The Werewolf Prince and I (13 page)

Her nose wrinkled. “Not exactly romantic.”

His eyes burned green fire when he answered, “Don’t worry. I’ll make it up to you every second of our marriage.”

I’m not going to blush
, she thought furiously but she knew she already was. She flipped the pages hurriedly, trying to take her mind off things.

“My siblings…?”

“Check page ten.”

She gasped. “You’re going to let them – all of them – live with us?” Did he realize what that meant? She didn’t have just one or two siblings he could easily adapt to. She had a
battalion
of them, and they all had personality issues.

Domenico leaned back against his seat, regarding her impassively. “We have a big house. We might as well make use of the space.”

She tried not to show how happy she was at the sound of that. ‘We’. She had never thought she’d be a part of a ‘we’.

She scanned the rest of the page and gasped again. “But what you’re promising them is too much. I mean, if you’re going to pay for their schooling and their upkeep---”

“Those you care for are automatically under my protection. I will do my best to care for them, too.”

Her eyes teared. “You’re like an angel, do you know that?”

He leaned forward. “I’m not. I’m a werewolf.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. When he smiled, Misty’s toes curled. “Domenico, I can’t thank---”

He shook his head. “There is no need for gratitude. You are doing me a favor, too.”

But she got what he wasn’t saying. He was uncomfortable with how she was acting. She hid a smile. Amazing. He really wasn’t so intimidating all the time, apparently. He could even be quite cute.

He raised a brow at her. “Are you laughing at me?”

“Of course not,” she said hastily and looked down at the papers. She went to the next page and the next. There was a long list of responsibilities and duties under her role as the wife to the heir of the Moretti Clan.

“There’s nothing about my foster mother,” she said uneasily.

“Ah, well. Let’s just say I have a different arrangement with her.”

“What kind of arrangement?”

“I’ll pay her a certain sum each month as long as she doesn’t bother you.”

“But she doesn’t bother---”

“Be honest, darling. She bothers you with her indifference and insensitivity. Understand that she is not forbidden to see any of you. I only said that she must visit if she truly does care for you. I will know if she does not and if she does visit you with any other motive than to see all of you are well, my financial support will be withdrawn immediately.”

“That’s ruthless,” she blurted out.

Domenico’s eyes glittered. “I’m glad you’re beginning to understand how I work.”

Another limousine was parked right in the middle of the hangar when they landed, and yet another parade of uniformed guards as well as two airport officials waited for them below. While Domenico signed the papers the officials handed to him, he kept an eye on Misty. He had trouble keeping his lips from twitching when he heard her speak with the guard standing closest to her and asking him his name. He knew that Misty felt uncomfortable having so many people work for him and not knowing them all by name, but if she kept this up then the list of names she would have to memorize was going to be endless.

Inside the limousine, Domenico had to take a call from the pack leader of the Cavaliers, but his gaze remained firmly at Misty, enchanted with how she seemed to derive so much fun simply playing with the controls of the car.

Domenico couldn’t prevent a bark of laughter from escaping when Misty pushed a button that had a drawer from the side shooting out and almost hitting her face with it.

She made a face at him. “I didn’t know it was for this drawer.”

“Domenico?” Filippo Cavalier’s voice pulled him back to the phone conversation he was having.

Looking away abruptly from Misty, he murmured, “
Mi dispiace
.” Continuing in Italian, Domenico said, “I am hoping she can start working for you this week.”

“Of course,” Filippo responded readily, chuckling. “But I pray she will be ready for the women to bitch at her. You know how they are. They will be greatly disappointed to find out that you have taken up a lover again.”

Filippo’s misassumption of what Misty was to him was expected, but he did not bother correcting the other man. It was, after all, what he wanted to happen. “Thank you for this. She will be in my life for a long time so I thought it would be better that she was exposed to how our world works.”

Domenico ended the call just as the limousine drew to a stop in front of the main entrance of the hotel his family owned as well.

Misty walked with him quietly but dug her feet when she saw where they were going.  She looked up at him incredulously. “You’re taking me to a
ball
?”

“Yes. I wish to announce my engagement to you.”

“Are you serious?” she burst out. Waving a distracted hand to herself, she demanded, “Don’t you see how I’m dressed?” Misty’s eyes strayed to the ballroom, its opened doors revealing a throng of guests attired in the latest fashion – the kind she only saw printed on society pages. And he wanted her to join
this
crowd in her most ho-hum office outfit?

Tugging at his hand because he was trying to drag her inside again, Misty hurriedly gestured to the woman in black staring at them and whispering to her companion from the refreshment table. “Look at her. Her gown probably cost my salary for the entire year. You can’t possibly want me to go in with you looking---” She couldn’t speak anymore, not when Domenico’s hand curled around her nape, bringing her close as he bent down to take her lips with a kiss.

When he released her, she could only gaze up at him, a little dazed but knowing her lips were made red by his kiss.

He looked back at her with satisfaction. “You look exactly how I want you to be. Now come. I want everyone to know who I am marrying.”

Inside, a beautiful mosaic painting hung from one of the walls of the ballroom and her eyes widened, recognizing the name straight from the company newsletters.

“It’s your father’s birthday?” she yelped. “I don’t have a gift---”

“
You
are my gift to him.”

She gave him a look that spoke volumes of what exactly she thought of his line, which was too glib to be true.

He laughed. “Only you, darling, would dare look at me so.”

But Misty’s attention was already taken away by the crowd again, which seemed to take several steps away from them as they walked further in. Every one of them was dazzlingly attractive. Not beautiful per se but appealing in the way that Domenico was, their sexual magnetism a potent and tangible force.

It made her whisper, “Are they all werewolves like you?”

A smile in his voice, he whispered back, “Yes…and because we have extraordinary hearing, all of them heard your question.”

Her mouth parted in horror. “Kill me,” she managed to say finally. “Now, please?”

He laughed and pulled her closer to him as he walked towards his family.

Dio, the patriarch, didn’t look a day over forty. He also didn’t plan on giving her the time of the day, nodding at her curtly before engaging Domenico immediately in an angry flurry of Italian.

Elena, Domenico’s mother and an incredible dark-skinned beauty, stepped in gracefully with a warm smile. “Hello, dear. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she murmured as she drew Misty in a hug.

When Elena released her, Domenico was back at her side. He kissed his mother, sent a warning look to the twins – who were busy elbowing each other and giving them knowing looks – before kissing the three young girls one at a time.

“Everyone, it’s my pleasure to have you meet Misty Wall, who has done me the honor of accepting my proposal.” He gave them a moment to absorb his news before smiling down at Misty. “Misty, I’d like you to meet my family. These are my three sisters, Esmeralda, Estrella, and Emilia.” The trio said hi to her cheerfully. Then he introduced the twins, Alessandro and Alejandro, adding right after, “Avoid them as much as possible. They’re trouble.”

“You’re just afraid we might steal her away from you,” Alessandro said, winking at her.

Domenico ignored that, gesturing to his parents next. “And these are Elena and Dio.”

“I’m pleased to meet all of you,” she said, not wanting to stammer but unable to stop herself from doing so. Why couldn’t Domenico give her even the slightest warning of what he planned?

Misty caught Elena giving her husband a warning look before smiling at Misty. “Welcome to the family, dear.”

Dio gave Misty another curt nod, but his eyes were hard. He said abruptly to Domenico, “I’d like to have a moment with you. Now.”

Domenico inclined his head. “Of course, Father. Your wish has always been my command.” There was a hint of mocking in his tone that confused Misty. She would never have pegged him to be the disrespectful type.

When the two left, Elena’s smile was strained. She beckoned her daughters to come forward, murmuring, “Girls, why don’t you take Misty to the refreshments table? I’m sure she’s thirsty.” She didn’t wait for the girls to agree and followed husband and son. Misty had a feeling that Elena would have run if she didn’t happen to have what seemed like a ten-foot-long train trailing behind her.

Alejandro shook his head. “Here we go again.” He and his twin left, too.

Misty started when someone curled an arm around hers. It was Emilia. The young girl was just about fifteen, clearly the baby of the family. “You shouldn’t mind them. My dad and Domenico always fight. It’s not a big thing, really. If they were girls, they’d be long past this misunderstanding. But you know boys.”

They had reached the refreshments table by then. Esmeralda was nodding sagely. “Boys are trouble.”

Misty wanted to ask what exactly the trouble was didn’t, afraid it would make her seem too curious or meddlesome.

Estrella, the most quiet of the three and the eldest, too, gave her an understanding smile, as if understanding Misty’s trepidation. “Are you really marrying my brother?”

She didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yes.”

“Then I suppose you should know what’s between Domenico and our father. No one else would tell you.” She glanced at Esmeralda.

The middle sister nodded. “Domenico used to have a twin. Then, Domenico had been wild and fun, like the younger twins. That’s what they say at least. His twin – our brother - Danilo, he was the serious one. Like Estrella.”

Emilia giggled while Estrella rolled her eyes. “You seriously had to say that?”

Esmeralda answered that with a grin before continuing, “But even though they’re opposites, Danilo and Domenico always, always spent time together. They liked to go hiking. One time, my father warned them not to go because there were reports of rogue werewolves out to kill. Domenico insisted on going, escaping late at night. Danilo went with him to make sure he was safe.”

“They were attacked, weren’t they?” Misty asked even though she already knew the answer.

“The bad things are always so easy to guess, isn’t it?” Esmeralda said sadly. “Yes, they were attacked. They managed to escape, but then Danilo lost his balance and would have fallen in a cliff if Domenico hadn’t caught hold of him. Unfortunately, Domenico was badly hurt by then, having been weakened by their fight. It wouldn’t be much longer till he’d slip. Danilo knew Domenico would never let go, and it would only mean they’d both fall to their death. Danilo made a decision---”