Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

“I would have had to marry either way, but as a wife of an Underboss, going
to college is out of the question,” I said quietly. My mother would have had a
heart attack if she’d heard me being this honest with Cassio’s sister, but I was
tired of trying to pretend.
“That’s true. You’ll be busy raising his kids, so you won’t be bored.”
My heart sped up like it always did thinking of being responsible for two tiny
humans. I had absolutely no clue about kids. I’d read countless articles about
raising kids in the last four months, but reading and doing were two very
different things. Most of the time I felt like a girl, not a woman, much less a
mother.
Mia touched my hand. “You’ll be fine. I live close by. I can help if you don’t
know what to do.”
Cassio must have heard because he frowned. “You have two small kids of
your own with a third on the way. You’ll have your hands full. Giulia can handle
everything.”
He seemed to know me better than I did. Or maybe he’d just order me to be a
good mother?
Mia sighed, but she didn’t talk back to him. My stomach knotted even more.
I was wound so tightly when it was time for the first dance, I hardly noticed
Cassio leading me to the center of the ballroom. The guests gathered around it,
watching. My smile was in place. If I’d learned one thing from my mother, it
was to smile in the face of adversity.
With our difference in height, dancing wasn’t easy. If we’d been a real
couple, I could have rested my cheek against his sternum. Right now we were
casual acquaintances at best. Cassio led me over the dance floor without a hitch,
sure in his leadership like in every other aspect of our life. My mind was
spinning a hundred miles an hour, imagining our future, imagining tonight.
“Why are you trembling?” Cassio asked, startling me.
I regarded his emotionless eyes. Did he really not know? “Why don’t you
order me to stop? Maybe my body obeys your command.”
Cassio’s expression hardened. “I expect you to choose your words more
carefully in public. I’m your husband and you’ll respect me.”
I lowered my eyes to his chest, the smile still frozen on my face.
Cassio’s mouth pressed to my ear as the dance ended. “Understood?”
“Understood, sir.”
Cassio’s grip on me tightened, but he didn’t get the chance to say more
because it was Dad’s turn to dance with me. He kept asking what was wrong, but
I really didn’t see any reason to tell him. There was nothing he could do, nothing
he would do. Mom’s lips were moving nonstop during her dance with my
husband. From her delighted expression, you’d think she was the happy bride.
“It’s my turn,” Christian said.
My smile became less stiff as my brother took over. He gave me a quick
smile as we began to dance. I rarely saw him anymore since he’d moved out five
years ago at eighteen. Unlike many sons from Underbosses, he’d chosen not to