Chapter Maximo’s POV
Maximo’s POV
My wife appeared to know more about my sex life than I had anticipated.
Getting her into my bed was going to be a challenge.
But it was a challenge I was open to exploring.
But I guess an heir would not be on the table for some time.
She didn’t exactly come right out and tell me no, so I took that as a maybe. I could work with a ‘maybe’.
We had to make our first official appearance as a married couple for the gala event.
I would finally be able to meet up with Dom and see how his marriage was going as well as his plans to take over Don Sanchez’s clan.
I was glad when he chose Sophie instead of Serena.
I didn’t know too much about Sophie Sanchez, but what I did know was she was a quiet girl, the obedient type.
But she was also clean, unlike Serena. Well, unlike a lot of women in our world.
I was actually shocked Aria had only been with three men, although that was three men more than I was comfortable with.
Unfortunately, she was right. I had been with a lot of women, but I wasn’t about to let her know that I agreed with it.
When I witnessed Dom enter the gala with Sophie, I had been upstairs, overlooking the open gallery.
Sophie had a blank expression, even though I knew by Dom’s expression, people were talking about her.
He looked a bit possessive. He had his hand on her waist, but it was his posturing that caught my attention.
Interesting. I had slept with Serena, and it was what it was.
A release. But I didn’t want her hands anywhere near Dom.
I considered him a friend, well as much of a friend as a person could have in my position.
The only other ones I was close to were Aria’s brothers.
I wasn’t even that close to Aria’s cousin, Alonzo, even though he would be my other Enforcer.
Sophie seemed like the least complicated choice for an alliance, though now I was starting to wonder.
I watched the two move around the room, as well as Aria, who kept herself moving, smiling, but not really stopping to talk to anyone.
In previous events, she would stand by her father and mother throughout the evening, quiet and reserved.
Now, she looked like an entirely different woman.
She moved with a grace and ease I had never seen, but she continued to wear that smile of hers. It was almost sickly sweet.
A couple hours in and Dom finally approached me.
I asked him about the arrangement, and was quite surprised he was celibate.
He had said it was to avoid rocking the boat with Don Sanchez, but the way he had eyes on Sophie all night, I doubted that was why.
Apparently he hadn’t slept with her, but he was acting like he wanted to.
We both noticed my wife approaching his wife, and Dom became agitated. We watched as they interacted, but I was also surprised that Aria wasn’t making a scene. Or, she wasn’t until Serena approached her. And I’ll be damned if she didn’t call her out in front of everyone.
Aria, in a loud voice, said, “Listen here tramp. Just because you rode my husband’s dick like the skank you are, doesn’t give you the right to come up to me and act like you're a queen.”
I couldn’t help but mutter, “Fuck.”
“You’re not. I’m the fucking queen here. You get me?” Serena had stepped back by this point, her face pale, mouth hanging open, eyes darting around. “And do yourself a favor and don’t ever speak to Sophie again. Capisce? Or I will have to deal with you myself.”
Serena practically turned tail and ran, and I figured this was the best time to move in.
Dom seemed to pick up the same clue and we both moved towards our wives.
As we approached, Lorenzo had a gleam in his eye, and raised an eyebrow at me.
I was still undecided what to make of him.
He seemed not to be a threat, but I had thought the same thing about Aria. My wife had proven deadly. Literally.
In a stern tone, “Aria. Could you try to refrain from making a scene?” She turned to me with that sickly sweet smile in place.
“But Maximo, whatever do you mean? I simply let her know my position, and that I would prefer her not to talk to my new friend here.” She held a hand in Sophie’s direction.
I glanced over at Sophie, whose face was now flushed, as she dipped her head down and away.
When we had approached, Lorenzo had moved to the other side of Sophie, looking awfully protective of her.
That was unusual. He had a glint in his eyes.
Dom stood on her other side, but he also was standing awfully close to her.
I didn’t like it, but I would not be bothered with this now.
“Let’s try to keep things tranquillo for the evening, yes?” It was more of a command than a request.
“But of course, Maximo,” she drawled out, making me tense. Dom met my gaze, and their was a slight twitch to his eyes as he proceeded to lead Sophie away.
“I will call you later, Maximo, about our business.”
“Of course, Dom. Enjoy the evening. Sophie.” She nodded ever so slightly to me.
Very respectful. She wasn’t my type per se, but she actually was a pretty woman.
She looked even prettier this evening dressed in that blue dress.
I could see why Dom was having problems though, because the woman had curves.
I was about to speak with Aria on the side when I noticed her family approaching.
Her mother was dressed in a silver dress that did little for the imagination, especially at her age, not to mention the makeup caked on her face.
That was something I did appreciate about Aria.
She did wear makeup, but it was so subtle you almost couldn’t tell she was wearing any.
She was trailing like a desperate puppy behind her husband, their two sons striding forward.
Nino and Rico were respectable men. They had occasionally spoken to me in private about the shit they experienced at home.
I knew Aria had to watch as her father paraded women around the home.
That was not my intention. Bianca was not supposed to confront Aria on our wedding night, and I would make sure no woman would ever come to the home, or anywhere near Aria.
Even if we were an arrangement, and even if she did slit Bianca’s throat, my goal was not to disrespect my wife like her father had his wife.
I had not had time to confront Nino about his sister, but I knew he had heard about our wedding night.
Somehow, the word spread very quickly, which meant I had a word with my men who had been present.
When I found out who spread the rumor, I had his heart, literally, in a jar by the next day.
I had it set out in my office as a reminder for any of my men who came in to meet with me.
Giuseppe, his hand coming out for a shake, nodded at me, but ignored Aria and Lorenzo.
That pissed me off. I had no problem with Lorenzo’s lifestyle, and the fact that the older generation would ignore famiglia was disgusting behavior.
We were not of the old times anymore. We all needed to keep up with the times. And Aria? Bullshit!
Nino and Rico both verbally acknowledged their sister though.
“Aria. Lorenzo.” Nino was formal.
“Sis. Cuz, looking good.” Rico was more casual.
Lorenzo was standing beside Aria, tense. But he nodded at his cousins.
“Giuseppe, I would appreciate it if you would greet my fucking wife.”
Giuseppe seemed taken aback. “Umm, sorry Maximo.” With a tight smile he said, “Good to see you, Aria.”
Usually my men referred to me as El Capo, but honestly I hated the title in public.
I heard Aria’s sweet tone return with, “Papa.” Frankly, I wasn’t sure if he deserved that much.
Hesitating for a moment, Giuseppe turned to Lorenzo. “Lorenzo,” voice tight. “Good to see you, son.”
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Rico roll his eyes.
“Uncle.” It came out terse. Well, apparently, uncle treated nephew the same way father treated son. Disgusting!
I nodded to Mrs. Sanchez. “Good evening, Giorgia. Hope you are enjoying the evening.”
She stepped up slightly, with an anxious smile. “Good evening, Maximo. It is a fine evening for dancing.” Her eyes darted to her husband, who tensed and looked away. Didn’t seem like that was happening tonight.
“Aria darling, you look beautiful as always.”
Aria was brief in her response. “Mama, thank you.”
Giuseppe turned back to me, and said, “I just wanted to come say hello. I will leave you to it, Maximo.”
I simply nodded at him, as he turned away. Giorgia nodded slightly, then rushed after her husband, following in his wake. What a pompous asshole!
I turned to Nino and Rico who were still standing here. “Mind if I have a word with you, Nino?”
He looked at me for a moment, assessing, then nodded.
Rico huffed out, “Oh come on. You were supposed to introduce me to some women, Nino.”
Nino snorted, and Aria chuckled. I turned to look at her surprised. She had her sweet smile, but there was something different about her. She was different around her brothers.
Lorenzo popped up, “Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I can’t get you in with some hot ladies, Rico, for fuck sakes.”
We all whipped our heads to him. Lorenzo shrugged casually. “Women love gay men. They trust us.” He winked at Rico.
Rico looked giddy. “Who do you know?”
They paired off and headed deeper into the gala. I turned to Aria. “Please be good.”
She smiled that sickly sweet smile. “But of course, Maximo. Always.”
I didn’t believe it for a second. She gracefully moved away from us and disappeared into the crowd.
I had Nino follow me back upstairs so I could continue to look out over the party guests. It made me feel more in control being able to see where everyone was. Yes, my men were surrounding the place, more so than any other clans’ men, but you never knew when hell would strike.
“What can I do for you, Maximo?”
Without bothering to turn in his direction, I gritted out, “What the fuck kind of woman did you father get me to marry?”
Nino was silent, but I could feel his tension. I turned slightly towards him, waiting.
He sighed loudly. But remained silent for a few minutes longer. “You know how my father is towards my mother.”
A statement, not a question. I nodded slightly.
“Aria had to walk around on egg shells through our childhood, pretty much up until we were teenagers. My father forbade us from hanging out with her until Rico and I began to use the excuse that mom wasn’t around, and she would stay out of trouble with us.
Mama was away from the house as much as she could by the time Aria was twelve years old because of Papa’s women.
” Nino’s voice held a hint of disgust. “Unfortunately, Mama’s tantrums didn’t help the situation, so she began staying away, shopping for long periods at a time.
We would bring Aria with us to training. ”
Now I was staring hard at him. “Training? Aria was around while you were training to be my enforcers?” My voice was low, but lethal.
Nino dropped his head to the floor. “I don’t know where she learned to handle knives,” obviously referring to that wedding night incident, “but we did encourage her how to shoot a gun so she could protect herself. You know, just in case.”
The thought that my wife knew how to use a gun as well as a knife lit my insides on fire. That was actually a fucking turn on. But I tried to squash that down.
“What else don’t I know, but probably should, about my sweet, little innocent wife?”
“I don’t know too much about it, but she and Lorenzo are tight. Like really tight. They spend a lot of their time together, or are always in contact. I think Lorenzo works with computer stuff.”
Computer stuff? Interesting. I would have to have my men look into him.
“How do you know about Lorenzo and ‘computer stuff’?”
Nino shifted uncomfortably. “My auntie brags that he always helps her with her gadgets and is really smart, so……” He shrugged.
“I’ll look into it, make sure he’s not a risk.”
Nino’s head whipped up to me, eyes tense. “Please don’t do anything to my cousin, Maximo. He’s been through enough shit from mi famiglia.”
I nodded. “As long as he is not a threat to us, I would have no reason to harm him. And besides, if he’s that connected with Aria, I would not like to tempt her to put a knife to my throat.” I muttered the last part.
Nino smirked at me. “At least she can handle herself. No one wants to go near her after that shit with Bianca.”
I ran a hand down my face. “Yeah, that was bullshit. I can’t believe Bianca pulled that shit.”
“You should have been the one to intervene, Maximo. She disrespected my sister.” His tone hardened. I looked at him, and for the first time, he did not lower his eyes.
“Watch how you speak to me, Nino. I am your El Capo.” My tone was as hard as steel.
His posture went rigid, but his voice dropped low. “And she is mia sorella. I did a shit job protecting her growing up. I was a shit brother, then. I do not want to continue to be a shit brother now that I could potentially protect her.”
I looked him dead in the eyes. “Protect her from whom? Your father?” He flinched, and his head dropped again. I had definitely hit a nerve. “Besides, it seems my little wife knows how to protect herself just fine.”
I shook my head, wondering how much more I needed to know about my little wife.