Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
DARIA
H is office door stood open, and I couldn’t help but sweep the room with my gaze as I passed by. A man I didn’t recognize sat across from my husband. He was shorter and wider. Wide enough to make the shirt on his back stretch along the seams and fight to stay intact.
“I strongly advise you against this.” His voice was loud, pompous, and Sicilian. He reminded me of a million uncles of mine.
I had almost passed the doorway when my husband’s voice pulled me in. “Come here, Principessa .”
I halted and chewed on my lips. Didn’t like the tone of his voice. All harsh and dominant. Ownership rang loud and clear within it. I vaguely remembered him telling me I had to wear something decent. I looked down at my dress and shrugged. The new me considered covering half of my thighs decent enough. At least when I was home. There was no way he would allow me out like this, but I enjoyed pushing it a bit. I didn’t know why I did. I told myself it was to make sure I never gave in to his demands. But secretly, I kind of liked our banter and the comfort he gave me when his eyes sparked. Just for me. But even when he was mad, he had never laid a finger on me. Like slapped me. Like Papà did to Mamma the rare times she dared to question him. He might do it one day. He might. But he hadn’t yet, and God knows I had pushed him further than any woman had before. I was sure of it.
“Daria.” His impatience wrapped around the corner. His tone said there was no use arguing about it.
So I turned around and walked into his office. Two pairs of eyes pinned on me, but I was only aware of one. It was hot and angry, and it burned on my thigh.
“This is my wife,” he spoke to my thigh before riding up to my face. “She won’t be joining the meeting,” he bit out.
I frowned.
“Nice to meet you, Signora Martello.” The man extended his hands from his chair, but Lorenzo’s words, slicing through the air, brought a swift stop to his progress.
“Don’t touch her.”
Minchia! He was furious. The darkness in his voice matched the fury lighting his eyes. The man dropped his hand to his side like he’d been burned. Couldn’t blame him either. I shifted on my feet. Awkward silence and the sharp edge of rage filled the air. Wasn’t he going to tell me who he was? What was the point of calling me in then? Silence ticked for innumerable seconds. But he didn’t offer an explanation other than an angry glare. Whatever.
I shrugged. “I’ll be outside.”
He stood up and brushed my spine as I walked out. I thought he would follow me out. I didn’t know why. Thought he might round the corner and tell me why he was being an asshole. But the only sound was that of the door slamming shut behind me.
He was in a mood. I stormed into the living room and laid my paperwork on the table. I was learning to draw in perspective and I kind of liked it. Liked it more than an angry voice, anyway.
Ten minutes later, my eyes were scrunched, lined up with my vanishing point right above the fireplace, when I caught Nico and Stefano walking past in my peripheral view. I caught my breath, waiting to hear them receive the same kind of welcome as I had gotten from Lorenzo, but the only sound was the thud of the office door closing.
Seemed like he was only mad at me.
I worked quietly, concentration possible for once. I was cleaning up my debris of pencils, erasers, and rulers when Stefano walked in and studied my drawing. I was quite proud of it, but he gave a shake of his head, amusement in his eyes.
“What?” I wiped the eraser shavings off the table with my hand and brought it into the edge of the table to my cupped hand.
“My brother’s doing crazy shit for love, and you’re doing this?”
I stilled. My entire body stiffened. My hand was tight as tension sparked in my pulse. I shook my head. No. I must have heard wrong. I flipped my eyes to his. “What did you say?”
A smirk fell on his lips. There was a devilish glint in his eyes. “You heard me.”
My cupped hand fell, and I watched the shavings on the floor. This was going to annoy him. I had to clean it up. “No.”
“Read the signals, cognata. ”
I was. Wasn’t I? I felt silly even bringing it up. “He can’t love me.”
“Why don’t you find out?” He jerked his head towards the office, and before I knew it, I was striding towards it. My hand fell on the door handle, but I was yanked in as Nico pulled it open from the inside. “What happened to wanting a doll?” fell from his lips as I stumbled in and collided with him. His jaw tightened even as he broke my fall. His attitude told me he’d rather I fell flat on my face.
Lorenzo’s voice was tight and cool. “Come here, Principessa .”
I pulled away and walked over to him.
Nico’s lips thinned when my husband pulled me roughly onto his thigh. “It’s a mistake, Enzo. You’re going to regret it.”
“I’m not. When it’s your turn, you’ll do the same.”
A laugh, thin and cold, fell out of him. “Hell will freeze over before I let a woman rule me.” With a shake of his head, he walked out and kicked the door shut behind him.
His hand fell on my thigh, hot and heavy. “Next time I tell you to wear something decent, do that,” he said, in a tight tone.
I twisted around in his arms. He looked less angry now. “Is that why you were mad?”
“Can’t have you meet my filthy lawyer dressed like that,” he muttered darkly. “He’s good. A shark at his job, but he fucks anything that moves.”
I felt bad now for defying him. He had only been trying to protect me. “I’ll listen. The next time.”
He put his head back and laughed. Like I was incapable of keeping my word.
“I promise.”
He met my gaze. “Yeah? I have a promise of my own.”
There was a somber tone to his voice I didn’t like. “Okay…”
“I’ve signed some papers that allow my brothers to take everything away from me if I cheat on you.”
Wait? What?
He had lost his mind. That was it. He couldn’t be serious. I waited for a laugh. A touch of dark amusement on his lips or twitch of a grin in his eyes. There wasn’t any.
“You can’t be serious.”
His eyes dropped to my hands, and I followed them to find my hands clutching his open collar. Didn’t even know I had leaned over and done that. His big hand, rough and calloused, wrapped around mine. It was ridiculous. All of it.
“I’m serious. No one’s messing with you. Even me. Faithfulness isn’t a word, Principessa . It’s about an affirmation of a decision every day. This is the only way I know to prove it to you. I mean it when I say you’re the only woman in my life. If, God forbid, I step out of line, Nico and Stefano have agreed to take everything away from me.”
His words of lunacy ripped through me. There was a weight on my chest, and it was heavy as an anchor bolting me. “Everything?”
“Everything.” His eyes sparked dangerously. “Even you. I’m not allowing you to be hurt. Even by me.”
I stumbled off him and grabbed onto his desk. “I don’t want it.”
A hot hiss of breath left him. “It’s not your choice.”
“Take it back.”
“It’s already done.”
“No,” I screamed, and my loud, thin voice filled all the walls of his office. “Take it back, or I’m walking out.”
A flash of movement, his chair smashed the wall, and he pinned me against the desk. “How many fucking times do I have to tell you. The only way you’ll leave me is in a fucking box, and even then, I’ll follow you to six feet under.”
My chest heaved. It hurt, and I didn’t know why. “Please…” My voice cracked. “Don’t do this.”
“It’s already done, Principessa . There’s nothing you can do about it.” A rough thumb graced my cheek. There was so much emotion in his eyes. Too much for me to bear.
What had I done? He did this for me. “Take it back, and I’ll show you I trust you. I don’t need your damn wealth.”
“You can show me you trust me, even with this. It’s just money and power. It’s nothing if I don’t have you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. The inside of my heart felt hollow and yet so damn heavy. I trembled with emotion and sagged against his chest. “Is this what Stefano meant?”
A hand plunged in my hair. It trailed softly, like he was weaving through silk. His heart beat thundered in between us. Awareness sparked that I had his on a string. I couldn’t bear the burden of it.
“What did he say?” vibrated on his chest.
He was supposed to be a made man. Like every other made man I knew. Why was he coloring outside the damn lines? “He said you love me,” I mumbled into his chest.
“What about it?”
“You love me?” It sounded ridiculous when it spilled out of my mouth.
“I don’t do that shit, Principessa .” Thank God. “But I’ll give you my life. If that’s what you want.”
My heart jerked. It pulsed, and it hitched like it had gone mad. Like there was nothing solid to hold on to. “I—”
He cocked my head up, and his palm wrapped around my mouth. “I know you’re trying. Just as I said. One day at a time, sì ?”