Chapter 37
NICO
“Where’s my father?” She asked, knowing exactly what I wanted to talk about.
“The men dealt with his body, and he’s resting at the sewage plant south of the city.” I couldn’t help but smirk.
“My mother?”
“She was protecting your father, and listing all the things she’d wished she let your father do to you, and I killed her.
” She didn’t even flinch, didn’t look up from the plate in front of her.
But I watched her shoulders sag more than I thought possible.
“We’ve held her service, made it look like your father killed her, and I’ll take you to where she’s resting when you’re well, if you want.
I’m sorry we didn’t feel we could wait.” I watched her face, and she flinched as much as she could with the swelling.
“I understand. You had to show you were in control.”
“Alessia and Gianna?” I watched her clench her jaw, preparing for the worst.
“Down the hall. I’m sure they’re pacing, waiting to be told they can come in.
” Her eyes flew up from the plate of untouched food in front of her.
“They are safe, amore mio, and will always be welcome here. I will be sending them to Italy for an indefinite period. Your uncle has already called to make arrangements. Now eat, please, if not for yourself, do it for the baby.” She picked up a fork and began to eat.
“Why are you watching me? You need to eat too. Don’t think I can’t see that you’ve lost weight.”
“I’ll eat.” I smiled and placed my napkin on my lap.
“How did they get in?” She asked as she reached for her glass of water.
“Mathias. He’d been sending intel back to your father since the day you arrived here.
Even after I fired him, he had a mole.” I said flatly.
This attack had been planned for weeks, and I don’t think anyone expected it to take this long to carry out, but when I locked Emilia down, it hampered their plans.
“Is he dead?”
“Yes, the entire Carminatti team is gone, your sisters took what they wanted from the house, and I blew it up. Again, made it look like this was your father’s endgame.
” What the hell kind of life was this? We were talking about murder and burning homes down over a meal.
God, this is a fucked up way to live. Closing my eyes, I sighed.
“Time to get back to bed.” Nico stood and moved quickly to my side.
He scooped me up effortlessly and walked back to the bed.
“Nico, I’m fine, I don’t need to rest.” My words were short, annoyance filling them as I placed my head on his chest.
“Right, tell that to someone who doesn’t know you as well as I do. I watched exhaustion creep over your being. You need to rest, sweetheart.” His words were low, and the rumble from his chest instantly made me want to fall asleep.
“I want to see my sisters before they make you crazy asking to come in here, and I won’t be doing that from your bed, naked.” I frowned at her as she finished every morsel of food I’d put in front of her.
“You’re looking much better now, the swelling in your eye is even reducing.” I reached across the table and turned her head slightly.
“Sitting upright will be the reason for that. It’s not the first black eye I’ve received.” She moved her head away from my grasp.
“It better be the last,” I said as I lifted my coffee to my mouth.
“The men who caused them no longer walk this planet.” She tossed her napkin on the plate and looked at me.
“I will never raise a hand to you. I made you that promise on our wedding night, and I will never break it.” Bile burned in my throat that it was even a question to her; I was a man of my word, and I didn’t go around beating women like so many in our line of work.
“Remember, amante, I killed my father without blinking; I won’t hesitate to kill you.
” Her eyes were laser-focused on me. There was an anger in them I hadn’t ever seen before.
I didn’t think it was directed at me in particular, but it was an anger that made her survive.
Not just the last six days, but her entire life.
“Lover? You’ve never called me that before.” I arched my brow, completely avoiding the death threat she’d given to me. Most men in my position would let her know who the boss was, but I had the odd sensation that even though I was the don, she didn’t give a shit about my position.
“While I was sitting in that warehouse, considering my life, I realized that somewhere along these last two months, I fell in love with you. And believe me, I really tried not to.” She smirked, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m well aware of how much you’ve been fighting me.” I leaned forward, flattening my palm onto her thigh and slid it up her leg. We might not be able to be intimate right now, but I wasn’t about to stop touching my wife.
“But when I thought I’d never be able to say those words to you again, I started regretting not saying them more. Regretting how I’d treated you and realizing that I didn’t just start loving you, I think I have all along.”
“Go on.”
“That night at the symphony, while you thought you were making a deal, I found my way out. You pulled me out of a life I wouldn’t have survived.
And while I was busy hating you for it, I also loved you for rescuing me.
” Tears welled in her eyes, and I wanted to wipe all her memories of life before there was an us.
“Your fate was sealed, amore, when your father found out what you’d been doing, he wouldn’t have been able to let you live, and I knew that.
But I have my own secret. I’d decided you’d be my wife years ago.
” Tears filled her eyes as I saw the realization that this wasn’t just a business deal.
“See, I’d seen you at the symphony through a pair of opera glasses years earlier, and you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, and right then I knew that when I had the opportunity, you’d be mine.
Even if you’d fought me on it, this would still have happened. ”
Wiping my mouth with my napkin, I set it on the corner of the table and leaned back in my chair, looking at every inch of my wife. “Of course, I never dreamed you’d be sitting across from me naked with not a care in the world.”
I watched her cheeks get red, and she wrapped her arm around herself. “I completely forgot.” Her giggle warmed my heart.
“I love you, Emilia.” I dropped to my knees in front of her, and she lowered her head for a kiss.
“Think the doctor would know if we ignored her medical advice?” She whispered against my lips.
“I’m not doing anything to risk you or the baby. So you better get dressed.” I said as I wrapped my hand around her breast. “Because a man can only obey so many women.”