonders for Luca’s already healthy ego when I’d shared that phenomenon with him.

But no one had been able to deliver that kind of pleasure since, so I knew Luca had some skill.

Immaterial, I reminded myself when I started to drift. I didn’t want to live my life as a Donato Stepford wife. I knew that for certain, and no amount of stellar sex was going to change that fact.

I just had to keep my eye on the prize—my freedom—and everything would work out in my favor.

I could handle seven days.

Lifting my chin, I held Luca’s stare, reiterating my terms. “In writing, please.”

There went that damnable smile again as he said, “I’ll have my lawyer draft something immediately.”

And I wasn’t sure if I’d just made a very big mistake.

CHAPTER FOUR

Luca

TRUE TO MY WORD, I had a draft contract, simple and concise, emailed to me within an hour of checking into the roach motel passing itself off as a hostel. As Katherine perused the wording with the diligence of a woman signing away her soul to the devil, I wondered how quickly she would notice that the single bed in the room was quite small.

If she thought I was going to sleep on the floor, she was nuts. I’d seen toilets in third-world countries cleaner than this dingy, faded linoleum, and I wasn’t touching it with my bare feet, much less my backside.

“Everything in order?” I asked.

A subtle frown pulled on her forehead as she double-checked everything. Her frown deepened as she regarded me with irritation. “The bedroom clause? I told you no sex.”

“Are you saying you can’t sleep beside me without tearing off my clothes and having your wicked way with me?”

“Please—” she rolled her eyes “—you know I won’t have a problem, but you, on the other hand... I don’t believe you can keep your hands to yourself.”

Oh, sweet Katherine, you’re going to beg for my hands—and tongue—by the time I’m through with you. “I guess we’ll have to see,” I said with a small shrug. “Anything else?”

The indecision as she vacillated between refusing to sign and going forward was intriguing. I think of the many things I enjoyed about Katherine, it was her stubborn refusal to simply do as she was told. Maybe I was tired of people always jumping when I barked. I wouldn’t put it past Katherine to rip up the contract out of spite.

Finally, she signed her name with flourish, chewing her plump bottom lip as she finished. “There. Done. You get one week and then I’m gone.”

“So the contract says,” I agreed, causing her to cast a suspicious look my way. I smiled. “Now that the legalities are out of the way...shall we discuss the schedule?”

Katherine drew a deep breath and exhaled with a nod. “Might as well.”

“We can do this one of two ways. You can take all your days consecutively or we can trade off. Which do you prefer?”

“I prefer not having you in my space at all,” she answered with a perfunctory smile. “But seeing as I just agreed to this ridiculous game, we’ll switch off.”

“Excellent,” I said, already ready to vacate this trash bin. I would have the penthouse suite booked at the most exclusive hotel in the city for tomorrow. At the very least, I’d get a decent shower, which I knew wasn’t going to happen here. “On to the second order of business...as you can see, the bed is quite small.”

“I wasn’t counting on company,” Katherine said, but she could already see where I was heading. “I guess you’ll have to sleep on the floor.”

“You and I both know that’s not going to happen.”

“The contract says one bedroom, not one bed,” she pointed out. “So, technically, if we’re still in the same room...it doesn’t mean that we have to be in the same bed.”

“You can take the floor if you like, but I’m taking the bed,” I said, enjoying how her upper lip wrinkled in subtle distaste for the same reasons mine did. “But if you’re amenable to sharing the bed, I’m not opposed to it.”

“I don’t mind sleeping on the floor,” she bluffed.

“Excellent. Then it’s settled. Maybe we can get an extra blanket for you. San Francisco is quite chilly at night.”

Especially in January.

“You would make me sleep on the floor?” Katherine asked.

“Of course not. You’re the one insisting on sleeping on the floor.”

“I am not,” she refuted, scowling a little. “You are by not being a gentleman.”

At that I laughed. “Have I ever been accused of being a gentleman?”

Katherine opened her mouth but stopped short. I would give anything for a window into that overactive brain of hers. What memory had popped in before she ignored it? I would ask if I thought she might admit it, but I wasn’t going to waste the energy. Not yet, anyway. “Fine,” she agreed through gritted teeth. “But I swear to God, if you touch me...”

I waved away her threat. “Sweetheart, I promise I won’t touch you...until you beg for it.”

Katherine flushed red but managed a haughty “Like that’s ever going to happen” before she left me alone in the room, supposedly to use the communal toilet. I cracked a grin at imagining how Katherine would shriek at the bathroom conditions. She talked a good game, but she was out of her element. As much as she wanted to play the hippie flower child, she was just as accustomed to wealth as me. I doubted the “charm” of her accommodations would last long.

Perusing the small room, I chuckled at the memories of Europe—young, dumb and full of come, as they say—me and my buddies traipsing through London, Athens, Paris in one long, endless summer of debauchery.

All those foreign, exotic women—I limited myself to nothing. Curvy, thin, short, tall, thick. And wild, shy and timid—I enjoyed the smorgasbord of female options and learned a few things, too.

We often joked it was a miracle we’d escaped alive with our cocks intact. Although Ryin had caught a particularly nasty infection that’d required a stringent round of antibiotics—but at least it’d been curable.

And speaking of debauchery...

I grabbed my cell and dialed my friend Dillon Buchanan.

He surprised me with a quick answer. “Fucking A, Luca Donato? What are you doing? Are you in town?”

“I am, and I’m looking for a little entertainment. You and your brothers still own that club?”

“We do—damn source of contention with the wives, but yeah. You interested in playing while in town? I could set you up with some playmates.”

“Thanks, but I brought my own. My fiancée, actually. I want to treat her to the wonders of Malvagio before we head back at the end of the week.”

Malvagio, originally owned by Dillon’s twin brothers, Nolan and Vince, was an exclusive sex club, intensely private, invite only, and it took an act of God to gain an invitation from a sponsored member. The shit that happened between those walls was pure hedonism, catering to certain fetishes with a definite Eyes Wide Shut vibe to the entire operation.

The obscenely wealthy needed their diversions, and the Buchanan brothers had found a way to cash in on that need.

Not that they needed any money—the Buchanans were billionaires in their own right—but hey, nobody turned down more cash, right?

“Fiancée...holy shit. Never thought I’d see that happen. Is she mentally challenged?” Dillon joked.

“Ha-ha,” I retorted. “Coming from the man who found a woman to marry him, in spite of being the biggest asshole in the city.”

“I’m only an asshole to you. To my lady, I’m Don fucking Juan. What are your plans for tomorrow night? The auction is on the calendar. Interested?”

I grinned. Each year Malvagio opened its membership to women hoping to gain a sponsor into the club, but in order to do so, they went on the block and sponsors competed for the prize.

It was sexist as hell, but everyone seemed to enjoy the show, so no harm, no foul.

“Sounds fun,” I answered, already picturing Katherine’s expression of shock. “Put me on the list with a plus-one.”

We exchanged a few good-natured insults and then said our goodbyes.

By the time Katherine returned, I was smiling like the Cheshire cat.

CHAPTER FIVE

Katherine

I DIDN’T TRUST that smile. Luca had something up his sleeve. I didn’t expect him to cough up his master plan, though. All I could do was remain vigilant and deflect any attempts at seduction that he might try.

Oh, yes. I knew he was going to pull out all the stops. Probably try to woo me with fancy dinners and sickeningly trite flattery, because that was all he knew of me from our past, but I was long past that girl.

He’d broken me two years ago. And even before then, I could feel myself changing as my perspective of the world shifted. I guessed higher learning did that to you. He could waste his time plying me with useless trinkets and hollow conversation, but I was immune. I would endure this week and then finally walk away from the Donato family forever. Starting fresh was scary, but there was something exhilarating about the prospect, too. I couldn’t wait.

A moment of disquiet intruded on my budding elation. I’d known the Donato boys as long as I could remember. Nico, Luca’s youngest brother, and I were friends. I didn’t care for Dante much—he was too much like Giovanni—but the point was, they’d always been part of my life. I didn’t know what life would be like without their influence casting a shadow, both good and bad.

I guessed I would find out.

“I’m hungry,” he announced, checking his watch. “Let’s get some dinner.”

Ah, here it comes. “Let me guess...a candlelit dinner for two atop the highest building in the city? A glorious view of the bay, stars twinkling, the mood just right...so cozy, so romantic,” I mocked. Like I’m going to fall for that. I folded my arms across my chest, smug. “But it’s my day to pick.”

He frowned. “A simple ‘no, thanks’ would’ve been fine.”

“Like you weren’t angling for some romantic night out,” I said, calling his bluff.

“Not unless you consider a burger down at the corner pub romantic,” he said, his expression clearly saying, Calm your tits, crazy lady, but I wasn’t buying it. He grabbed his coat. “You coming or not?”

“Not.”

“Suit yourself.”

My certainty faltered as Luca headed for the door. Was he actually going to leave me behind? My stomach growled in protest. “Are you really going for a burger?” I called after him, grabbing my coat to join him. He shook his head with open annoyance at my suspicion, then he kept walking. He exited the hostel and stepped onto the sidewalk, his stride so damn confident that even passersby took notice. I couldn’t help staring just a little. Everywhere Luca went, he attracted attention. If it wasn’t for his looks, it was his demeanor. He had a way of walking into a room and instantly taking control. It was as if the universe engineered every circumstance to his advantage, and that drove me nuts.

Even if it was a little bit sexy. Okay, maybe a lot sexy, but I wasn’t going to feed his massive ego by admitting it. If anything, I would deny it until I died, just to prick a few holes in that giant head of his.

The pub wasn’t far, true to his word, and I could smell the aroma of something delicious the minute we were within a few feet. My stomach clenched with hunger, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since that morning at Alana’s, and I was privately glad I’d decided to tag along. I’d let Luca spend his money so I could keep what I had in reserve.

An Irish pub, the interior dark paneling punctuated by import-beer signs and raucous laughter, the place had a fun vibe that was hard to dislike. We slid into a cozy booth, and a terminally cute and bubbly waitress named Erin bounced over to our table.

“Welcome to Harrigans. What can I get you to start off with?”

“Murphy’s Irish stout,” Luca answered, earning a smile from Little Miss Easily Impressed.

Her gaze lingered for a second longer than necessary before she gestured to me. “And your lady?” she asked, clearly on a fishing expedition.

Might as well help the girl out. Do her a solid.

“I’m not his lady,” I corrected her, shooting Luca a pointed look, daring him to say anything different, but the man simply sat there, waiting for me to give Erin my drink order, which only made me look like a bitchy shrew. “We are...uh...business associates,” I clarified with a smile. “And I’ll have a Guinness.”

“Oh, my mistake. You two look so sweet together I just kinda assumed. I’m so sorry. Be right back.” She beamed and bounced away like the human equivalent of a bunny rabbit with giant boobs.

“I think she likes you,” I said, hoping to goad him into saying or doing something that would cement my disdain for him, but he didn’t even nibble at the bait. I tried harder. “Supercute, too. Those boobs, right? Pretty big. If you like that sort of thing. I mean, of course you do. All guys lose their minds over big tits. I think it’s etched in your DNA.”

“You seem pretty obsessed with our waitress’s breasts,” he observed, amused.

Heat climbed my throat to heat my cheeks. “That’s not what I meant... Oh, forget it. Never mind,” I said, letting it go. He wasn’t going to do something so overtly offensive as coming on to the waitress on the first day of our deal. What an amateur move. If I wanted to win, I had to stop thinking so small.

Erin returned with our drinks, and after we both ordered the house burgers, I fidgeted a little, unsure of what to do with my hands. Finally, I settled with my hands in my lap, but I was intensely aware of how an entirely too-small table was the only obstacle between us. Our knees were practically kissing beneath the table.

Was I supposed to make small talk? I had two settings around Luca—head over heels in love and despise with the force of an EMP blast—I didn’t know how to be neutral.

And his seemingly relaxed, taking-in-the-ambience attitude wasn’t helping things. Why wasn’t he acting like he normally did—arrogant or patronizing—so I could find my bearings?

I didn’t know how to reconcile that Luca with this chill dude.

“How’d you know about this place?” I asked, breaking the awkward silence. “Have you been here before?”