Chapter Twenty-Three
ORAZIO
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“Answer me, son. Are you willing to let her go if that’s the only way to keep her alive?”
“Damn it, dad. Monique is mine. If anyone fucks with her, I will...” Then he saw it, the smirk on his father’s face.
“You’ll what?” Don Cattaneo asked. “What will you do to your dad over a woman?”
“Dad, just tell me your thoughts because I’m about to lose my damn mind over here. Are you serious, or are you testing me?”
Don Cattaneo chuckled. “I’ve never seen you like this. This woman is important to you, isn’t she?”
Raz nodded.
“Just because she’s important to you doesn’t mean this relationship will work. I’d rather you marry for rational reasons, like money and power. You could always keep the woman you love as your mistress.”
“Do you want me to die? Because she’d kill me.”
“Really? Maybe she is worthy of you after all.”
“The question is, am I worthy of her?”
“Are you?”
“I’m trying to be.”
“If you marry for power and money, you don’t have to worry about living up to any woman’s fairytale expectations.”
“I think I’d make a dashing Prince Charming.”
“I think you’d be the villain who Prince Charming tries to kill.”
Orazio chuckled. “Villains need love too.”
“Even if this woman is okay with you being a villain, that doesn’t mean it will work between you two.”
“Why can’t you think positively, dad?”
“I’m being honest. Marriage tends to put a strain on relationships. It changes people. She may not be the same woman you fell in love with ten years from now. Especially after she sees the other side of you, the side you’ll soon show to Beth’s father and Trevor. And you may not be the same man she loves ten years from now. You two could end up hating each other. And that could drive you both to do things you’d later regret. When it comes to marriage, I say marry the woman compatible with you but not in love with you and sleep with the woman you love. That simplifies things.”
“For some, maybe. Not for me.”
“Marriage...”
“Dad, you can’t compare the relationship of others to my relationship with Monique. And the stuff you’re talking about could happen to anyone, not just me. Sure, marriage is hard. I know that. I get it. But I’ve never walked away from anything just because it was hard. You taught me that. Right?”
His dad chuckled. “Right. I did teach you boys that.”
“Dad, you’ve been both a mother and father to me and my brothers while at the same time having to be the don for the organization. Never once did you complain when things got hard. Never once did you leave us, neglect us, or fail the organization. You stayed strong when things got hard. We were watching, and we were learning. We saw the way your relationship was with mom. That’s why I’ve avoided serious relationships all these years. But now I’ve found a woman I can’t avoid. I don’t want to avoid her. And she wants me too, dad.”
“But does she want you as much as you want her?”
“I don’t expect her to. There’s no way she could want me as much as I want her. If I could fully explain to her how fucking obsessed I was with her, it would probably scare her. Having her want me half as much as I want her is more than most men get from the women they love.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
Raz nodded. “She’s it for me, dad. And I want you to like and accept her. I need that. I don’t ask for much.”
“Liar. You ask for everything,” his dad joked.
Raz laughed. “I haven’t asked for everything in a long time.”
His dad sighed. “No, you haven’t. You boys have grown up. You don’t need me anymore.”
“We’ll always need you. That will never change. Hell, I need you more now than ever. I have a woman I love. I need you to treat her like family and help me protect her.”
His father stared at him for a long time. Raz tapped his feet against the floor, waiting for his dad to say something.
Finally, his dad said, “After this mess with Beth’s father and Trevor is over, bring her to the estate. I would love to have dinner with her.”
A huge grin spread across Raz’s face. “Thanks, dad.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I’m not going to sugarcoat things just so you can impress her. When she leaves the estate, she may not want to see you again.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get her ready to meet you.”
“You do that. Before that, we need to prepare this gift of yours for Beth’s dad.”
“I’ll do that tomorrow. Today, I’m going to sleep in with my woman. And I owe her a first date. So, my day belongs to Monique.”
“I’ll leave so you can get back to her. Before I go, son, I want to give you one word of advice.”
“I’m listening.”
“I know you’re in love. I know you may trust this woman. But don’t ever show her who you truly are and what you really do. She may say she understands this life and she’s okay with it. But unless she’s seen it, unless she’s seen the bodies and the blood and then said she’s okay with it, there’s no way she truly understands who we are and what we do. When smart women get to know the real us, they run. If you don’t want her to run, only show her what she needs to see. Trust me on this, son. I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some rest.”
Raz remained seated even after his father had left the room. His dad’s words were on repeat in his mind. Raz leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. If he showed his Rosa the monster behind the businessman, would she run, or would she stay by his side?
And if she tried to run, would he force her to stay, and would that eventually cause her to hate him? Fuck that! He wasn’t about to worry about that shit right now. Opening his eyes, he stood up and headed for the door.
Today, he and Rosa were going to enjoy some alone time. No brothers. No fathers. No friends. No guards. No Bethany. No thoughts of fucking Trevor. Only Raz and Monique. Today, he was going to spend every second showing his Rosa that he loved her.
He was going to show her his charming side. And in a couple of days, he was going to show Beth’s father and Trevor his monster. For his woman, he’d be Prince Charming. To his enemies, he’d be the villain.
***
When Monique woke up, Orazio told her he had a surprise for her. During their shower, she kept asking what the surprise was. It was hard to resist revealing it, but he managed. After the shower, they dressed in hotel robes, and he had a member of his staff go shopping for her, bringing her some clothing from a boutique one of his cousins owned.
While he went over some emails, Monique visited the store’s app on her phone and chose the items she wanted. To keep her friends happy and distracted, he’d given his guard a black card and told him to allow Meka and Toya to do whatever they wanted with it.
That should keep them from calling Monique and checking on her. As expected, Raz finished getting dressed before Monique did. But he didn’t complain. He enjoyed watching her dress.
What he enjoyed most was that she didn’t seem to be shy about being naked in front of him any longer. She strode from the bathroom to the bedroom in her birthday suit as she got ready. There was no method to her madness.
Raz always stayed in one room when he dressed. Monique fluttered back and forth, forgetting things as she went. He couldn’t tear his gaze from her. Once she finished dressing, he wanted to say forget the morning date and instead undress her so he could put his mouth on her.
But seeing her so excited for her surprise, he kept his wicked thoughts to himself and escorted her to the parking garage. Monique’s eyes widened in awe as she caught sight of Orazio’s prized possession: a sleek, black Maserati Quattroporte.
“This is your car?” she asked when they reached it.
“One of them.” He unlocked her door.
“Brag much?” she joked as she slid inside.
“You can have it if you want it,” he told her before shutting the door, leaving her with her mouth wide open.
His car wasn’t the only thing that impressed Monique. So did his beach house once they pulled into the driveway.
“Can I have this too?” she asked.
“Consider it yours,” he told her as they entered his home.
“Whatever,” she said.
“I’m serious. We can live here if you want.”
“What about during hurricane season?”
“We can go up north during hurricane season.”
“You’ve got an answer for everything, Mr. Cattaneo.”
“I’m just doing whatever it takes to get you to become Mrs. Cattaneo.”
A blush tinted her cheeks as he led her to his kitchen. Was he blushing too? No. There was no way he was blushing.
“I hope you didn’t bring me here to cook for you,” Monique told him, frowning as she stared around his kitchen. “I mean, I can cook. I’m the best crockpot cook there is. But, if it’s something that doesn’t go in the crockpot, you may stop liking me after you taste it.”
“I don’t like you. I love you. There’s a difference. And don’t worry. I’ll teach you how to cook.”
“You can cook?”
“These hands can do more than just make you cum, Rosa.” There was that fucking blush that he loved again. “Come here,” he told her. She sauntered over to him. Holding her close, he kissed her forehead. “You ready for your man to teach you how to cook?”
She nodded. With that kiss and nod, their morning officially began. As the sun drifted into Orazio’s spacious kitchen, he found himself sharing an intimate cooking experience with the woman he loved. A first for him.
He’d never cooked with anyone other than his aunt and grandma, who taught him to cook when he was younger. They’d insisted he learn because the men in their family had bad luck with women. Wearing a simple white apron that accentuated her curves, Monique smiled as she watched him.
“Today, I’ll teach you the secrets of an authentic Italian breakfast,” Orazio told her.
“I don’t want to stand here doing nothing. What can I do to help?”
“You can start the coffee pot for me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Monique started the coffee pot as Orazio opened his refrigerator to make sure the ingredients he’d asked his maid to purchase this morning were there. They were. It was time to show off his cooking skills.
He took his time showing her how to prepare a traditional frittata with eggs and finely chopped vegetables. Watching Monique chop vegetables was a horror show. Each piece was a different shape and size.
“Let me help you with that,” he offered.
“I got it,” she told him, looking determined to get it right.
“Is that why the vegetables look like they’ve been chopped with a chainsaw? Let me help you.”
Standing behind her, he wrapped his arms around her and helped her chop the vegetables. When his touch met hers, she shivered.
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” he warned.
“I can’t help it. Your hands are so big. Like another part of you,” she whispered seductively.
“Careful, woman.”
Her giggle was fucking adorable. Monique’s laughter danced through the air, mingling with the aromatic notes of freshly brewed coffee that permeated the room. Next, he showed her how to prepare bruschetta: crusty slices of artisanal bread topped with diced tomatoes, basil, minced garlic, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Monique’s efforts to slice the bread uniformly were met with laughter from Orazio. But she wouldn’t let him help her, resulting in an array of misshapen pieces of bread. The kitchen buzzed with the sound of clinking knives, the chopping of ingredients, and laughter.
His home had never sounded that way before. This was something Raz wanted forever. By the time they were done, his kitchen was a mess. Flour dusted their clothes, homemade tomato sauce was splattered on the countertops, and eggshells had found their way onto the floor.
Yet, Orazio had never felt happier. Their hard work resulted in frittatas cooked just the way his grandma taught him and misshapen bruschetta arranged on a platter. They sat at the table, facing each other.
He waited for Monique to take a bite of her food before eating himself. Her eyes lit up as she chewed the food slowly.
After swallowing, she told him, “This is so good.”
“You like it?”
“I don’t like it. I love it. There’s a difference.” She winked.
He fell in love all over again. How many times would this woman make him fall in love with her?
“I can make you this every morning,” he told her.
“Really?” she asked.
“If you let me.”
“Do I have to do the dishes?”
He shook his head. “All you have to do is be mine.”
“I’m already yours, silly,” she told him before forking another bite of food into her mouth.
Damn right, she was his. And he would do whatever it took to keep her in his life. Smiling, he continued watching her eat. Today, he’d romance his woman. Tomorrow, he’d fuck up her ex-husband.
Prince Charming and the villain - there was no reason why he couldn’t be both.