The Marriage Ultimatum (Contemporary Romance) Read online

  “Hardly.” Filomena looked down her aquiline nose at Roxy. “My last husband left me a small fortune after he passed away.”

  Stefano’s grip on Roxy tightened and she heard his sharp intake of air. “Esposito didn’t have long to live when you got your claws into him,” he said. “Tell me, was the sex good with a ninety-year-old?”

  Filomena shot Roxy an evil look while flipping her raven-black hair. “At least I didn’t have to get knocked up to catch him, unlike your Americana wife.”

  Heat blazed across Roxy’s cheeks and her hands curled into fists. “Perhaps we should introduce ourselves before we hurl insults at each other,” she said with as much calm as she could summon. The last thing she and Stefano needed was a photo of her punching the bitch in the face.

  “This, tesoro, is my sorry excuse of an ex-fiancée,” Stefano said, brushing his warm lips against Roxy’s temple. “Filomena, meet my wife, Roxy. An exceptional artist, and a caring, compassionate wife and mother.”

  “Your ex?” she asked. He’d never once alluded to actually wanting to get married prior to meeting her. Now she understood his hesitation, if not the full picture. “Good thing you broke up so you’d be available when I came along.”

  “Exactly.” He traced the line of Roxy’s bare arm all the way to her fingers and weaved his through them. “Filomena Esposito’s not worth knowing longer than it’ll take us to say arrivederci.”

  * * *

  Stefano didn’t bother waiting for Filomena’s rebuttal, quickly steering Roxy away from the woman who nearly trapped him into a marriage based on lies. “The sooner I connect with Anderson, the better,” he said, holding Roxy’s hand.

  “You never told me you were engaged.”

  “It wasn’t important.”

  “Right,” she said. He practically heard her roll her eyes in her that’s bullshit tone. “I doubt that very much considering Gian has been running background checks on all your potential brides for years.”

  “Point taken.” Stefano paused long enough to lift two champagne glasses from a server’s tray. After passing one to her, he raised his and said, “Though I’m glad his intervention left me free to be available for you. Good one, Roxy.”

  “The look on her face was priceless.” She clinked her glass against his. “Did you mean what you said about me? All of it?”

  Roxy didn’t let go of his hand while she sipped and her silver eyes held his, unguarded and vulnerable. What did she see when she looked at him that way? Perhaps too much. Suddenly he felt equally as exposed, raw.

  Before he telling himself to back away, he lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers, gently stroking the seam of hers with his tongue. She welcomed him inside and he savored the taste of champagne and her essence, melding their mouths until nothing mattered other than showing her what he wouldn’t articulate.

  She entranced him, made him want things that he’d long ago given up desiring. And that freaked him out more than he wanted to admit.

  A discreet cough sounded. Stefano broke their contact, still holding Roxy’s hand, to see Phillip Anderson standing behind her with a wide grin on his face.

  “You plan on necking all night, or do you want to talk business?” Phillip Anderson asked, a light sparked in his intelligent eyes.

  Roxy stifled a laugh. “We thought we’d make use of our time while we waited for you to arrive,” Stefano said smoothly.

  “An excellent option,” Phillip said. “I’ll have to check into that idea after we conclude our discussion.”

  “Still on the prowl?”

  “Always,” Phillip replied. “But if I find someone as beautiful as your wife, I might be persuaded to settle down.”

  Stefano laughed, quickly introduced Phillip to Roxy, and they moved away from the din of the crowd who had gathered to bid on high end prizes that would benefit a local hospital’s new pediatric wing. Once they arrived at their table that was tucked in secluded alcove with a view of the bay, they ordered drinks.

  “Rumor has it that your grandfather won’t turn over the company’s reins to you,” Phillip said after their server left.

  Stefano’s pulse accelerated and adrenaline zipped through his veins. Only four people knew Gregorio’s misgivings about granting full power to him. He discounted Roxy and Gian immediately—Donatello and Elena raised internal red flags. They’d made it clear that they didn’t agree with the modernizing Durante Enterprises.

  “He’s resistant to change.” Stefano draped his arm across Roxy’s bare shoulders with studied casualness. “However, recent circumstances have persuaded him to reconsider his stance.”

  “Would those circumstances be realizing that the bottom line is slipping closer to red every fiscal quarter?”

  He inhaled a slow breath, drawing in Roxy’s delicious scent and waited a beat. If he revealed too much, Phillip might take his technology firm’s patents to the next bidder. After all, Stefano didn’t have full control, but the numbers he’d shown Nonno had garnered him the executive power to forge this one deal. “Yes,” Stefano said. “We discussed the challenge of transforming our steel factories into cutting edge industries with guaranteed rising profits.” There’d be a complete turnover after his grandfather reaped the benefit of Stefano’s business projections.

  Their beverages arrived, then Phillip raised his glass and drank while assessing Stefano. “You need my company’s technology more than I originally thought,” he said after he finished swallowing. “This changes the rules of the game significantly.”

  Roxy leaned closer to Stefano, and she gently squeezed his thigh beneath the table. Her gesture of support did more than encourage him… his blood pounded through him, hot and wild. He willed the rush of heat to subside while glancing through the window that overlooked the pristine white cruise ships, luxury yachts, enormous tankers and merchant vessels—many had his company’s logo painted on them.

  “Eccellente,” he said. “I’m all for reshuffling the deck and dealing again.” He never backed down from a challenge and he rarely lost, especially when he had his family’s interests driving him.

  An hour later, with a new contract skillfully negotiated and a guarantee to merge by the end of the quarter in September, everyone stood. Stefano shook Anderson’s hand. “My chief financial officer will fax the final contract before the end of the week.”

  “I’ll sign and return it to you after my legal department goes over the terms.”

  “I would expect nothing less from my new business partner.”

  The thirtysomething entrepreneur from America’s Midwest had graduated at the top of his class from MIT and was probably the smartest man in the entire room. However, unlike typical techies, he exuded a powerful command.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some prowling to do while you two get back to that necking thing.” Phillip gave Roxy an appreciative once-over. “You’re a lucky man, Durante,” he said, then reentered the crowd milling around the bars and bidding on silent auction items for the charity fundraiser.

  “Let’s hope he doesn’t run into Filomena,” Roxy said.

  “That guy’s too smart to be taken in by her.” Unlike Stefano, but he’d been in college and a lot younger. Fortunately, he’d grown up and gotten wiser through the years.

  “Most likely,” she said, standing beside him. “You want to stay and celebrate your success?”

  “No.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and felt her tremble beneath his touch. “Let’s head back to our rooms. I’ll update Nonno.”

  “Sounds good,” she said. “My feet are killing me, and I want to check in on Matthew.”

  They exited the ballroom and walked toward the elevator and Stefano glanced back to see Filomena chatting up an old bird with more money than sense. He moved his hand to Roxy’s waist to draw her closer.

  There was a strange knotting in his chest as he pressed the elevator’s up button. He’d been dead wrong about Roxy three years ago. Tonight wouldn’t have been
possible without her, and the victory tasted all the sweeter with her by his side.

  Now he wondered how much sweeter the taste would be if he had thrown away the background check and confronted Roxy about the facts. Perhaps she’d be here by her own free will, and not by the force of his.

  Chapter 11

  “I appreciate your support tonight,” Stefano said while the elevator carried them to their penthouse suite’s floor. “Means a lot to me that you wanted this merger to happen.”

  The gratitude in his low voice caressed her from the inside out. That appreciation called to her in ways that reached the deepest parts of her soul. “My role was easy compared to yours,” she said. “I just had to toss on a couture dress and sit by your side while you negotiated a complex deal.”

  “You look stunning tonight, but I’m more impressed that you didn’t blink an eye or waver when Anderson brought up the rumors.” He slipped his hand into hers, then raised their entwined fingers to his mouth and brushed his warm lips against the top of her palm. “Having you by my side made it easy to dispute those allegations.”

  That tender kiss, the intimacy of his mouth against her bare skin without expectation for more, chipped away the final barriers to her heart. “I’m glad I was there,” she said as the doors opened. “Though I believe you could have handled the situation without me.” They exited together, her hand still in his, but now she yearned for so much more.

  “Perhaps, tesoro, but I’ve been operating solo for too long.”

  “Me, too.” In every way imaginable. She wanted him. Needed him. Craved him with an intensity that only he could satiate—body, mind, and soul.

  Stefano slid the suite’s keycard into the slot, then guided her inside. “I don’t want to be alone anymore,” she said, turning to face him in the entryway.

  “You’re not.” Wall sconces on either side of the suite’s door illuminated his handsome features and he gently traced a sensual line over her cheek, her jaw and into the hair she’d had professionally styled into chignon hours earlier. “You have me.”

  His gaze skimmed over every inch and curve of her body with a lover’s touch and her breath caught in her throat. “And you have me,” she said. Tonight he’d sliced through her final defenses with the same precision that she used to carve away stone to reveal its treasure.

  Stefano cupped the back of her neck and lowered his mouth onto hers. His tender kiss sent spirals of heat through her body and the world slipped away. There was only him. Only her. Only the taste of him on her lips.

  He tunneled his fingers through her hair, releasing it from the multitude of pins holding it in place and it tumbled over her bare shoulders. His kiss deepened—sweet tenderness became hot, hard, and hungry.

  She answered his demands with her own. Every nerve ending hummed and pulsed and fired into all her erogenous zones. On instinct, she caught his shirt, then tugged it free of his pants and slid her fingers beneath the material to glide over his bare abs, loving the feel of his satin skin over rock hard muscles.

  He groaned, and his arousal pressed against her, stilling her for a beat. Stefano wrenched his mouth from hers, breathing heavily. “I’ve waited forever to be with you.” He lowered his forehead to hers. “But I’ll quit right now if you aren’t sure.”

  Her heart drummed wildly in her chest. He’d give her a way out though he wanted her. She’d waited hours, days, weeks for this man—her lover—to emerge. “I’m more than sure,” Roxy said. She couldn’t stop when more than the passion flaring between them bound them together.

  Cupping the nape of her neck, he caught her mouth again and she matched him stroke for delicious stroke, sinking her fingers into his hair to hold his head close to her. He slid his hand low to the small of her back to anchor her in place while they devoured each other.

  He searched for her dress’s zipper until he found it, and yanked it down. Within moments, her thousand-dollar dress puddled around her Christian Louboutin heels, leaving her naked but for her strapless gold bra and matching thong.

  Roxy moaned. She couldn’t control the instinctive writhing motion of her hips. She ached for his touch and when his fingers moved across her sex, stars burst behind her eyes and heat flooded through her.

  He kissed a trail down her neck, his tongue blazing on her skin all the way to the fabric covering her engorged nipples, then sucked one in. The sensation of the silken material melding with his hot, wet mouth sent electrical charges to all her erotic pulse points. Every cell she possessed burned, every breath was a challenge, and her heartbeat was so wild she heard it roaring in her ears.

  Oh, how she had longed to be touched this way. Not just by any man, but by Stefano. Her body had always been waiting for his to return.

  Her knees buckled and he moved his mouth to her neck. “I want to feel you around me.” His voice was low, husky, and his breath a warm, erotic sensation against her neck.

  “Yes. God yes,” she said on a moan.

  “Not here.” He licked his way to her mouth and hovered his lips over hers. “In my bed where I can enjoy every inch of you—make love to you the way you deserve,” he said, then caught her mouth and lifted her into his arms.

  She clung to him, surrendering and claiming him, no longer alone and no longer questioning her heart’s desire when the man carrying her to his bedroom had finally exposed his.

  * * *

  Stefano lowered Roxy to the satin duvet covering his king-sized bed, then paused for a beat to take in the luscious sight of his beautiful wife. Her hair tumbled in a wild mass of curls around her shoulders, her lips kiss swollen, and her silver eyes dark with passion.

  “I love that matching bra and panty combo, but they’ve got to go,” he said, sliding the gold thong over her hips, down her legs, and tossing it aside.

  “Stefano,” she gasped.

  Goose bumps raised on her bare skin. He inhaled the scent of her arousal, and his cock strained for release. But he wanted to draw out every second of being with her.

  Pale moonlight played across her creamy skin and accentuated her sexy curves. “You’re beautiful.” He caressed the silk covering her breasts and felt her nipples tighten as he stroked across them. “Perfect.”

  “I want you next to me,” she said. “Skin-to-skin, body-to-body. I want all of you.”

  The tip of her tongue appeared to wet her soft, lower lip and he grew impossibly harder. Blood rushed to his shaft, heating him and making him throb. For her. Only for her. “I want everything you have,” he said before quickly undressing and moving onto the bed beside her.

  Within moments the bra joined the thong and he teased the taut buds until her moans filled the air. She moved to kick off her high heels, but he shook his head. “Those stay on.”

  “Oh, into shoes, are you?” she asked huskily.

  “More like I’m into you.” Stefano kissed his way down the length of her satiny skin, nibbling and tasting her intoxicating brand of pure Roxy. “The shoes are an eccellente bonus.” He licked a trail down her calf to the back of her heel, and up again.

  Her breath hitched. “Good thing I have several new pairs.”

  “Si.”

  Stefano stroked the inside of her thigh until he reached the apex, threaded his fingers through her curls and brushed one across her clitoris. She hitched her hips and he folded one arm across her pelvis to stop her from bucking off the bed while he continued exploring her slick core.

  “Stefano.” She clutched his shoulders. “Feels so good.”

  His cock lengthened and thickened, the head pulsing. Everything in him wanted to plunge into her, but he wanted to give Roxy more than quick sex. He wanted to relish every second, and show her how much he cared. That she mattered in ways he no longer tried to understand.

  He stroked the wet valley of her crease, and then pushed his finger into her depths. Dio. She was so hot. So wet. So incredibly ready. She clenched around him as he stroked her intimately, slowly, and determined to bring her to the brink.
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br />   Her grip on his shoulders tightened. “Sweet mother of pearl.”

  She’d always dropped into a southern drawl whenever he’d pleased her. The memory, and the reality tonight, brought a smile to his face. How long had it been since he’d been this relaxed and happy?

  Too long.

  He licked his tongue across her quivering clit and tasted her essence while probing between her folds until he slid a finger inside the slick seam of her sex.

  “Oh my gawd.” Roxy writhed beneath him. “Please. Oh God. Do not stop… oh gawd.”

  Oh, how he loved the fact that Roxy’s accent dropped south of the Mason-Dixon line when she started to lose control. Stefano sucked her pearled clit, now engorged and pulsating, and pushed another finger into her. Loving her with his mouth and hand until he could feel her orgasm building.

  “Stefano, I can’t…”

  He paused for a brief moment to speak. “You will.” Then he locked onto her throbbing clit again and pushed his fingers deeper, harder until her body rippled with the first waves of her release.

  Stefano drank her in until her shudders subsided. Sweet, sweet Roxy. He couldn’t get enough of her. He pulled himself on top of her and braced himself to give her what she—what they both—wanted.

  Her eyes were glazed mirrors reflecting passion, her cheeks were flushed with the afterglow of her orgasm. And her lush lips were plump with desire. “That was…amazing.” She wrapped her legs around his waist to give his straining shaft easy entrance. “I want to feel you inside me—all of you.”

  Her high heels scraped along his lower back, and his brain blurred. Nothing mattered other than losing himself in her heat. Need blinded him, made him wild to be inside her.

  His heart racing, and his breath ragged, he acted without thought, nudging his swollen cock into her slick entrance and locking his gaze on hers. “I want to see you come with me,” he said, then drove his shaft into her tight, wet valley.