Chapter Aria’s POV
Aria’s POV
Two weeks later, my darling husband approached me about having an heir.
I had to control myself because what I had really wanted to do was laugh in his face.
The plus about having one of the best hackers in the world as your cousin was you knew things.
A lot of things. Like, all the women your legal husband has fucked. And there were a lot.
I was in one of my usual spots when I was home, sitting on the long luxurious couch in the living room area, reading on my iPad, when he came in unexpectedly.
I usually knew my husband’s whereabouts, thanks again to Lorenzo, aka Geronimo.
He had added a tracking device on Maximo’s phone, allowing both of us to track him.
Lorenzo tracked him for business purposes. Me? Just because I was nosy as fuck.
“Aria.”
I jolted, because I had not expected him home for a couple more hours, and I was currently reading up on the latest information Lorenzo had dug up on the Black Widow.
She was an item on my agenda. Lorenzo and I had our own little team of rebels.
We would stay connected via chats and internet sites, dealing with pedophiles, embezzlement rings, and any other illegal activities that pissed us off in the moment.
My head whipped up when Maximo strolled in and gracefully sat in a plush chair across from me.
It was really a shame because the man was gorgeous, in a rugged sort of way.
Dark black hair, that was a little longer than usual for the men in the mafia, but he usually had it slicked back out of his way.
Every now and then I would see a few strands come loose, and fall over his forehead.
He had deep brown, penetrating eyes that felt like he was looking through your soul.
He was a very observant man which would explain why he was at the top of the food chain in our world.
He was tall, at 6’2” but was more angular and thin.
He had muscle, just enough to show he meant business, but not overly so.
His expression was always tight and stern.
If he hadn’t been such a manwhore, I would have considered sleeping with him just to try him out.
But who knew what kind of STDs that man had, considering not only how many women he had slept with, but even who.
I knew he slept with Serena Sanchez about a year back.
Thank goodness it was awhile ago since she apparently gave a married soldier chlamydia which the fucker then gave to his pregnant wife.
She was one of two of the biggest whores in our world.
The other one? Serafina Bianchi. And she was younger than both of us at just 18 years old. Disgusting.
He was dressed in black slacks and a silvery gray buttoned down silk shirt. He actually looked pretty good. But again, I had my boundaries.
He sat with his legs splayed out like a typical man, like he had a lot of junk in his pants. Maybe he did. There was talk that he was ‘hung like a horse,’ but not something I cared to know. Was I curious? Absolutely. But not enough to go there.
“You’re home early.” I tried to smile my practiced smile, but it didn’t quite reach.
He observed me closely, and I made sure to keep my gaze locked firmly on his. Do not hesitate. Ever.
“I’ve been meaning to have a conversation with you, but I felt it would be better to wait until you settled in first.”
I kept my mouth shut, but I really wanted to roll my eyes at him. There was no settling in. I did my thing and he did his.
I had to wait to get back from Paris until I could meet up with one of my lovers. Maybe I should have planned for one of them to travel to Paris and be on hand if the need arose, but I thought I could make it through a damned wedding without the need. That obviously did not happen.
When I end up in high stressor situations, my way to alleviate the stress is sex with my lovers.
I never had sex with more than one man. That was not my thing.
I had considered it once, but my lovers refused to try it, you know, maschilismo and all.
And being who I am and who my family is, I had to be very careful who I spent time with outside of the ‘circle.’ I preferred to role play with my lovers.
Pretend to be a loving couple, be a dominant to my submissive lover, be a submissive to my lover, be innocent.
Everything I couldn’t do in life up to this point.
He stared at me for a few minutes, but I continued to hold his gaze. He frowned, making me raise an eyebrow at him.
His expression went blank. “So…..”
Silence.
“Ummm…...so…..” I said back. Is this going somewhere?
He took a breath, looking a bit uncomfortable for a moment before he hid it.
“We need to discuss having an heir.”
I tried to hold it in, but I snorted slightly. He glared at me.
I smiled sweetly at him, and said, “I’m all for the turkey baster option.”
“What the fuck?” He continued to glare at me, and I shrugged.
“Well, I’ve heard that you get around. Quite a bit. So, I’m not really feeling the need to risk my health and safety for a baby. So, we can always artificially inseminate your goods into me, and presto, baby maker!” I smiled wide at him.
He looked appalled. I couldn’t blame him.
The idea didn’t really appeal to me either, but I wasn’t about to have sex with my husband when I didn’t know if he was clean or not.
I actually wasn’t really in a hurry to have a baby either.
Like I wanted to mess up another child into this ugly world.
If it was a boy, it would be lucky. Well, sort of.
He would be stuck becoming the next El Capo.
I noticed Maximo’s men referred to him with this title.
Meant he was at the top of the food chain.
Our son would be too. I’m not sure I wanted that kind of pressure brought on to a child.
If we had a daughter, I would do a damned better job than my Mama did protecting me.
I love Mama, but she was over-dramatic, and pretty much pushed Papa to do the disgusting shit he did.
He would bring his mistresses home, parade them in front of Mama, and she would throw a crazy fit about it.
This would end with Papa slapping the shit out of her, sometimes in front of all three of us kids, then walking away with his new slut of the night.
I hated mi papa. He disgusted me to no end.
I seriously hoped my brothers would not turn out like him.
I knew they were scared of him. Or at least they used to be.
I remembered a particular moment when I was eight years old.
I had been wrestling with my brothers, when we heard my father coming stomping down the hallway.
My brothers had scrambled away from me frantically, and lined up next to each other, straight, shoulder to shoulder, heads bowed down.
I had not seen that behavior before because usually I was not allowed around my brothers.
I stood off to the side, my hair a bit of a mess, looking at my brothers, not understanding.
My father came in and looked from my brothers to me, then back to them.
“What is this business here?” His voice had been lethal.
I should have been scared, but I was more frustrated than anything. I wanted to yell at my Papa that I was finally having fun with my brothers, but something about the way my brothers were acting stopped me.
“Nino, what business do you have with your sister here?”
His head still down, in a stern voice, my oldest brother, Nino, responded, “Nothing Papa. She came in when Rico and I were practicing our moves for our tournament later.”
My father looked at me, and I was also looking at the ground. Not because I was scared, but because I thought it was a rule. Mama used to get on to me that sometimes you just had to follow the rules. She had once called me “stubborn by nature,” with exasperation.
“And what did you tell your sister, Nino?” His voice was filled with disgust. I was glad I was looking at the floor, because I was mad and knew I had a mad face.
“That women are only good in the kitchen and having babies.” Nino’s voice also took on a tone of disgust.
I wanted to punch Nino. I didn’t want to have babies. That was gross!
My father then addressed me. “Aria, you don’t get to be around the boys.
You serve a different purpose. Like your mother.
” He said mother with disgust. That is when I began to hate mi papa.
I nodded ever so slightly, still looking at the ground, because that was the rules.
You nodded when an adult spoke to you. Mama said.
Papa huffed and stomped away. I kept my head down a little longer, but then raised it slightly to look up at my brothers through my eye lashes. They wouldn’t look at me. I stomped away from them and knew ‘my place’ starting that day. It turned something inside of me.
Maximo cleared his throat, bringing me back to the present.
“It is part of our marriage to have a child, Aria. We will need to make plans for it.”
I smiled sweetly at him. “Well, if you can abstain from sex for about two to three months, then get an STD clearance, we could definitely make an effort for a baby.” His face hardened.
“I would even be willing to take a break from my lovers,” he flinched, “and take an STD panel too. I am on birth control now, and I do use condoms with my lovers,” flinch, “but we could always figure out the logistics as we go.”
Maximo looked tense, but did not say anything.
I continued to smile sweetly at him, until he finally bolted from the seat and stormed out of the room. A few moments later, I heard the front door slam.
Baby talk over for now. I smirked.