36. The Beginning Of-
The Beginning Of-
It was a media circus before we even left the car, camera lights flashing against the tinted glass and journalists shouting our names. I twisted my neck, slipping a finger beneath the collar of my shirt to breathe a little easier.
“Are we getting out?” Aria asked, that cute little dip between her eyebrows deepening as she frowned.
I blew out a deep breath. Tonight’s event was like any other high-society party, filled with the city’s wealthiest and most powerful faces, but my gut twisted with something unsettling.
Maybe it was the first public event I’d be walking into with my wife on my arm, which made me feel vulnerable for the first time in my life.
It gave my enemies a target. And just knowing she was already on their radar, whoever they were, made me want to lock her away in a tower on a remote island where no one would find her.
But that would be unhinged. Even for me.
I glanced at her stunning face, which broke into a soft smile as she lifted her hand to cradle my cheek. My heart soared. Maybe I wasn’t above a remote island after all.
“You look nervous,” she said.
Did I? Fuck. I never looked nervous, but yeah… if that’s what this feeling was, I didn’t like it.
“It’s not too late to send you back. Stay with Raya and my men at the apartment. I should have come alone. That way, I could at least focus on what I’m here for. Information.”
She scoffed. “I just spent hours getting ready, and you suggest that now? I’m coming. I want to be here, by your side.”
She looked exquisite, as she always did. The black dress reminded me of the one she wore at the gala when I first told her she was mine. I’d meant it then, and proved it every day since. No one was taking her from me. They could try their fucking best, but it still wouldn’t be good enough.
I’d made sure Maximus, Camilla, and at least two of my men were on the guest list and had more surveying the premises. My Glock was hidden at the back of my trousers, though I hoped I wouldn’t need it. I shoved my shoulders back and grabbed her hand. “Okay. Fuck it. Let’s go.”
Tapping my knuckles on the window, Belio opened the door for us, and the noise of the paparazzi hit first. Their eager voices shouted our names.
A question was directed at me about how I felt about Mayor Caruso’s crackdown on organised crime.
I ignored it all, focusing on helping Aria out of the car.
We gave a quick pose for the cameras, charming smiles fixed on our faces, but my eyes kept scanning the crowd, searching for anything or anyone suspicious as I kept Aria safe against my side.
Entwining our hands, we rushed into the historic building. The party was being held on the elegant rooftop bar, so we waited for the lift. The moment the metal doors locked us in alone, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I needed to get my head straight and keep my emotions out of this, but finding out about Aria’s mother was sending me into a tailspin of anxiety.
I hated that I hadn't told her yet. Maybe I should have before tonight, but selfishly, I wanted to protect her heart a little longer.
I needed to find out what more I could from Piero first.
Aria narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”
“What?”
“You’re so tense. Are you worried about what Raya said?”
I blinked at her. “Raya? What did she say?”
She rolled her eyes. “About my father setting you up? Do you think that’s a possibility tonight?”
“Anything’s possible.” I rubbed my jaw. “However, I have no choice but to trust him. Just as he has no choice but to trust me. We could both screw each other over, but I’m hoping he has more sense than that.”
Aria suddenly pressed the emergency stop button on the lift, bringing it to a halt. I frowned as she stepped between my feet, kicking them wider with her heels and pushing against my chest until I leaned back against the mirrored wall.
“This brings back memories,” I teased, smirking as I instantly grew hard.
“Is this what you need to help you relax, husband?” she husked against my lips, pressing her palm against my erection.
I groaned, letting her play for a few seconds before I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and devoured her lips.
Our tongues caressed in sensual sweeps as she rubbed up and down my length over my tuxedo trousers.
When she reached to unzip me, I grabbed her wrist, spun us around, and held her arm above her head against the mirror.
Her blue eyes widened, full of heat and desire, as I gave her a sultry smile. “What I need… is to hear my wife’s pretty moans and taste what’s mine.”
Sliding my hands down her body, I kissed her throat, over the mounds of her tits, and down the fabric of her dress until I was on my knees, ready to worship at my altar.
She gasped as I threw her leg over my shoulder and licked a line along her inner thigh before burying my head under her dress.
Her back arched as I sucked and licked over her thong, teasing her clit without skin-on-skin contact, which had her moaning and bucking against my face, desperate for more.
Knowing I had to make this quick, I pulled her underwear to one side. I sucked her clit into my mouth and went straight to work, flicking it with my tongue mercilessly until she was screaming my name. Less than two minutes. A new record.
I let her leg drop from my shoulder and stood up, readjusting my erection so it wouldn’t be so obvious. She panted harshly, leaning against the mirror and staring at me as if I had just ruined her for a lifetime. And fuck, yeah. I instantly felt more like my cocky, arrogant self again.
I dislodged the emergency button and placed my hands on the mirror, on either side of her head. I leaned in closer, brushing my nose against hers. “Taste your sins, Bella Ribelle. Before we have to be respectable.”
Her hands clawed into my hair as she smashed her lips against mine in a fierce kiss. She moaned as my tongue slid against hers, and she tasted just how sweet and addictive she was. The lift doors opened onto the rooftop party, and the sound of a live orchestra broke our kiss.
“You’re a very bad man, Santino Buccini,” she breathed against my lips.
“Si. But I’m your very bad man,” I smirked and grabbed her hand, leading her out.
I spent the first minute clocking Belio and Alberto at their designated spots, keeping an eye on everyone in the bar. I nodded at Max and Cami, who were already mingling with a table of businessmen and their wives.
“Champagne?” I asked Aria, signalling to the waitress behind the bar.
“Si, grazie,” she replied politely, scanning the swarm of beautifully dressed people. “I haven’t seen my papi yet. Have you?”
“He’ll be here somewhere,” I said, taking our drinks from a barmaid who let her touch linger on my hands longer than was appropriate.
I didn’t give her a second glance as I passed Aria her glass, then wrapped my free arm around her waist and pressed a quick kiss to her temple.
The barmaid’s smile fell, and she moved on.
Aria’s body went rigid against mine as her eyes locked onto someone in the crowd. I followed her gaze to find Callum smiling and laughing with a small group, impeccably dressed in a black tux, his arm around… wait.
“Is that…”
“Allegra,” Aria whispered, her voice strained as she watched her best friend chuckle at something Callum said, her hand resting in the crook of his elbow. “What the hell is she doing here with him?”
Aria stormed forward, ready to charge towards them, but I grabbed her waist tighter and walked her in a small circle, guiding her back to the bar.
“Sani! She’s here with Callum. What the fuck? I need to talk to her!”
“No. You don’t. Not yet. That’s what he wants,” I growled, forcing her to stay by my side. “He wants a reaction from you. Don’t give him one.”
She huffed, then took a long sip of her champagne, glaring at them over her flute.
I turned my attention back to Callum, and he paused mid-conversation, noticing me.
He raised his glass of whiskey with a slight smirk that made my hackles rise.
I matched it with a raise of my own glass and an icy glare that said… ‘one day, very soon, I will kill you’.
“I don’t understand what’s happening. Did they come together? What the hell is she thinking? I have to warn her, Sani. Callum’s dangerous.” Aria was growing more and more agitated by the second, but that was exactly what Callum wanted.
“Relax, Ribelle. She’s fine. You’ll get her on her own later, away from him, and find out what’s happening. Don’t rise to it.”
Piero pushed through the crowds towards us, with two bodyguards shadowing his every move. He seemed to have stepped up his security after the other night.
“Arianna,” he greeted, kissing both her cheeks and hugging her. Our gazes met over her shoulder, and I let the tension in my muscles ease a little at the look in his eyes. He was still on board. We still had our agreement.
“Buccini,” he said, offering me his hand to shake. “Glad you could make it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
Aria’s uncertain gaze flicked between us as she bit her lower lip. I gave her a reassuring smile, then turned back to him. “Beautiful venue.”
“It is,” Piero replied formally, glancing around. “Very exposed though.”
“Hmm,” I nodded. “Exposure can be useful. It keeps everyone’s intentions clear.”
“Or makes everyone vulnerable.”
He shifted on his feet, casting a glance across the space towards Callum. I already knew the prick was watching us; I could feel his death stare drilling into the side of my head.
Aria cleared her throat softly beside me, aware that more was being said than she could hear. Piero turned his attention back to her and smiled. “You look beautiful tonight, tesoro.”
“She always does,” I added as she peered up at me from under her eyelashes, a shy smile painting her lips.
“And she should remain untouched by politics,” Piero said, lowering his voice with heavy emphasis.
“She will. I’ll make sure of it.”
He nodded and ran his hand down his chest. “Bravo. I have to speak soon… but afterward, we should find a quiet corner to talk privately.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
He reached for Aria’s hand, gave it a squeeze, then moved away, greeting people with that mayoral charm so nobody could tell how shaken he was inside.
“How the hell did you two just have your own secret conversation out in the open?” she whispered, shaking her head. “This is why I hate politics. No one ever says what they really mean.”
“They can’t. Not when it isn’t safe.”
She whacked my chest and pointed through the crowd to where Allegra had left Callum’s side and was heading for the toilets. “There’s Ally. I’m going to speak to her.”
I grabbed her arm. “No. You’re not leaving my side tonight.”
“I need the toilet, Sani. Don’t be ridiculous.
” She tilted her head with an amused smirk because, of course, she had no idea of the gravity of the situation, the danger to her life if she wasn’t beside me.
“She’s my best friend. I have to find out what’s going on, or at least warn her. Please. I’ll be quick.”
My jaw tightened as she gave me those big, blue, pleading eyes. “Fine. Belio will escort you and wait outside the door. And take Max and Camilla with you, too.” I beckoned them over with my fingers.
“Leave them to enjoy their evening, Sani. They don’t need to babysit me.”
Ignoring Aria, I turned to my cousin’s wife as they approached. “Cami, Aria needs to use the ladies’ room. Would you mind going with her?”
“Of course not,” she replied with a wide smile as Aria shot me a vicious glare. She could think I was an overprotective ogre all she liked, but as long as she was safe, I didn’t give a shit.
Max gave me a brief salute before following the ladies to the toilets, and I nodded at Belio to follow behind.
Standing beside the champagne tower, Callum was no longer speaking to anyone, or even pretending to.
But he was watching. Not me. Not Piero. But Aria, as she walked away through the crowd.
My hand fisted around the stem of the champagne glass as I tried to keep my feet glued to the floor and not draw my gun to put a fucking bullet between his eyes right there and then.
When she was no longer in his line of vision, our eyes met.
He gave me the faintest smile. He looked too relaxed, as if he were waiting for me to figure something out.
A glass clinked on stage, and then someone announced Piero as he hovered at the edge of the podium, a forced smile on his face.
Callum’s smile widened, just slightly, but I caught it, and he glanced up at the lighting rig above the stage.
It was so brief it could have meant nothing, but my sharp instincts flared. Something was about to happen. I stood straighter as Piero took the microphone from the speaker and addressed the party, thanking them for coming.
Hyperaware, or maybe just paranoid, I frantically scanned the crowd. Then my eyes darted to the nearby rooftops, searching for anything suspicious. Nothing was out of place. All the event security guards looked calm, but they shouldn’t have been.
Noticing my sudden panic, Alberto straightened, joining me in my search. I pressed forward, finding the handle of my gun but keeping it hidden beneath my jacket as I moved through the crowd towards the stage and toilets, needing Aria by my side right fucking now.
“Thank you for joining us tonight. Rome has always been a city built on strength and resilience,” Piero said, but the words barely registered over the thundering pulse in my ears.
“In recent weeks, there have been tensions and upheaval in the city. But let me make this clear: neither I nor this city will back down to intimidation.”
I stopped a few metres from the stage, narrowing my gaze on Piero. But he wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were fixed on Callum.
“Nor does it fracture under pressure,” Piero continued, adjusting his grip on the microphone. “Tonight marks the beginning of a—”
The world split open with light and a raucous boom.
My body was flung back a few feet with a concussive crack as I hit the floor, knocking into more bodies behind me.
Sound splintered into a loud ringing in my ears until the screams and shouts of everyone around me filtered through.
I scrambled to my feet, gun in hand, and fought against the throbbing in my temple as I looked through the smoke and chaos.
The lighting rig above the stage was obliterated.
A bomb. Not one big enough to level the building, but enough to injure and potentially kill those close enough.
I fought my way through the hysterical people running in the opposite direction towards the exits with only one thing powering every beat of my pounding heart.
Find my wife.