19. Mia
Mia
I watch Dario very carefully sit down, and I swear he bites back a wince when he does it. If that wasn’t clue enough, he tilts a tiny bit to the side and gives me an innocent look, like I’m not supposed to notice that he’s nonchalantly trying to balance on one ass cheek.
“What happened?” I ask. “Did my dad hurt you?”
“Of course not, amore .” He changes the subject by pointing at the half-eaten spaghetti in my lap. “Finish your lunch. You need to eat.”
I raise a brow at being told what to do, and he winks at me.
“Eat, little viper,” he tells me again.
I pick up my fork and take a bite.
“That’s my good girl,” he tells me, and I start to debate the pros and cons of throwing a noodle at him.
“Think long and hard about that, streghetta mia ,” he warns me. “You’ll be at my mercy soon enough.”
“I will?” I ask, taking another bite.
“Yes, in my bed, resting until I feel you’re ready to get out of it.”
I laugh and then wince when it tugs on my stitches. He notices and raises a brow at me .
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” he says, leaning closer and lifting my gown so he can see the bandage. He kisses the skin above the gauze.
“I will never let anything happen to you again, amore .”
I run my fingers through his hair. “You’re not going to lock me in the house, Dario.”
“Would I do something like that?” he asks.
I ignore the innocent look he’s giving me and say, “Yes, you absolutely would.”
“Only if it’s for your own good, stubborn girl.”
“I’m being serious.” I gesture towards my bandaged stomach like it’s a minor scrape. “This changes nothing. I’ve already talked to my dad, and I will be joining my family’s Bratva.”
He studies me, and I swear he’s debating whether or not he can realistically tie me to the bed for the foreseeable future.
“You can’t tie me to the bed,” I say, making sure he knows that’s not an option we’ll be pursuing.
“You’d be pissed at first, but you might grow to like it,” he says, and then he lets out a heavy sigh, and I know he must be exhausted.
His voice is softer when he says, “The problem is, you’d also grow to hate me.
I’d be doing the one thing you always asked me not to do, which is put a muzzle on you, cage you, and take away your freedom. ”
He runs a hand through the scruff on his face that’s quickly growing into a light beard and mutters a quick, “Fuck.”
“You knew this from the beginning,” I remind him. “It’s not my fault you chose to not believe me.”
He drags his fingers along my stomach, feeling the skin above the bandages.
“I always believed you, piccola vipera. I’ve always known that loving you would involve a sacrifice.
” He leans down and kisses my skin. “It’s going to kill me to watch you put yourself in danger, but I’ll make that sacrifice for you. ”
My fingers stroke his cheek. “Thank you.” I smile down at him and say, “ Solntse moyo .”
“Are you ever going to tell me what that means? ”
“It means my sun. ” I run my finger over the sweet smile he’s giving me.
He kisses my hand and says, “I knew I’d turn you into a romantic, amore mio .”
I press my finger to his lips. “Keep it to yourself. That sweet stuff is just for you.”
He nips gently at my finger before kissing it again. “I would never share this part of you with anyone else.”
Sitting on the edge of my bed, he grabs my container of food and starts to twirl the fork into the spaghetti. When he holds it to my mouth, I don’t fight him on it. I’m still sore, and I can’t manage to stay awake for more than a few hours at a time.
“How long do I have to stay here?” I ask while he feeds me.
“A few more days and then I’m taking you back to the house. We’re staying in Italy while you recover and so are your parents and Sasha. Dom and Nat are staying for a while, but he can’t be gone from the city for too long.”
“What about the Fontana family?” I ask.
“You mean the one that your brother single-handedly destroyed?”
I swallow the pasta and ask, “He did?”
“I’m not sure if you remember, but he saw you’d been stabbed, and he didn’t take it so well.” Dario fills the fork again and holds it to my lips. “Our men are afraid of him now, and I heard he made one guy throw up.”
“That sounds like Sasha,” I say.
“He went a little crazy, but I can’t say I blame him. I’d wanted to do the same thing, but there was no way I was going to leave your side. I’m glad he killed them all. Leonardo has a younger brother. He’s the last remaining family member.”
“Will he want revenge?” I ask.
Dario shrugs. “We’ll find out soon enough, but I’m guessing no. Franco never wanted any part of the mafia. He left home as soon as he could, and he rarely comes back. ”
“No matter how he felt about it, he’s not going to be thrilled to learn that I killed his brother,” I say.
“Franco’s not stupid, and he values his life. He’ll know he has a choice to make—let this go or die an incredibly painful death. I’m confident he’ll choose to live.”
I finish off the last bite and rest my head against the pillow. He sets the empty dish aside and then straightens my blanket.
“Why are you sore?” I ask.
“Probably from sleeping in the chair,” he says, but I can tell he’s lying.
I grab the hand that’s still fussing with my blanket and force him to meet my eyes. “We don’t lie to one another,” I remind him. “Tell me what happened.”
He cups my face and brushes his lips against mine in a gentle kiss before he says, “I got a vasectomy.”
“What?” I try to sit up, but he keeps me in place and kisses the tip of my nose. “Why did you do that? I don’t understand. The doctor said I won’t be able to get pregnant.”
“No, amore , he said the chances were slim but that it would be life-threatening if you did. I will never take that risk with you, so I did what needed to be done to guarantee it never happens.”
I look into his dark eyes, trying to find even a small hint of regret in there, but there isn’t any.
He doesn’t look like he’s made a choice that he’s already regretting.
He looks at peace with it, and I’m so touched that he would do this for me that all I can do is wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer.
“Thank you,” I whisper against his neck.
“You don’t need to thank me. I told you I would do anything for you, and I meant it.” I feel him grin against my cheek before he says, “Plus, I really want to come inside you, and this means I’ll be able to whenever and however I want.”
“But you had so much fun going through all those condoms,” I say.
He huffs out a laugh against my skin. “I’m never wearing one of those damn things again. Nothing between us, amore . Just you and me.”
I close my eyes and hug him tighter, because that sounds pretty damn perfect to me.
The next three days are a lesson in patience, and I’m not a very good student.
Dario watches over me like a mother hen.
I swear he’d nearly had a heart attack the first time I was allowed out of bed to use the bathroom.
I’m determined to get better as fast as possible, and he’s determined to keep me in bed resting.
I’m slowly learning my limits, and he’s slowly learning to trust me to not push things too far.
We’re a work in progress, but I’m confident we’ll get there.
By the time I’m released from the hospital, I have a ton of instructions from the doctor and nurses, and it looks like I won’t get to do anything fun for eight weeks. I have no idea how I’m going to survive it.
“Relax, amore, ” Dario says as he drives me back to his family’s house. “I’ll keep you entertained.”
“How?” I mutter, trying really hard to not sound pouty. “I can’t train, I can’t swim, and for god’s sake, we can’t even have sex.”
“Don’t forget that you can’t even orgasm for at least four weeks.
” He looks over and gives me a warning look because he knows me well enough to know I need one.
“I’m serious, Mia. Your abdominal muscles will tense if you come, and it could tear your internal stitches.
You will not be having an orgasm until you’re fully healed. ”
“Orgasms are healing,” I tell him.
“Not for you they’re not, at least not right now. There was too much damage, amore .” He lifts my hand to kiss it while he drives. “I swear I’ll make it up to you as soon as your body can handle it, and I won’t come until you can.”
“I’m not that cruel,” I tell him. “There’s no reason why we should both be miserable.”
“Oh thank god,” he says, giving an exaggerated sigh of relief.
I laugh and then wince, which just makes him feel bad.
“I’m kidding, piccola vipera . I’m waiting as long as you have to. It’s only fair. ”
“It’ll be a miracle if we both survive it,” I mutter while I stare out the window. The scenery is just as beautiful as I remember it, and if I have to endure two months of forced downtime, I can’t think of a prettier place to do it in.
“It’ll be an adventure,” he says, and I can’t help but smile at his determination to stay upbeat. I was right to call him solntse moyo, because he’s sure being sunny as shit right now.
“We’ll see if you’re still saying that a month from now,” I tell him.
He laughs and kisses my hand again before setting it on his lap. “I’ll be fine, amore . As long as I have you, I can handle anything.”
“I think you’re just grateful for the break because your balls are still sore.”
“They are, yeah,” he admits with a grin. “We could both use some recovery time.”
Everyone is waiting for us at the house, and when Dario insists on carrying me up the stairs and I see what my mom and Nat have done to our room, I look over his shoulder and grin at them.
The bed is piled high with extra pillows so I can sit comfortably instead of having to lie down, the TV remote is on the nightstand next to a pile of books, and when I see my favorite knife sitting there, I know Sasha’s been in here, too.