Maximo’s POV
Maximo’s POV
I had to watch my wife leave and go to one of her lovers.
I found out some information on them. There were two of them now.
There had been a third, but apparently he got married and moved out of the country.
Lucky bastard, or I would have had to cut him down too.
I had learned Aria went to her lovers after high-stress situations.
She had gone the day after we got back from our wedding and the day after she killed the Black Widow.
I would allow it. For now. But after this time, I would make sure they wouldn’t touch her again.
They were both soldiers. One was in Sanchez’s clan.
The soldier would never admit to it or he would lose more than his head.
The other one was in the Bianchi clan. Again, the soldier wasn’t stupid enough to say anything though.
For the same reasons obviously. The fact Aria was actually messing around with mafia men was actually pretty ballsy. But I would never tell her that.
It was a week after the incident with the Black Widow, and I had walked into my mansion to hear yelling. Several of my men were glancing away from me.
Who the fuck was yelling at who in my fucking house?
When I came around the corner to the main living room in the middle of the house, I saw Aria standing straight, tense, but not backing down. Her father was only a couple of feet away from her.
Aria was staring him straight in the eyes, hands crossed in front, resting on her legs.
“You bring shame to our famiglia, bambina!” He was shouting at her, spittle flying out of his mouth. To some people, Giuseppe was a scary looking man. He was about 5’10” but had a large frame, mostly muscle, but a small gut as well. His face was contorted and angry, flushed red with anger.
Up to this point I had a basic respect for Giuseppe, but watching how he treated Aria, and the words he was using, disgusted me.
Giuseppe continued to yell at her. “That was disgusting behavior of you! Maximo will throw you out, and then no one will want you. You’re as patetica as your mother.”
I had had enough by that point. Just as I went to say something, Giuseppe raised his hand, ready to back hand Aria, moving closer. Aria didn’t flinch.
I roared out, “Don’t fucking touch my wife.”
Giuseppe jolted, and stopped mid-swing.
He started sputtering out, “I apologize Maximo, but my daughter has been disrespectful after what she did to that woman.”
“I fucking asked her to help me go after the Black Widow, so you best step back away from my fucking wife!” I was livid! “And I don’t give a flying fuck if she disrespects you. By laying even a finger in her, you disrespect me!”
Giuseppe lowered his hand and stepped back, but turned towards me, face still flushed red with anger.
In a slightly calmer voice, Giuseppe responded back, “I mean no disrespect Maximo, but she is my daughter and I can discipline her however I want to.”
No he fucking didn’t!
I walked slowly up to Giuseppe until I was directly in front of him. By this point, I was sure all of my men inside the home were lined up behind me.
In a lethal tone not to be ignored, I said, “The day she became my wife, she became my responsibility and no longer yours. And Aria is a fucking adult, so there is no need to discipline her.” I stared him in the eye until he responded appropriately.
He turned his eyes away, but I could see his jaw ticking. I decided to push it one more level.
“Starting today, Nino and Rico will become my active Enforcers. You will be stepping down.” I paused to let it sink in. Technically he was going to hold the position for about another six months, but I was done with his shit. How dare he fucking disrespect my wife, and in our house!
Giuseppe raised his eyes to meet mine. I could see he was pissed and holding back, but he nodded ever so slightly and stood still. I continued to stare him in the eye. I held it longer than necessary, and I could actually see a bead of sweat hanging on his forehead.
Damned right you fucker!
In a loud voice so all of my men could hear, and not misunderstand, “From this day forward, Giuseppe Dominguez will not be permitted on the premises while Aria is here alone. Is that understand.”
“Yes, El Capo!” was repeated throughout the house in loud clear voices.
“You are dismissed, Giuseppe Dominguez.” My tone was hard. He knew he was being more than just dismissed from my home.
He looked agitated, but he nodded slightly. He started to turn to Aria when I snapped. “Don’t fucking look at my wife!”
His eyes came back to mine, jaw tense. He nodded then turned away from her and stormed out of the room.
I turned and looked at Aria, who was looking at me, her face now in blank expression.
“Make sure he is escorted off the premises.”
“Yes, El Capo.”
My men knew I meant business.
“And never allow anyone to ever treat my wife like that again. Is. That. Clear?”
Multiple respond back with, “Yes, El Capo.”
I had just made a declaration. Up to this point, my men knew she was an arrangement.
Which was likely why they had not intervened between Giuseppe and her.
They probably thought his worth as my Enforcer was more important than hers as my arranged wife.
By making sure she was never targeted again, I was staking a claim on her.
After my men left the room, I continued to stare at Aria and she at me.
“I am sorry you had to deal with that.”
She shrugged. “Nothing new.”
“You will never be treated like that again, now that you are my wife.”
She looked at me, assessing, but no change in expression. “We are merely an arrangement, Maximo, and I have accepted that.”
I stared at her longer. No change, not even a twitch.
“I no longer have.”
She raised an eyebrow at me.
But I chose to take that moment to leave her with that thought.
??????????????????
Over the next few weeks, I made every effort I could to get to know my wife better. During meals that I knew she was home, I would invite her to eat with me. At first, she ignored me, but I kept asking. After a week, she finally sat with me, and asked why I was asking her to eat with me.
“I would like to get to know my wife. It appears even her own brothers don’t know who she is.”
We had been eating at the ridiculously long dining room table again as we had that morning I had tried talking to her about an heir.
She shrugged. “Not much to tell.”
I chuckled. “I doubt that. Seems to be a lot to tell.”
She tried to maintain her expression, but as she turned to take a bite, I saw a smirk form on her lips.
We ate quietly for a few minutes.
“I want to thank you for taking on the Black Widow.” I grunted. “I did not want you to take her on yourself, but here we are.” I gave her a dirty look.
This time she smirked at me. “Well, she was trying to get her dirty hands on mio fratello. I couldn’t have that now, could I?”
“You could have given me that bit of information you know.”
She frowned at me. “But then you wouldn’t have let me go in after her. And that was personal.”
I looked at her closely. I knew her relationships with her brothers were not really close, but they had done what they could to protect and teach her skills as she got older. But it seems she managed to teach herself more skills.
Changing the topic, I said, “So, Lorenzo is awfully good with a gun. Should I reconsider him as an Enforcer with his brother? He was supposed to be a second Enforcer with Alonzo, after all.”
Aria narrowed her eyes at me. “Oh now that you’ve seen he can shoot a gun, he’s good enough to protect you? Pfft.”
I gave her a stern look, even though I knew she had a point. “I was not El Capo until after all that business was decided. I was only told that Lorenzo was not trained, and I could not have someone be my Enforcer who was not trained.”
She scoffed, but I could tell she knew I was right. She turned to take a bite of her food, but muttered, “My uncle is a fottuto stronzo!”
I snorted, making her raise her head. I smirked at her. “Yes he is.”
Her eyes widened for a second. “Shit. I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
I smiled wider at her. “Yes. But your secret is safe with me.” I took a bite of food. After chewing, I said, “To be fair, I like Lorenzo. And I can tell you are close with him.”
She gave me the side eye, but nodded.
I guess that was all I was getting for now. But I would take it.
It was the start of us building a real connection.