Chapter 2

"There'll be no more talk of divorce, Eliza...ever," the alpha told her with a sickening air of finality.

"You can't stop me from divorcing you, Romano," she responded bravely.

"You really want a divorce, cara?" he asked. Eliza nodded stiffly.

"If you get that divorce, your cousin loses her business, and she can't afford that now, not with a new baby on the way. She and her alpha need all the capital they can get."

Somehow Eliza hadn't expected that, she should have, but she hadn't. Romano had loaned her cousin, Nadia, the start-up capital for her bookshop.

Eliza didn't know what the specifics of that loan were, but she had always assumed that it was done out of generosity.

Staring up at Romano now, the omega couldn't believe her own naïveté.

Romano Visconti did nothing out of sheer generosity, and that loan was merely another weapon for him to use against her.

"You wouldn't," Eliza responded. "Nadia has done nothing to deserve this."

"Cara, I will do whatever it takes to get what I want from you."

"I have money too, I can help her..." the omega began desperately.

"No, you have a rich father, and he had the opportunity to help Nadia, but he made his contempt of the idea more than obvious to everyone at the time, and you know that he would never support you through a messy divorce, Eliza."

"I still don't believe you would do it! You have a reputation to uphold. You're an honest businessman, and you wouldn't destroy a small business just to prove a point. What kind of message would that send?" Eliza asked.

"That I'm not to be trifled with." Romani shrugged.

"Do you honestly think I care what people think of me, Eliza? Do you think I care what you think of me? I never have and I never will. You're weak and spoiled."

"I'm not..." Eliza tried to defend herself, but Romano made a scolding sound in the back of his throat before continuing as if Eliza hadn't spoken."

"You'll get your divorce eventually, but there's something I need to get from you first. You wanted this marriage, remember? You begged for it, I'm sure. So if you want a divorce right now, it'll come with some heavy penalties. Are you willing to gamble with your cousin's future?"

Eliza wouldn't do it, and he knew it. Romano had her exactly where he wanted her.

There would be no divorce. Not when so much hung in the balance.

But there would be changes...Eliza Visconti was done being a doormat. She said nothing, choosing to turn and walk away instead.

Romano watched her go, and she could feel his eyes burning into her slender back but Romano did not call her back.

Eliza did not return to the bedroom they had shared since the first day of their marriage, opting instead to head for the library, knowing that she would not sleep another wink.

Not in that room, not anymore.

Hours later, Romano came downstairs for breakfast.

It was a Saturday morning, so he didn't have any early-morning meetings to rush out to and instead he tended to linger over his newspaper and coffee and largely ignore Eliza.

That morning was no different. It was as if their earlier argument hadn't happened at all.

They ate their casual weekend meals in the kitchen and the homey setting lent a false sense of domesticity to the scene.

But while Eliza was uncomfortable and tense in the intimate setting, Romano always remained as cool as the proverbial cucumber.

Then again, that was nothing new, as the alpha rarely showed emotion.

In fact the "discussion" of that morning was the most heated Eliza had ever seen him.

Romano kept his feelings under wraps but had always made his contempt for the omega more than clear.

It was in the way he refused to meet Eliza’s eyes, the way he could make love to the omega without kissing her on the mouth, the way he could talk past her when he had something to tell her, while eternally optimistic and stupid Eliza had never been good at hiding her feelings from him.

Not from the very moment she had met him, nearly two years ago. How hopelessly infatuated she had been. How quickly the omega had fallen in love.

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Eliza vividly recalled their first meeting.

Romano had come to dinner at their house. Her father hadn't told her much about their guest except that he was the son of an old acquaintance, and an alpha.

Her father had then left her to meet Romano by herself so that he could make an entrance.

It had been one of Victor Harrington's many "tricks" to keep his business adversaries constantly wrong-footed.

He loved getting them on his own turf and had conducted many business deals in his home. He would let Eliza soften them up with her natural warmth, and then he would swoop in while they were still charmed and go in for the kill.

Eliza hadn't known about her role in her father's wheeling and dealing until she was twenty two; before that she had merely been grateful for the opportunity to help her father entertain his important friends.

By the time she met Romano, Eliza was the consummate hostess: charming, sweet, warm on the outside but completely disillusioned on the inside.

Her father's little business parties had always left her feeling used and disheartened.

Romano Visconti had swooped into their home looking grim and purposeful, like a man ready for battle. Romano had seemed surprised to see Eliza standing in the huge entrance.

Eliza had been wearing a simple green sheath dress, her hair upswept into an elegant ponytail of her then wavy chest length hair, and she had chosen a simple emerald pendant with matching earrings as her only embellishments.

Romano had faltered at the sight of the omega and frowned in confusion. Eliza, for her part, had been completely riveted by the unexpectedly splendid man who stood in front of her, and for the first time ever Eliza’s poise had deserted her, she had been unable to utter a single word.

Romano had been beautifully outfitted in a tailor-made business suit, but his windswept hair had contradicted that air of sartorial splendor, giving him a slightly wild appearance.

His dark stubble and loosened tie reinforced that ruggedness. He had been like no other man she had ever seen before, and the omega wanted to know everything there was to know about him.

Romano had recovered first. He had taken a step toward the omega, followed by another and then another, until he stood directly in front of her, so close that his every inhalation of breath caused his chest to lightly brush against hers.

Eliza had tilted her head back to stare at the alpha in wonder, tracing every angle and curve on his face in fascination.

"Hello, cara." His voice, like dark velvet over gravel, had sent a shudder of awareness up her spine.

"What's your name?"

"Eliza." She had been helpless to do anything but respond. Then he smelled wonderful like whiskey and sin, and Eliza couldn't help and had found herself leaning towards the alpha to breathe in his scent.

She remembered every word, every emotion, every sensation of the exchange that had followed.

"Eliza?" he repeated, his appealing voice going slightly husky. "Bellissima. I'm Romano."

"Yes," she said, not making much sense at that moment, and the alpha grinned.

It was a beautiful, warm, boyish smile that made him even more handsome.

"Can you say it?" he asked quietly. "Say what?"

"My name. I want to hear my name on those amazing lips." Romano traced a finger over her lips and she stopped breathing completely and moaned. "Say it, cara. Please?"

"Romano," the omega whispered, and he groaned a little.

"Perfect. You're perfect, little Eliza." No one had ever looked at her and seen perfection before.

No one had ever smiled at her with so much appreciation and warmth in their eyes before.

Eliza had found herself staring back at this appealing stranger, and for the first time in her life, she had felt wanted. Between one heartbeat and the next,Eliza had fallen head over heels in love.

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