The Proposition 2: The Ferro Family (The Proposition: The Ferro Family) (6 page)

I pull up my jean leg and expect to see mangled skin, but there’s not even a mark. I blink, no
t understanding. “But he bit me.”

One of the old ladies on the porch is close enough to hear me. She says, “That one is too friendly for his own good. He
gave you a little love bite, that’s all.” She’s trying not to laugh, but there’s an amused grin on her face.

“A love bite?” Bryan echoes.

She turns to him and nods. “That one must have been a pet. He has two brothers and the three of them usually walk around like they grew up in a bucket, smashed together. My guess is someone got them for Easter and then dumped them at the river when they got too big. This one is too friendly. He wanders up here and goes into the house all the time. He likes her.”

I let out a shaky breath and don’t know if I should laugh or cry. “I got attacked by a
duck.” I sound shocked.

“No babe, a
duck tried to make out with your ankle. I’ll have to try that later.” There’s laughter in his voice, although he keeps the smile off his face. “You’re all right, you know. You’ll always be all right. You’ve been through so much and I’m sure you could kick that duck’s ass if you had to.” Bryan’s lips twitch as he says the last sentence, which is contagious.

Laughter and tears
burst through at the same time and I can’t stop. Bryan wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek before wiping away the tears. He holds my face in his hands and looks into my eyes. “The last thing I needed is more competition. Tell me, where do I stand compared to Neil and the ankle biter over there? He’s kind of hot, in a Howard the Duck kind of way. You’re not into that, are you? I’m only asking because it’s been a while.”

I manage to elbow him
in the ribs and he lets out an
oof
sound. “No! I don’t do livestock!”

The old lady on the porch spews her tea and starts choking as the
duck takes a step closer. My grip on Bryan loosens before I stand and then stomp my foot at the animal. A normal duck would have run, but that stupid thing just stands there and eyes my foot like it’s porn. Bryan laughs as the old lady mops up her table before her tea spills onto her friends.

“Come on, Hallie.” Bryan takes my hand and pulls me away. We cut to the path that leads to the parking lot. “It’s time to do
something I’ve always wanted, but never had the chance.”

Distracted, I glance behind us. The damn
duck is following, waddling slowly behind on the path. Two other white ducks emerge from the shrubs and flank him. “Yeah, and what’s that?” I ask not really paying attention.

He jerks my arm and pulls me close. My body presses tightly to his and he has my full attention. “I want to taste every inch of you.” The look in his eye and the way he holds me tells me that he means it. I part my lips to say something, but he offers another of those light kisses and I forget what I was going to say. The way his lips brush against mine is like a drug, clouding all thoughts, except one—I want more.

It’s late afternoon by the time we’re at his place—correction—his family mansion. I glance over at him like he’s crazy when he pulls his little sports car up into the courtyard. He cuts the engine and gets out, before walking around and opening my door.

As he holds it for me and offers his hand, I tease, “You still live with your mother? Lame.” But it’s so far from lame that it’s not funny. Bryan has his own wing
in the estate home. The Ferro fortune is vast and the size of this mansion indicates how deep their pockets extend. My hand slips into Bryan’s palm and tingles shoot straight through me. I forget how to breathe.

Bryan offers a smirk as his grip tightens, but it slips away instantly. My statement was so
ludicrous that there’s no way he should be upset about it, but he seems to be. “Come along, Hallie. No more fighting it or putting it off.”

I can’t help it. I bait him. “Put what off? I’m not the one who tossed my ass out last night. I was ready to go.” I’m such a liar and he knows it.

Bryan rounds on me, his expression formidable, and brings his lips so close to mine that I think he’s going to kiss—or bite—me. “Lies are not becoming on you.”

“They don’t exactly flatter you, either.” My heart is beating so loud that I’m sure he can hear it. Why can’t I act like he’s a jackass? Bryan Ferro is a messed up asshole and yet, I turn to
mush when he touches me or flashes those startling green eyes my way. The intensity of his gaze frightens me and I can’t hide the tremble it causes.

“I’ve not lied to you.”

“You haven’t told me the truth, either. An omission is a lie, so let’s not play games.”

His eyes dip to my lips. “Fine, then let
’s do what we came here for.”

My heart slams into my ribs by his abruptness. There’s no subtle talk, not for him, not this time. “I’m going to take you to my bed, strip you naked, and lick every inch of your beautiful body before making you
scream my name as you come. You’ll be so sated you won’t be able to walk for a week.”

My lower lip quivers
involuntarily. Bryan closes the space between us and nips my lip before backing away and tugging my arm toward the door. We walk through the mansion, passing servants—all of them ignore us. Suddenly, I’m so nervous that I lose all my muster. He’s the one in control and calling the shots.

I’ve been here before. I’ve walked these hallways an
d been in his bed. It’s like déjà vu and the emotions hurling through me are a million times worse than last night.

I jerk his arm whe
n we’re about to enter his room. “What if your sister sees us?”

“Jos isn’t here.”

I nod and look at the floor as he reaches for the doorknob. I can’t step into those rooms. I’ll be pummeled by flashbacks and fall to pieces. “How is she?” Jocelyn is his twin sister and way too nice to be related to any of them. She has dark hair and green eyes, but that’s where their similarities end. She has a softness to her that’s so innocent, which is weird since she grew up with four Ferro brothers. Add in their deranged cousins and it’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.

Bryan shrugs and starts to open the door. “Same as she’s always been—too soft.” He pauses for a beat, like he’s thinking about something. His eyes dip to his hand on the doorknob and I have no idea what he’s recalling—if it’s about me or another part of his messed up life.

I blurt out, “What about your brothers?”

“They’re not here either.” Bryan’s hand slips off the knob and he turns to look at me. A wicked grin spreads across his lips. “Are you afraid to be here, Hallie? Last time you were in this hallway you practically broke the door down to get at my bed.” My face flames red and I try to look away. The memory ignites like dried tinder and I gasp. Bryan takes my chin and turns my face back toward him. “Well?”

“I’m not afraid.” My pulse quickens with the lie.

Bryan leans in and whispers in my ear, which shoots an electric current straight into my stomach. My spine stiffens in response and I stop breathing. “Then prove it.”

He backs away and his gaze shifts to meet mine. I know when I’m being baited, but my response is juvenile. I can’t let him see how weak I’ve become, and yet, when I walk through that door the things I wrote in my book will become real again. The memories will spring forth and there will be no way to separate them from this and I’ll lose whatever joy they brought me.

Shoving past him, I reach for the knob and twist. My heart thumps rapidly like there
’s a lion on the other side, but I push the door open and walk in. Bryan follows after me and shuts the door behind me. I don’t turn, but I hear the lock click.

My eyes wander from one surface to another—the dresser, the bed, the big leather chair, the window sill—and I remember him there and the things he did to me. The sensations flood me, too many of them, all at once. I stand there frozen being barraged by my past, hearing echoes of things that once were and are no more. My jaw locks tight as my ears hear only white noise coupled with the sounds of ancient echoes—Bryan’s deep moans of pleasure and the way he’d cry out as he dug his fingers into my hips
, driving deeper into me as he did so. I hear voices that no longer exist and feel like I’m trapped in a dream that’s crumbling to bits.

I lose my nerve and spin on my heel, darting for the door, but Bryan cuts me off
and steps in front of me. He looks down at my face and rests his hands on my shoulders. “A deal is a deal. Don’t ruin it now, not when you’re almost done.”

I don’t pretend anymore, I can’t. He can’t possibly fathom what this place is doing to me, how cruel it is to submerge me in the past this way. I’m drowning in memories that were once happy and now he
’s tainting them. They’re toxic, poisoning me, seeping into my lungs and drowning me.

Run Hallie…run
. The voice in my head sounds panicked.

I try to breathe but I can’t. The pressure on my ribs is squeezing so tightly that it feels like I’m trapped under a pile of rocks, having every last
breath squeezed from my lungs. “STOP!” I scream and pound my fists into his chest, shouting out whatever comes into my mind. “You knew what this would do to me, you knew, and you brought me here anyway!”

“You said yes.” His voice is calm, but he grabs my wrists so I can’t hit him a second time. He holds me tight and yanks my arms upward, making me look into his eyes. “You had a choice and you willingly came here.”

“Don’t do this to me.”

“I could say the same thing to you, but I haven’t. This is a business transaction, Hallie. There doesn’t have to be any emotion, so set yours aside.”

“I’m not dead inside, Bryan! I still feel and want things…” I’m breathing hard when my voice trails off. My chest rises and falls like I’ve been running too far, for too long.

I’m alive.

For the first time in a long time, I feel it, and I know it. I still mourn my life and my losses, but I don’t want to wallow there any longer. I want my life back and I want to fight for it. I grit my teeth and rip my wrists from his grasp, not knowing if he’s doing this on purpose or if Bryan just brings me back because of who he is—my other half.

From the time I first met him, he had this way about him. Everything from his touch
, to the way he thought, lined up and complimented my own. At times I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. I didn’t believe in soul mates, until I met him and have seen no evidence of them since. But the world is cruel to match me with him. Bryan Ferro, the heartless.

I repeat, “I’m not dead inside.”

His voice is gentler this time, coaxing me out of my fear. “Then prove it, Hallie. I know you’ve held back so much for so long. Take it out on me. Use me, have me in any way you want—any way you need. Don’t think, just act. Take what you need and don’t consider tomorrow. Live right here and now. Make a memory that you won’t regret.” Bryan watches me closely, his eyes scanning my face, looking for signs of my intentions. He’s so close to me that the draw to him tugs hard, yanking over and over again to close the distance, but I can’t move.

He has to understand, but I know he doesn’t. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know.”

“Not back then and not now.” He nods slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. I swallow hard waiting for him to say something, but he doesn’t. “Do you believe me?”

“The truth?” He presses his lips together and looks away. “I know you didn’t mean to, but it still ripped me apart—both times. After all these years, I hear about you from a goddamn book and see you on a fucking stage. Did I mean so little to you that you’d—” He smiles hard, fake, and shakes his head. “No, this is why I chose to do things this way. There’s no way around it. The past is the past and there’s no future for us—we both know it—so let’s stop skirting around the obvious. I want you and you want me. Your current boyfriend hasn’t satisfied you since you met. If he did, you would have written about him. So do what comes naturally, Hallie, and be my little slut one more time.” His voice becomes cold as he speaks and there’s no hint of the warm, playful man I knew.

My hand flies and slaps his cheek. The sound is deafening. My body becomes rigid and for a moment, neither of us moves.

Bryan finally steps aside and unlocks the door. “Your call. You can go back to that idiot or be my sex goddess for the night, but if you go back to him every deal you have on the table will be gone by morning.”

I step away from the door,
toward him. I’m not thinking about the money or his threats, but something else. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”

“Ask you what?”

I tuck my hair behind my ear and spit it out. It’s the question that’s been bouncing around in my mind since I saw him at the hotel. “Why didn’t you just ask me to sleep with you? Why didn’t you come up to me after the awards show and invite me to relive old times? Why’d you have to do things this way?”

He laughs once, but there’s no happiness in it. “I have my reasons.”

“Chicken.” I take a step closer to him. I know I’m playing with fire. I don’t understand his sudden onset of anger or softness. His mind is a puzzle to me.

“Prude.”