Francesca
Wolfe picked me up and drove us home.
His hand rested on my thigh the entire way, and that long drive was spent mostly in silence.
He asked if I was okay and I said yes, and that was the extent of the conversation.
Maybe he knew I needed time to process what was said, or maybe he didn’t want to have this conversation when he couldn’t look at me directly.
By the time we made it home, it was past seven. I didn’t feel like cooking or going out, so Wolfe picked up takeout and brought it back to the house. I was already seated at the dining table on the top floor with a glass of wine beside me when he walked in.
He grabbed the boxes out of the paper bag and set the table before he sat across from me.
I opened my box and saw the pasta with white sauce and jumbo prawns, but I didn’t have much of an appetite.
He didn’t seem to either because he didn’t even open his takeout box. He just sat there with his muscular forearms resting on the table, his fingers interlocked. He didn’t ask me a single question, but his powerful stare lifted my emotions from the surface of my skin.
The silence in the car had given me some time to process it all before I shared it with Wolfe. “He wants me back at the winery.”
“No surprise there,” he said. “I’m sure everything went to shit fast.”
“He didn’t mention that.”
“I knew it would happen. He underestimated your output when he made that threat, and you were smart enough to call his bluff.”
“I didn’t think it was a bluff.” I’d just refused to play the game. He wanted to manipulate me into servitude, and I wouldn’t allow that. Wouldn’t work with someone who threatened to take away things I had been promised if I didn’t comply. Not a healthy relationship at all.
“What did you say?”
“Well, he said more than that—that he was sorry for his behavior and admitted his reaction was irrational.”
“Didn’t expect that one.”
“He accepts my relationship with you but still doesn’t like it.”
“Didn’t expect that one either.”
“Said he wants me back at the winery…but only me.”
He gave a slow nod. “And what did you say?”
“That I need to think about it. But I’m not sure why I said that.
Because there’s nothing to think about. I told him he was wrong about you, but he wouldn’t listen.
He had the nerve to tell me I was arrogant and blind for not agreeing with his perspective, but I told him he was the one with tunnel vision. ”
He continued to stare at me across the table, his dark eyes not blinking as they regarded me. He was still, just the way my father had been during that meeting.
“I told him he has Leo to run things, but he called him an idiot.”
Wolfe didn’t react to that.
“That pissed me off.”
“He’s right. You’re not only the smarter one, but the calmer one. You make decisions based on rationality rather than emotional impulses.”
“But yet, he doesn’t trust my opinion about you.”
He gave another nod. “Good point.”
“I just don’t appreciate hearing him speak about my brother like that. Maybe Leo could be better at a lot of things, but he’s loyal to this family. He has a good heart, and he means well.”
“He was really upset when he came to the house after Warren’s hit.”
“Yeah, he was.” My voice caught a bit from the emotional embrace we’d shared.
“And my dad just stood there and stared you down and didn’t even ask if I was okay.
” My voice started to rise. “Didn’t speak to me for fucking days because he was mad at me.
You saved my life—and he was fucking mad.
” I shook my head. “Don’t come for Leo when you’re a shitty father. ”
“Did you say all this to him?”
“No, but I wish I had.” My relationship with Leo was complicated in some ways, but in a lot of ways, it wasn’t complicated at all.
“I expected him to confront me, but he hasn’t.”
“Probably because he knows I’m an adult who doesn’t need his input.”
“Based on the look he gave me, he seems to be on your father’s side.” He gave a shrug. “Not that I care.”
I was a bit disappointed that Leo agreed with my father after everything that happened. I knew he had liked Wolfe at one point. Guess that feeling was fickle.
“Baby.”
My eyes had wandered with my thoughts, replaying the way Leo had hugged me with tears in his eyes. I looked at Wolfe once more.
“You should take it.”
My eyebrows immediately furrowed when I heard what he said.
“It’s your blood. It’s your inheritance. It’s your legacy.”
I had not expected Wolfe to have that opinion on the matter.
“I know it’s important to you.”
“It was important to me. But now, you’re what’s important to me.”
A slight smile moved on to his lips. “No reason you can’t have both.”
“My father said he doesn’t want you there as long as he’s living.”
“That’s fine,” he said simply. “I’m always down the street if you need me. And if you’re out and about getting shit done, your father can’t stop me from being there to protect you. I’ll be your personal bodyguard.”
“But we agreed to live here in Palermo together.”
The smile stayed on his lips. “It’s okay, baby.”
“I don’t see how I can work for my father when he detests you so much. It wouldn’t be right. And he’s so young, it’s not like he’s going to retire or die any time soon.”
He pulled his arms back from the surface until they dropped to his sides.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I already see how this will go down.
You’ve got a traitor in your midst, and at some point, he’s going to get close to his goal and make bigger moves.
So, either his identity will be revealed and your father will realize he fucked up and try to make peace with me.
Or this traitor is successful…and I have to clean up the mess.
In either scenario, I’ll be back and say I told you so. So I’m not worried about it.”
I hadn’t thought that far ahead. It made me question whether I was right for this job. I definitely wasn’t right for it without Wolfe at my side.
“And then I’ll be the muscle your father always wanted. No one will ever cross you. And we’ll live happily ever after.”
“But…is that what you want?” Now, we made our decisions together. Our lives weren’t separate entities anymore. We’d met just a few months ago, but we’d somehow jumped from strangers to life partners in the blink of an eye.
“I want you,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where we live or what we do. The details aren’t important.”
“But I know you love Palermo.” And he had to give it all up so I could work at my family business…where he was rejected and falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit.
“And I love you more,” he said simply.
“This just doesn’t feel fair to me.”
“I came into your life,” he said. “You didn’t come into mine. And the reason all of this is happening is because I didn’t handle the situation with your father the way I should have.”
“But that was my fault—”
“I’m the man. Everything is my fault.”
“I still don’t think that’s fair.”
“Baby, it’s okay. I’ve seen you give everything to your family and this business. I’m not going to be the reason you lose this opportunity, especially when I think you’d be really good at it. Especially when I know I’ll be able to keep you safe while you do it.”
I felt like this man gave me everything and I didn’t give him much in return.
“I know you’re loyal to me,” he said gently. “Going back is not a betrayal.”
“But I imagined our lives together here.”
“It can be our vacation home. We can still spend time here. It’s a short drive away.”
I couldn’t believe how supportive he was being. I didn’t know that I deserved his devotion.
“You’re a tough fucking bitch, baby,” he said with a slight smile.
“More capable than you realize. This is what you were born to do—and you’re going to fucking do it.
And I’m going to be the man who watches your back and your front while you do it.
It’s the perfect fit for us both. We just need to be patient for a little while before it happens, that’s all. ”
I continued to stare at him across the table, unable to believe this man had literally dropped out of the sky and set his sights on me. Invaded my mind, body, and soul and made me his. Made me happier than I ever thought I could be. “You’re sure?”
“I speak the truth and only the truth—always.”
I gave a slow nod, feeling the stress and the excitement. “Then…I think I’m going to say yes.”
A genuine, handsome smile moved over his face. “Attagirl.”