Chapter 44
FABIANA
Dominic Santoro was an exceptionally charming man.
He’d put me at ease within minutes of us meeting.
When he’d first walked into the ceramics workshop, I’d been ready to bolt, but then he’d smiled at me—warmly, almost ruefully—and said he’d been dying to meet me.
He’d taken my hand and pressed a kiss to it.
When he told me he was Cosimo’s half brother—and that he wanted my help convincing Cosimo to hear him out—I didn’t just take him at his word. That would’ve been reckless and naive, and I was trying to grow out of that.
No, something else had kept me from running for the hills. Something I’d noticed just a few days ago while flipping through Gino’s journal. At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it, but once I came face-to-face with Dominic…
I’d pulled out my phone right then and there and opened the album where I’d been saving photos of Gino’s journal.
I wanted to digitize the whole thing eventually, just in case anything ever happened to the original.
I’d found the drawing of the villa with the three boys in the yard and zoomed in on the fourth boy sitting up in the tree.
He wore a black sweater.
And on it, drawn in a dark gray so faint it was easy to miss, was the letter D.
Gino had sketched his fourth son into the picture.
Dominic had seemed genuinely stunned when I showed it to him. For a second, something unguarded had flashed across his face—longing maybe—before he’d covered it with that easy smile of his.
Will you help me, then? he’d asked.
I’d thought of him standing over Gino’s grave. His father. The man he’d never gotten the chance to know or even meet.
Dominic had seemed genuine to me. If Cosimo had been there, he would’ve disagreed. Maybe he would’ve seen a trap where I saw sincerity. But I’d trusted myself enough to make the decision.
And now here we were, flying back to New York together on Cosimo’s jet.
My husband sat beside me, his hand wrapped around mine. He hadn’t let go of me since we’d left Dominic’s villa, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he needed to reassure himself I was still here, or because he needed something to ground him while he processed everything Dominic had revealed.
I’d already known Vita Ferraro was a monster. But now I understood exactly why she could never be allowed to rule the Ferraros. She wasn’t a leader. She was selfish, cruel, and incapable of seeing beyond her own interests. If she were allowed to sit at the helm, she would drive the family to ruin.
Across from us, Dominic was already halfway through a plate of blinis and black caviar, champagne in hand, his legs crossed as he watched Italy disappear beneath the clouds.
Cosimo and Dominic had agreed the best way to work through the details of the deal was for Dominic to come back to New York with us, where he could speak to Alessio and Romolo in person. They had to be a part of this too, and Cosimo wanted to tell them about their half brother face-to-face.
I wouldn’t have called the vibe between the two men friendly, but it was relaxed enough that I wasn’t worried they’d kill each other before the plane touched down.
“A Christmas with my brothers,” Dominic mused aloud. The holiday was only a few days away. “I have to say, this is shaping up to be the most unexpected end to my year.”
Cosimo watched him with open skepticism. “What was your plan if you hadn’t run into Fabiana?”
“We didn’t run into each other by accident.
” Dominic took a sip of champagne. “The moment you started asking around about a collector of Emilio’s pieces, word reached me.
I flew down immediately. I knew my best chance at a conversation that didn’t end with one of us dead was while you were here with only your wife.
” Another sip. “I was still deciding how to approach you when the receptionist at your hotel called to say she’d seen Fabiana leave alone.
It’s a small town. It wasn’t difficult to find out where she’d gone. ”
Cosimo pursed his lips and stared at him the way a man might stare at something he hadn’t yet decided whether to tolerate or kill.
Dominic, for his part, seemed completely unbothered.
In some ways, the two men felt like opposites.
Cosimo treated the private jet like a boardroom.
Dominic treated it like a luxury hotel. Where Cosimo was controlled, pragmatic, and disciplined to the point of severity, Dominic moved through the world like it had been arranged solely for his pleasure.
There was no way this man lived in a home cooled to sixty-four degrees.
“The deal has to carry substantial benefits for the capos,” Cosimo said. “They’ll be sympathetic to your story, but your bomb killed their old don. It also almost killed my brothers.”
Dominic shrugged. “But it didn’t.” A small smile. “And now you have another brother.”
“This is not a joke,” Cosimo ground out.
“No,” Dominic said, the undercurrent of amusement disappearing from his voice. “It’s not. We are responsible for the lives of many people. So let’s not fuck this up.”
“What about Vita?” Cosimo asked. “I assume you want her to pay for what she’s done.”
“Losing her husband and losing the vote seems like punishment enough for me.”
“She hasn’t lost the vote yet,” Cosimo said.
“If your capos are smart, they will understand quickly that they can either have a bloody war if she becomes don, or prosperity if you do.” He paused. “As for what to do with her after, I will leave that to you.”
“Your mother will accept that?” Cosimo asked. “Somehow, I doubt that. She’s spent decades planning her revenge.”
Dominic’s lips tightened. “Mamma acted on her own before. I will steer her in the right direction. The men in my family are loyal to me. They won’t do her bidding if I forbid them from doing so.
Many of them believe your family’s debt to ours was settled the night of the bomb.
Few have appetite for more bloodshed, especially not if we manage to make peace look profitable for them. ”
“I’m going to need to see some proof that you’re in charge of your family.”
“And I will be glad to provide it.” Dominic glanced out the window at the cloud cover below. “We have more than enough time to work through the details before the vote. So I hope you won’t mind if I—” He settled back in his seat, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes. “Take a midday nap.”
I had to bite back a laugh at Cosimo’s irritated expression.
“Seriously?” he said.
“I like to nap from two to three in the afternoon every day.” Dominic kept his eyes closed. “Ensures I have sufficient energy for the evening and whatever vigorous activities it may bring.” A faint smile curved his lips. “You should give it a try.”
Cosimo shook his head, muttering something about ridiculous Italians under his breath while I tried not to laugh.
This was going to be a memorable holiday season.
The cabin grew quiet. A few moments passed, and Dominic jerked lightly, apparently already fast asleep.
I couldn’t even imagine taking a nap right now. A restless energy vibrated beneath my skin. Cosimo and I hadn’t had a chance to talk properly since leaving Dominic’s villa, and our fight from last night still lingered between us, unresolved.
He caught my eye, and his hand tightened around mine. Wordlessly, he got to his feet and pulled me up with him. He led us toward the bedroom in the back.
Nerves tangled inside me. Was he angry I left? He didn’t seem angry at me when he’d found me, just relieved and…shaken.
I’d never seen him look shaken before. Was he really that worried about me? Something raw and tender pulsed inside my chest at the thought. I didn’t want to read into it, to imagine things I so badly wanted to be true.
The bedroom door clicked shut behind me, and Cosimo drew me against him. “Christ, Nettle. I didn’t know real fear until I couldn’t find you.”
I closed my eyes, pressing my face into his shirt, absorbing his heat and his scent.
“Thank fucking God you’re okay. I would’ve burned that entire fucking town to the ground if something had happened to you.”
The anguish in his voice made a fist tighten around my heart, but still I wondered—had he been worried because of how it would reflect on him if something happened to his new wife? Or because of how he felt about me?
He made a short, hard exhale. “I’m so sorry, baby. All of this could’ve been avoided if I’d just agreed to go back there with you this morning. But I was too stubborn, too stuck in my own ways to realize you were making the right call.”
The backs of my eyes stung. It’d hurt when he’d dismissed me, but going back to Nunzio’s workshop on my own had also given me an opportunity to prove something important to myself.
I didn’t have to choose between having faith in people and being discerning.
I could be both.
“I didn’t mean to worry you,” I said.
His hand moved slowly down my back. “I should’ve listened to you. But damn it, Nettle. You can’t ever go off into a dangerous situation like that in the future, all right? I can’t handle it. You mean too much to me.”
My breath hitched. “I do?”
He drew back far enough to look at me, and I saw remorse darkening his eyes.
“The things I said about you not being my partner, about there being nothing between us except the deal? It’s bullshit.
I’m an idiot.” He exhaled and lowered his forehead to mine.
“When you said you’d changed your mind that night, I pretended I was asleep, but I heard you. ” His lips brushed over mine.
My heart slammed against my ribs. He heard me? He knew I didn’t want a second chance with another man? Did he understand that what I was really trying to say was that I wanted him? A bolt of adrenaline rushed through me. Adrenaline threaded with…hope.
“I changed my mind too,” he said in a low voice. “I’m done denying how I feel about you.”
The hope grew.
“Do you know one of the reasons why I insisted on a marriage that would only last six months?” he asked.
Slowly, I shook my head.
“Because I was drawn to you from the moment I met you. I couldn’t explain it, and it terrified me.
Every time I saw you, it got worse. And worse.
And worse.” His mouth twisted, almost ruefully.
“Then we had that dinner and I understood just how good and genuine you were, and I was fucking slayed. I couldn’t believe that someone like you could exist in this wretched world.
I knew if I let myself get close to you, I’d fall hard.
” He brushed a strand behind my ear. “I was right.”
I stared at him, stunned. It didn’t make sense. “You hated me in the beginning.”
“I never hated you. I wanted you so badly that I pushed you away every way I knew how.” His voice roughened.
“I kept telling myself I wouldn’t be like my father.
That I wouldn’t let a woman have power over me the way Vita had over him.
But I’m done letting their story define ours.
” His eyes burned into mine. “I fucking love you, Nettle.”
The words simmered with pent-up emotion, as if he’d packed every ounce of affection and tenderness he’d hidden from me over the last few months into them.
My throat tightened. “I love you too.”
A grin curved over his face, transforming it, before he leaned down and pressed his mouth against mine.
The kiss was soft at first, almost disbelieving, as though he needed to feel the words between us before he could trust them.
Then his palm tightened around my jaw and the kiss deepened.
I rose onto my toes and clutched the front of his shirt, wanting to hold on to the moment before the rest of the world found its way back in.
A gentle knock on the door interrupted us. Cosimo pulled away with obvious reluctance. The flight attendant called through the door, asking us to return to our seats because the pilot was anticipating turbulence.
He held my face between his palms and rested his forehead against mine. “The next few days are going to be busy, and we still have a lot to discuss,” he said. “Can you be patient with me?”
“Of course.”
The seat belt sign chimed overhead, and Cosimo drew in a deep breath before finally letting me go.
My head was still spinning when we returned to the main cabin and took our seats. His words echoed through me, so impossible and wonderful that part of me wondered whether I had imagined them.
But he was right. The next few days would be busy. He still had his mother to deal with, a vote to win, and a half brother to introduce to the rest of his family.
I had been patient this long.
I could hold on for a few more days.