"Matty, long time no see."

The Calabrese man wasted no time moving away from Cat at Dante's heavy laden greeting. There was a heat behind his tone. Definitely a warning. Cat met Dante's intense gaze just long enough to know he was pissed.

Without any warning, Dante leaned into Cat, placing both his hands to the bar on either side of her. The scent of whiskey and cigar smoke mingled with the aroma of his cologne. Cat's blood heated at his proximity alone, the air in her chest sticking to her lungs like tar. The closer Dante came to Cat, the more motionless she turned. His nose skimmed her cheekbone as his mouth came to the shell of her ear.

Shivers trailed along her skin as she exhaled shakily. There had not been a man who woke up Cat's desire like Dante Marcello did in a long time. She didn't have the first clue about how she was supposed to ignore a lust that burned as hot as hers could for him. Sometimes it stayed dormant, especially when Dante was stubborn and difficult. Other times, like now or when she least expected it to, it slammed into her like a tsunami of raw need.

Goddamn, she had picked the wrong man to put a no physical rule on and marry at the same time. Cat should have known that from the first moment she met Dante as her tricks didn't faze him and because he challenged her so blatantly.

Men never challenged Cat once they knew her.

Dante did.

What on earth was he doing?

What was wrong with her?

"Play along, bella," Dante whispered. "I want my position with you clear so he doesn't run his mouth back to his father that my wife is simply a hired bride. It may make my marriage look like a faade to the Commission. I don't want that assumption out there."

Cat nodded imperceptibly, swallowing hard at the sensation of his lips ghosting along the shell of her ear.

There was no time for Cat to react before Dante's mouth was on hers. The kiss was anything but sweet and certainly not gentle; Cat didn't mind. Her eyes flew wide at the taste of whiskey bursting along her taste buds when Dante's tongue struck against hers. His teeth scraped to her bottom lip, tearing a piece of her carefully constructed wall of control down. A sweet sting brushed along her lips and chin from his stubble.

Cat couldn't breathe and she wasn't entirely sure how long he kissed her for. Long enough for her fingers to fist into his dress shirt and pull him closer; long enough for his hands to leave the bar and find her waist, holding tight; and long enough for Cat to forget that the only reason he was kissing her was because of the man sitting beside them.

That feeling only lasted until Matty cleared his throat loudly, breaking the trance Cat was in. Finally, Dante began to pull away, an arrogant smirk twisting his lips and approval glimmering in his gaze. He didn't let go of Cat as he canted his head to regard Matty.

"Happy birthday, old friend," Matty said, smiling almost sardonically.

Dante's cold expression didn't change. "I didn't realize you were invited to the party."

"It was an open invitation, wasn't it?"

"Sure, but for the Marcello clan." Dante stood straight, released his hold on Cat's waist, and stepped to her side. He turned his back to her as if to block her from Matty's view. "Where is your wife tonight, Matty?"

"At home."

"Too bad. She might have enjoyed a night out with her husband. Then again, if she had seen you talking to my fiancee like you just were, I bet she wouldn't have been pleased."

Cat snickered into her hand. Dante didn't bother to beat around the bush. She had to admit she liked that about the man.

"I was just having fun, Dante."

"Catrina doesn't have fun with any other man but me."

Matty laughed. "That's not what I hear. She just gave a pretty damn good show. The little queen over there has quite a reputa-"

His words were gut off with a thick humfp sound as he was knocked from his barstool. Cat hadn't even seen Dante's hand fly up to hit the man until his arm was lowering back to his side. Matty managed to keep his balance enough that he didn't hit the floor. Unfortunate as that was. Cat would have liked to see him kiss the ground at Dante's leather shoes.

Dante took the man's barstool without a word, smiling with enough scorn to mock the man below him. Matty stood straight and fixed his slacks, glaring. "You should wish Lucian a happy birthday, Matty. He'd appreciate it. And my future wife would love for you to get away from her. Tell your father I said hello."

With another glower tossed in Dante's unbothered direction, the man left. Dante sighed, his frustration showing.

"That man is always causing some kind of trouble. His father, Carl, lets him and his other brother do whatever the hell they want. It isn't often we welcome them as we don't need to."

Cat placed her clenched hands in her lap, willing away the strange aftereffects lingering from the kiss. Like the fact her back ached as if he had fucked her against a wall and there was a pulse beating between her thighs, demanding more.

"Why is that?" Cat asked, tampering the lust in her voice.

"Because we have a great deal more power than the Calabrese family in New York. They know it and wisely choose to bend to our control." Dante slid off the stool, offering his hand for Cat to take. "Come, dance with me for a little while. That asshole isn't the only one in the room tonight who has been running his mouth. Might as well give the gawkers a good show."

"Dance?"

"Oh, don't tell me you can't dance, Amore."

"I can," Cat said. She didn't know if it was such a good idea right now. "Can you?"

Dante scoffed. "That's just rude. Come on, Cat."

Cat took his hand and let him pulled her off the barstool.

Dante could dance, quite well, actually. He liked to lead and she didn't mind letting him. Cat shouldn't have been as surprised as she was that he moved with her swaying body in perfect harmony. The man seemed to be damn good at everything else he did, so why not this, too? With her backside tight against his groin, their hips grinding to the fast pace beat of the music, his hands roamed her curves with an affectionate touch.

What the feeling of his hands left behind, however, was anything but tender. Cat's skin burned, desire lighting a wicked fire. She could still taste the remnants of his kiss and feel how his lips felt pressed to her mouth.

She was wading into dangerous territory.

Dante's voice in her ear as his lips kissed her jaw softly broke her thoughts. "Thank you for playing along earlier. And for this, I suppose."

Cat nodded in response, but she needed to get away from him. To think, maybe breathe. She wasn't sure. Even if every inch of her body was screaming for her to stay, she couldn't. Making an attachment with this man, even a physical one, would be bad for them both.

It would only hurt him.

Somehow, Dante seemed to sense her inner war. He stepped away from her, spinning her around so she could face him. His dark eyebrow lifted, waiting for her to speak or explain why she had gone so rigid in his arms. Or, that's what Cat suspected he was thinking.

"I should go," Cat said quietly, her words disappearing into the loud music. "I have-"

"Don't make excuses," Dante interrupted firmly. "I get it. We made an agreement, so let's keep it. I'll see you at church on Sunday, Catrina."

Cat was thankful for his bluntness once again.

"Sunday."

It didn't take Cat long at all to find her way out of the club. The fresh, cold air of the parking lot seared into her lungs. Quickly, she found her car, got inside and slumped against the driver's seat the moment the door closed and offered her privacy.

Being alone did nothing to calm the raging storm in her body. The ache was still present; the want crashed in her chest along with her racing heart. Pressing her thighs together, she willed away the urge to feel something there to subdue the throbbing. It didn't help. Her sex was clenching, needing pressure as her clit pulsed.

Before Cat understood what she was doing, her own hand was between her legs, dipping under the white lace thong she wore to find the relief she craved. The moment the tips of her fingers came in contact with her sensitive folds, Cat jerked in the seat, air rushing out of her lungs painfully hard.

She slipped her fingers lower, spreading the lips of her sex to find her slit soaked with her silky fluids. With the heel of her palm pressing roughly to her clit, Cat plunged two fingers into her pussy. The walls of her sex hugged her digits, more proof of her want taunting her. It wasn't enough, not nearly enough, but the fast beat of her fingers fucking her own pussy offered a little relief to let her breathe again.

The peak didn't come, not like she wanted it to. Certainly not as fast as she needed it to. Adding a third finger didn't help. Curling her digits to stimulate her G-spot only caused her wetness to gush, but it didn't throw her over the edge of the orgasm clawing around her senses.

Cat whined, slamming her back into the seat, desperately craving release to make her need disappear. Her one hand pushed against the steering wheel for support she didn't even need. Loud, echoing cries shredded their way past her trembling lips. Christ, she was so fucking close. So close. It was only when she thought of Dante's mouth on hers, imagined it was his fingers stroking inside her sex that her mind and nerves finally succumbed to the inevitable bliss.

Minutes passed as Cat calmed, withdrawing her shaking hand from between her legs and fixing her dress. She wasn't sure how long she sat like that, but she wasn't all too worried about anyone seeing her slip in control considering the windows on her new car-a gift from her husband-to-be-were tinted so dark they were illegal.

A two knuckle rap on the passenger window made Cat jump, a shriek of surprise catching in her throat. Turning the car on, she rolled down the window. Gaetano's familiar form came into view as he rested his arms across the window and leaned in the car.

Without a doubt, Cat knew the man could smell the scent of her arousal still floating in the car, but he didn't say a thing. Gaetano wouldn't-not being who he was. The man didn't judge and Cat adored him for it.

"Pao and I are going to catch that flight tomorrow morning to get things settled with the clientele down in LA for a little while. You going to be okay here without us?"

"Are you seriously asking me that, Gae?"

"You're off your game if you're letting a man get in your head, Cat."

"He's not in my head," she barked.

"Really? That was quite a show in there, regina," Gaetano drawled. "And you're looking mighty hot and bothered right now."

"Don't start."

"You like him."

Cat wet her lips. "I do."

"Well, remember who you're doing this for in the first damn place, Queen. You can't let your heart fuck up what your head already knows."

"I'm aware."

"I hope so. I suppose I won't see you again for a few months after the wedding, huh?" Gaetano asked, chuckling.

"Something like that."

"Three more weeks and you'll be a married woman. Never thought I'd see the day."

"Technically, you won't."

"Good. I think it'd give me a goddamn heart attack from the shock."

Cat sighed, turning off the car. "Call me a cab, Gae."

"Why?"

"I'm a little drunk."

Chapter Six.

"You don't have to do this," Lucian said, keeping his voice down so the rest of their family across the room couldn't hear.

Dante shrugged, fixing his cream colored tie in the mirror. "Don't I?"

"Okay, let me rephrase that. You shouldn't have to marry a woman you don't love just for the sake of Cosa Nostra, Dante."

"You're becoming awfully soft in the heart ever since you married Jordyn, brother."

"I am not. I could still shove my foot up your ass if I wanted. I've simply grown up from that nonsense." The edge of Lucian's mouth curved into a wicked smirk. "Nice try. Deflection won't work with me."

"We both know I have to do this," Dante murmured, meeting his brother's gaze in the reflection of the glass.

"What if ..."

"What if what?"

"What if I were to stand in for you at the Commission. Until you were ready-completely ready."

"If you mean until I find a woman I love, that's probably never going to happen. Love makes shit complicated and that's something I don't need right now. Besides, you don't want to be Don, Lucian. How is making you stand in for me any different than me marrying Catrina to ensure my standing in la famiglia?"

Lucian didn't answer and Dante caught himself wondering if his older brother's opinion had changed on being the leader of their crime family. If it had, that would only lead to problems for them both. Bloody ones. Nobody wanted that issue.

"Lucian, I asked a question. I would like an answer."

"It's not, you're right."

"Everyone but Dad keeps telling me I don't have to do this," Dante said, sighing. He went about pulling on his tux jacket and doing up the buttons.

"Because we don't want you to be unhappy," Lucian replied.

"I'm aware. My problem is you're also assuming I don't want to."

Lucian turned stiff. "You want to get married?"

"I want to be Don. I need to be married to get there. So, I've found a woman who wants a similar goal to mine, can be of use to me without causing me too many problems, and one who doesn't need emotional nonsense from me to keep her happy. Also, she makes me want to kill her and fuck her at the same time. It's entertaining, if nothing else."

"Sweet Jesus," Lucian mumbled under his breath.

"But we're not like that," Dante added, shrugging like it didn't make a difference. Inside, he knew it was a lie. Ignoring how attracted he was to Catrina had become nearly impossible, but he managed. "Yes, I want to marry Catrina. She's the best option for my situation and requirements. I'm the best for hers."

Lucian blinked, his surprise flitting over his gaze. "Okay, then."

"Good. I'm glad we got that cleared up." Dante glanced over his shoulder, seeing the rest of his family, minus Gio and Lucian's wives, were waiting to leave for the church. "Let's get me married."