Chapter 29: Two Weeks

It was... adorable.

Eve picked up her fork and took a bite of eggs. They were perfect. Fluffy and seasoned with something she couldn’t identify but that made them the best eggs she’d ever tasted.

"Good?" Nonna asked, watching her like a hawk.

"Incredible," Eve said honestly.

Nonna beamed. "Good. You eat. Get strong. You will need it."

Eve wasn’t sure what that meant, but before she could ask, Nonna continued.

"Dimitri tells me you own a business. A talent agency, yes?"

"Yes. Phoenix Talent Agency. We represent models and actors."

"Successful?"

"Very."

"Good. A woman should have her own money. Her own power." Nonna nodded approvingly. "Beautiful and smart. Dimitri chose well."

"Nonna," Dimitri said, a warning in his voice.

"What? I speak truth. You have brought home many women over the years. All beautiful. All boring. This one...." she pointed at Eve with the spatula "...this one has fire. I can see it."

Eve didn’t know whether to be flattered or embarrassed.

"How long have you been with my grandson?" Nonna asked, settling onto a barstool across from them with her own cup of coffee.

"Grandson?" Eve looked at Dimitri, confused. "I thought she raised you like a mother?"

"She did. But technically, she was my father’s nanny when he was a child. Then she became mine. So yes, grandson." He smiled. "Though she’s more of a mother than my actual mother ever was."

Something painful flickered across Nonna’s face. "Your mother was a good woman. Soft. Kind. Too kind for this world."

"She was weak," Dimitri said, his voice hardening slightly.

"She was human." Nonna’s voice was firm. "And she loved you. Never forget that, Dimitri Antonio Valentino."

The use of his full name made him flinch slightly, and Eve had to hide her smile. Even the Devil had someone who could put him in his place.

"Two weeks," Eve said, answering Nonna’s original question. "We’ve been together two weeks."

"Two weeks and he brings you to meet me." Nonna’s eyes were sharp. "That is unusual. You must be very special."

"She is," Dimitri said before Eve could respond. "She’s mine."

"Yes, yes, yours." Nonna waved her hand. "Everything is yours, Dimitri. The buildings, the businesses, the city. But this one...." she pointed at Eve again ".....you cannot just own her. You must earn her too."

"I’m working on it."

"Good." Nonna stood, moved around the island, and took Eve’s face in her hands. Her palms were warm, her touch gentle. "You listen to me, yes? This boy....." she gestured to Dimitri "...he is difficult. Stubborn. Possessive. He will want to control everything about you. This is who he is. The Devil, they call him. And yes, sometimes he is the Devil."

"Nonna....."

"Hush. I am talking." She focused back on Eve. "But he is also a man who loves fiercely. Who protects what is his. Who will burn the world before letting anyone hurt you. So if you can handle the darkness, if you can accept all of him....the good and the terrible.....then you will have a man who will never betray you. Never leave you. Never let you go."

Tears burned Eve’s eyes. "I can handle it."

"You are sure? Because there is no shame in walking away now. Before you are in too deep."

Eve glanced at Dimitri. At the man who’d tortured someone without flinching. Who’d denied her pleasure until she’d nearly gone insane. Who’d threatened to kill her ex-husband and then let him live because her forgiveness mattered more than his revenge.

"I’m already in too deep," Eve whispered. "And I don’t want out."

Nonna searched her face for a long moment, then smiled. A real, genuine smile full of warmth and approval.

"Good," she said, squeezing Eve’s face gently before releasing her. "Then you and I will be friends. And I will teach you things. How to handle him. How to manage this life. How to be strong when the world tries to break you."

"I’d like that," Eve said, her voice thick with emotion.

Nonna patted her cheek, then turned to Dimitri. She said something in Italian that made him straighten.

He responded, and she nodded, satisfied.

"What did she say?" Eve asked.

"She asked if I’d told you I loved you yet," Dimitri said, his eyes locked on Eve’s. "I told her no. Not yet. But soon."

Eve’s breath caught.

"And what did she say to that?"

"She said I was an idiot for waiting."

Nonna laughed, a bright sound that filled the kitchen. "Yes. Idiot. But my idiot. Now....." she clapped her hands ".....I must speak with these girls about proper cleaning. You two..." she pointed at them ".....finish breakfast. Then, Eve, you come find me. I teach you how to make proper Italian food. Yes?"

"Yes," Eve agreed, because saying no to Nonna seemed impossible.

Nonna swept out of the kitchen, the two maids following her like ducklings, and suddenly Eve and Dimitri were alone.

"She’s wonderful," Eve said.

"She’s terrifying," Dimitri corrected. "But yes. Wonderful too."

"You love her."

"More than my own father." He took her hand, brought it to his lips. "She’s the only family I have that matters. Well. Until now."

"Until now?"

"You’re my family now too, Eve. Whether you realize it or not."

The weight of those words settled over her like a blanket. Heavy but not suffocating. Warm.

"I’ve never really had that," she admitted. "Family that felt like... home."

"You do now." He pulled her off the barstool and into his arms. "Nonna will adopt you whether you want her to or not. Fair warning: she’s going to try to feed you constantly and ask invasive questions about when we’re getting married and having babies."

Eve laughed despite herself. "Married?"

"She’s traditional. In her world, if a man keeps a woman in his home for more than a week, marriage is the next logical step."

"Is it?" Eve asked, her heart hammering. "The next logical step?"

Dimitri’s expression turned serious. "For us? Yes. Eventually. But first, you need to be sure. Completely sure. Because once I put my ring on your finger, cara mia, there’s no going back. You’ll be mine in every legal, social, and spiritual way possible."

"I thought I was already yours."

"You are. But marriage makes it official. Makes it real in a way the world can’t ignore." He cupped her face. "And I want the world to know you’re mine. Want your brother to accept it. Want my father to see that I’ve chosen my own path. Want everyone to understand that Eve Thorne belongs to Dimitri Valentino and no one else."

"That’s very possessive."

"I’m a very possessive man. You knew this when you signed the contract."

She had. She really had.

"When?" she asked. "When do you think... when would you want...?"

"To marry you?" He smiled. "When the six months are up. When you’ve had time to truly know what you’re choosing. When there’s no doubt in either of our minds that this is forever."

Four and a half months.

Four and a half more months of this intensity, this possession, this overwhelming connection.

And then forever.

The thought should terrify her.

Instead, it filled her with something that felt dangerously like joy.

"Okay," she whispered.

"Okay?"

"Okay. Four and a half months. Then... then we’ll talk about forever."

His smile was brilliant. Victorious. Tender.

"Good girl," he murmured, then kissed her. Deep and claiming and full of promises.

When he pulled back, his eyes had darkened with familiar hunger.

"But first," he said, his voice dropping to that dangerous purr, "I need to continue your training. Because in four and a half months, when I marry you, I want your body to be so thoroughly prepared for mine that our wedding night lasts for days."

Heat flooded through her. "Dimitri....."

"Upstairs. Bedroom. Now."

"But Nonna....."

"Nonna will understand. She knows what I am. What we are." He grabbed her hand, started pulling her toward the stairs. "Besides, the penthouse is soundproof. Mostly."

"Mostly?!"

He laughed, actually laughed, and the sound was so rare and genuine that Eve couldn’t help but laugh too.

And as he led her upstairs, past the maids who very carefully didn’t look at them, past Nonna who just smiled knowingly, Eve realized something important.

She was happy.

For the first time in years....maybe in her entire life....she was genuinely, completely happy.

Owned by the Devil. Claimed by a monster. Loved by a man who would burn the world for her.

And she wouldn’t change a single thing.

****

POV: NONNA

Sophia Moretti.....Nonna to everyone who mattered.....stood in the hallway and watched Dimitri pull Eve up the stairs with a smile on her face.

She’d raised that boy from the time he was eight years old. Had watched his mother’s death harden him. Had seen him build walls so high and thick that she’d worried no one would ever reach him.

She’d watched him bring home women over the years. Beautiful women. Sophisticated women. Women who wanted his money or his power or the thrill of being with someone dangerous.

None of them had lasted more than a few weeks.

None of them had made him smile like that.

None of them had made him soft.

But this one.....this Eve with her big eyes and her quiet strength and her obvious love for a man who didn’t deserve her but who needed her desperately.....this one was different.

This one would stay.

This one would change him.

This one would save him from becoming his father.

And for that, Sophia would love her forever.

"Nonna?" One of the maids approached hesitantly. "Should we prepare the guest rooms for....."

"No guest rooms," Sophia said firmly. "She stays with him. In his room. In his bed. Where she belongs."

The maid nodded and scurried away.

Sophia moved to the window, looked out at the city Dimitri controlled, and said a small prayer.

Thank you for bringing her to him. Thank you for giving him something to love besides power and revenge. Please, God, let him be worthy of her. And let her be strong enough to handle him.

From upstairs, she heard a sound that might have been a laugh or a moan.

She smiled.

Yes.

This one would definitely stay.