I wake up in a different bedroom than the one that I’m used to, but I can smell Dante’s cologne, so I know that I’m in my house. There’s an arm slung across my waist holding me to a hard body. There are breaths tickling my neck, a light snore buzzing in my ear. It’s when my eyes snag on the clothes strewn across the entryway that it all comes back to me. FUCKED. DANTE. Oh my fucking God! And he’s the one that’s got his arm wrapped around me right now. Fuck! This was not in the plans. I was not going to do that this soon. And it was only supposed to be about me getting pregnant. I wasn’t supposed to have five of the best orgasms of my life just for shits and giggles. I facepalm myself HARD. I can’t believe that I did this. Ok, right now, I don’t have time to wallow in this shit. I need to get the hell out of Dante’s bed. I look over my shoulder at the alarm clock and see that I have about an hour to get dressed and to work. And I just can’t deal with this right

“The hell you will!” Dante spits out, anger suffusing his features. “Fucking hell,” i mutter, taking the time to shut down my laptop. “Dante, I really don’t have time to talk about this right now. This is a business meeting with someone who just happens to be an old friend - “ “Friend?” Gabbi says, a smirk covering his face. “Is that what people are calling it today?” It causes a growl to pour out of Dante’s mouth and I can’t help but roll my eyes. “One, Gabbi, not helpful. Two, Dante, cut the shit. I have to do this as part of my job. A job, might I add, that your father gave to me. So back the hell off, go do whatever it is you do during the day, and we can go back to arguing about our sex life at home,” I say, turning to face both men. Grayson, still standing by the door where Gabbi brushed past him, snickers a laugh. He stage whispers, “That’s my favorite little ball buster.” Gabbi still has that shit eating grin on his face, like he has a secret that none of us

Josiah was waiting for me when Gabbi and I came out of Daniel’s together. Daniel had packaged a cooler of desserts for the workers at my office and made me make two more reservations within the next month to ensure that I would see him. “Hey, Josiah. What’s going on?” I ask when we step out of the restaurant. Josiah is always around, but usually in the shadows. I typically see him in the mornings right before I leave and then in the evenings. Not in between. “Nothing. I was just told to make sure that you got back to the office ok,” Josiah says, giving me a smile and then glaring at Gabbi. I roll my eyes. This screams Dante. “Let me take one guess who told you to make sure I got there.” Josiah gives me a wide grin. “The Don would also like for you to call him ASAP.” That gets my attention. And gives me the perfect reason to leave Gabbi’s company. I loved him long ago, but his constant flirting and innuendo…it was just too much. Especially after I told him no. I

It’s Sunday at 7:00 and we’re sitting down for the meal with Dante’s family as outlined in the contract for the first time. After Dante’s act of jealousy with Gabbi and the subsequent transcendent sex a few days ago, Dante pulled his disappearing act again. I haven’t seen him, haven’t even heard from him beyond the text reminding me about dinner tonight. We even came to his parents’ house separately.Honestly, I don’t know why I was surprised. This is Dante’s MO. He lets a little bit of his feelings out and then proceeds to do everything he can to deny it. It honestly isn’t surprising, just…disappointing.Too bad for him, he missed the window where I was ovulating, so there’s no more guaranteed sex for him this month.I’ve made the decision that I’m not going to deny myself from having sex with Dante. A girl has needs and Dante definitely knows what he’s doing in the bedroom. But I’m also not going to feel obligated to have sex with him outside of the contract mandates.Why sh

I’m so glad that I have a driver with me tonight so that I can spill my guts out to Grayson and Emily on the way home. I tell them everything: how pampered Rocco and Bianca are that they couldn’t even help their mom in the kitchen, how lovely Emilia is, how Rafel put me on the spot about Gabbi, and then how Dante and Bianca cornered me in the bathroom. “Son of a bitch! I seriously can’t believe that you got stuck with such a rotten family!” Emily squeals into the phone. “Seriously, Em? They’re fucking mafia. And you don’t turn out a son like Dante without being messed up yourself. I’m just sad that this is your life, Q. You seriously don’t deserve this,” Grayson says. “If it wasn’t for my father’s debts, things wouldn’t be like this. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Stefan and the company, I’d let him just deal with it. I mean, it’s not like he really cares about me if he’s willing to sell me off to a mafia family without even consulting me,” I tell them. If there’s anything t