LUCA

“This is your life now, Veda. With me. And it’s time you accepted it.”

Fucking stubborn as always, she shook her head. “No. No, it’s not. And I don’t.”

I searched her face. There was a storm brewing in her gray eyes. I was relieved to see it even as I wanted to pull her over my lap and spank her ass until her skin was bright pink. “It’s the only choice you have.”

“No,” she insisted, sticking her face in mine, her sweet mouth so close I could take that full bottom lip between my teeth. “It’s not.”

Pushing off her chair, I backed away, not believing what...