34. Massimo
Chapter 34
Massimo
W hen I enter our bedroom, Margot is pacing by the window. An energy pours off her, but I can’t quite pinpoint what it is. There’s a restlessness to it, mixed with a tension that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
I’ll fix whatever is worrying her. Anything to stop her from looking like that, as if the weight of the world is sitting on her chest. Christ, I’d fucking burn the world to the ground for her if it would make her feel better.
When her wide eyes meet mine, she comes to a stop and her body visibly relaxes. She crosses the room, meeting me halfway and clutching on to my shirt.
My eyes drop to her mouth, watching as she forms her words. “I have to tell you something,” she rushes.
Bringing my hands up, I place them on either side of her head, smoothing my thumbs over her cheeks. I dip, ghosting my lips over hers before trailing across her jaw and over her neck. She tilts her head back, granting me greater access. “I’ll fix it, but can it wait?”
“Massimo.” My name is a breathless caress, a touch of admonishment trailing in its wake. The sound of it on her lips makes my cock impossibly hard.
“Say it again,” I urge, my mouth tracing a path across her collarbone.
“Massimo, please,” she moans when I cup her breast, massaging the full globe with my palm.
Hooking my hands into the neckline of her dress, I rip the material down the center.
Margot gasps, the sound music to my fucking ears. Finding her bare, I growl before taking her nipple into my mouth and sucking on it, flicking my tongue over the hardened point.
Grazing her nipple with my teeth, I suck the bud one final time before releasing it with a pop. When I straighten to my full height, I devour her with my eyes, reveling in the flush covering her chest and cheeks. She’s fucking beautiful . I need her.
My voice comes out low, reverberating in my chest when I demand, “What do you need?”
Stepping into her space, I run my thumb over the pulsating vein in her throat, my gaze flicking between her hooded eyes and slightly parted lips.
She blinks up at me, lost in the evident desire between us but trying to fight her way through. Placing her hands on my chest, Margot blows out a breath. “I—God, I want you, but not right now.”
My brow tugs down and I rest my hands over hers before demanding, “What’s wrong?”
Stepping back and taking her warmth with her, she moves to the bed and picks up my T-shirt—the one she insists on wearing to bed—pulling it over her head and hiding her body from my view. “I can’t have this conversation naked.”
She perches on the end of the bed, tapping the spot next to her, but I don’t move. My curiosity is piqued, but I’m not sitting down for whatever this is. “We are not getting a divorce,” I grit out.
She shakes her head, wetting her lips but doesn’t speak.
“What is it, Margot?” I demand, folding my arms over my chest.
“Who is Elio?” she asks, her voice quiet but the hint of anguish adds a slight tremor to it.
I narrow my eyes, my body tensing before I take an involuntary step forward. “Where did you hear that name?”
She bites down on her bottom lip, looking up at me from under her lashes. “I overheard a conversation. They mentioned three names.” She ticks them off on her fingers. “Elio, Mattia and Francesco.”
With every name, my muscles stiffen, until my entire body is rigid, and I grind out, “What did you overhear?”
Margot looks down at her lap, picking at her nail polish before returning to meet my gaze. Shaking her head, she replies, “I don’t want to tell you if it’s going to end how I think it will.”
“And how do you think it will end?” I ask, injecting a reluctant softness into my tone.
She lifts her head, her eyes holding mine, something akin to regret, or perhaps sympathy, shining in the green depths. “You’ll do what you need to do, I suppose.”
Margot stands, closing the distance between us and wrapping her arms around my waist as she presses her head to my chest. Automatically, I lift my arms, wrapping them around her, offering her comfort. “I just don’t want that on my conscience, but more than that, I don’t want your death on it either.”
I rest my chin on the top of her head, trying to reassure her when I say, “Whatever it is they’ve done, they have made that decision. Not you. You haven’t forced them into this. They have to face the consequences. That isn’t on you, Margot.” Pulling her away from me, I bend my knees until we’re eye-level. “Tell me what you overheard.”
Her eyes search mine before she steps out of my hold completely. Walking to the window, she leans against the wall as she stares out into the gardens. Her voice is quiet when she finally speaks, the magnitude of what she is telling me dragging her down. “I was heading to the kitchen to hang out with Alma when I overheard someone on the phone to Elio. They were in the alcove near the main staircase.”
Margot darts her eyes to me and I incline my head for her to continue. We can talk about how she shouldn’t put herself in dangerous situations later. “He was talking to Elio, telling him that he had everything in hand and that there wouldn’t be any more problems because he’s in charge of the investigation…”
I tune her out, my mind stuck on that small and possibly, to her at least, insignificant piece of information. I’m assaulted by a range of emotions, but the one that stands out the most is my fury, it battles with the betrayal until all I can feel is the fire burning in my veins.
“Who?” I bark.
Margot jumps, but in the midst of my anger, I can’t comfort her.
She hesitates before whispering, “Aldo.”
No . I want to tell her she’s wrong, that he would never betray me, because betraying me would be like betraying my father. But the truth is, the second she said he’d told Elio he was investigating the case, I knew. I just needed her to confirm because I never would have thought he would do this.
Fuck .
Balling my fists, I squeeze until the muscles in my forearms burn from the tension. I spin toward the door, the room blurring around me. Rage thrums in my veins, barely leashed.
“Massimo, please. Don’t do what I think you’re going to do.”
I stop with my hand on the doorknob, staring down at the metal ring on my finger. We both know that I have no choice. This is my duty, just like it is my duty to protect her. I cross the room back to Margot, pressing a kiss to her forehead, before sliding my ring off. When I place it in her palm, her fingers curl around it like it’s something fragile. “I won’t have his blood tainting my ring, look after it for me. He has to pay for what he’s done.”
Teary eyes hold mine when I step back. A single tear falls free, tumbling down her cheek and pooling on her chin. I cup her face with one hand, pressing my lips to hers before I step back. “His death isn’t on your hands. He did this . The moment he colluded with our enemies was the moment he signed away his life.” And I won’t hesitate to take him out.
She nods, mumbling, “I don’t like it, but I understand.”
I stare at her for a moment before stepping away, in awe of the woman I married. She doesn’t stop me this time but I don’t miss the shaky breath she drags in. How can she have compassion for a man that could kill her in the blink of an eye?
The irony isn’t lost on me that I could kill her, as I have many others before, and yet, she puts her faith in me to protect her. To love her .