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Her lashes fluttered, and suddenly she lifted her head, eyes bleary with sleep.“You’re still here.”

Sal’s lips twitched.“You’re very observant,” he teased, dragging his hand up her spine, tangling his fingers in her hair.Soft, silky, grounding.His chest tightened as she traced absent patterns on him with her delicate fingers.

He shifted, lifting her easily until she was straddling him.He wanted to see her.Wanted her to take what she craved.“Show me what you want, Cata.”His hands cupped her breasts, and her gasp went straight to his groin.

She wriggled, her movements instinctive, needy, making him grit his teeth.He lifted her hips, guiding her above him.“I need a condom,” he groaned, already hard with need.

Her answer cut through his haze.“No, you don’t.”

Sal froze.The words slammed into him like a punch.

He flipped her beneath him in a swift motion, her hair spilling across the pillows like a dark halo.His voice was low, rough.“Why not?”His chest rose and fell, his fear for her health irrational—but real.

Her wide eyes flashed with fear, and instantly, his fury cooled.That fear wasn’t for him—it was for her memories.

“Cata,” he murmured, his voice softer now, brushing his lips against the tender spot of her throat he knew unraveled her.“We briefly talked about having kids, but we’re not ready yet.”When she still looked startled, he softened his tone even further.“Just talk to me.”

Her breath shuddered.Then the truth spilled out.

“I want to have your child!”she blurted, her voice cracking.She pushed at him, but he held her gently—just enough to anchor her, not cage her.

He froze, heart pounding.

“My father…” Her voice faltered, and she clutched the sheet to her chest, tears trembling on her lashes.“He used me like a pawn, Sal.He would sell me off—engage me to whoever he wanted to control.Men I barely knew.And some…” She swallowed hard.“Threatened horrible things.”She slipped out of bed and tugged a robe over her nakedness.

He watched, but heard her words.The implication cut through him like a blade.His vision darkened with rage, but he forced himself to remain still as her pain poured out.

“But you…” she whispered, her arms wrapping around herself, the robe clutched tightly as she stood by the window.She faced the morning light as if it could burn away her shame.

“My father never saw me as a person,” she said bitterly.“Just a tool.A way to manipulate his men.The engagements never lasted long—weeks, maybe months—before those men disappeared.I don’t know what happened to them.I never asked.”Her chin lifted, trembling but defiant.“I didn’t care.None of them were kind.”

Her eyes met his, shining with tears and steel.“But you’re kind, Sal.”

He didn’t argue.He wasn’t kind—never had been.He was a bastard through and through.But if she believed he was good, then hell, he wasn’t going to disabuse her of that notion.Not when her belief in him felt like oxygen to his lungs.

“You think this will make me stay?”His voice was quiet, dangerous.

She tightened her arms around herself.“Having a baby?”

“Yes.”

She nodded.

Sal sighed and stepped out of bed, coming to her.“Cata,” he groaned, pulling her into his arms.“You’re still thinking of yourself as a commodity.”He kissed the top of her head.“You’re enough,” he growled.“You.Just you.”He hugged her gently, trying to infuse her with his strength.“You don’t need to produce a child in order to keep me with you.”

“But…!”she whispered, and he felt her lean into his embrace.That was a good sign.

“You’re enough,” he grumbled again.“Yes, I’d love to have kids with you.But you don’t need to bargain with me in order to keep me.To prove yourself to me.”

Her trembling increased and he rubbed his cheek against her head, trying to reassure her, grateful that she was listening to him.

“We’ll have children.When you’re ready.”She shifted again and he looked down at her.“There’s a lot between us that’s unsettled.”

Sal’s jaw flexed.He didn’t give a damn about a baby.What he wanted—what burned like acid in his chest—was the fact that she still thought of herself as a commodity.“These other men.The ones that threatened you.I want their names.”

His whole body radiated lethal intent.This was one of those moments when he wasn’t kind, when the mafia boss inside him roared to life.

Her lips parted, a shadow of shame flashing across her eyes.“The men who… hurt me,” she whispered, her words too small for what they’d done.“They’re gone.I don’t know where.Probably at the bottom of the Minnesota River.”