by Cora Reilly
Her voice shook, but she quickly masked it with a cough then cleared her throat. “He won’t be happy with you if you refuse his invitation.”
He wouldn’t be happy with her. He’d blame her, telling her she was incapable of getting even the easiest tasks right. “We’ll be there,” I muttered and hung up. “Fuck it.”
Aria’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?” She touched my chest. Why did she always have to be so concerned? There was no reason to be worried about me. She was the one I needed to protect.
“Nina invited us to dinner for tonight.”
“Oh,” Aria said, frowning. “So we’ll eat with your father and his wife?”
I nodded. “Matteo will be there as well.” He wouldn’t like it one bit, but he’d better move his fucking ass over there if he knew what was good for him.
“You don’t sound happy,” she said carefully.
Sighing, I untangled myself from her embrace and perched on the edge of the bed. That put it mildly. “My father…he’s…” A sadistic rapist. A fucking psychopath. A murderous asshole who deserved to die. “…a difficult man.”
Aria nodded as if she understood.
She couldn’t, and she wouldn’t, if I had a say in the matter. She pushed herself to a sitting position and touched my shoulder. “It’s just dinner. Everything will be all right.”
She was right. It would be all right because I wouldn’t let my father ruin the one good thing in my life.
Aria’s phone beeped. I chuckled darkly. “It seems we both won’t get our peace of mind this morning.”
Aria reached over, grabbing her phone and quickly scanning the message. Her entire face transformed into a smile.
“Your sister?” I guessed, brushing a strand away from her glowing face.
She nodded. “She got a flight in two days!”
Aria’s grin lit up everything, and my own lips wanted to pull into a smile, even if I felt like smashing something to pieces, but I held back. I stood, needing to bring some distance between my wife and me, not just physically but especially mentally if I wanted to get through tonight without my father getting suspicious.
Aria glanced up from her phone, but I walked into the bathroom without another word and closed the door.
I left shortly after breakfast to meet the manager of several of our whorehouses. The only thing Father did anymore was play golf with politicians or test the whores.
We were a bit early in the Foxy and took a seat in two plush armchairs. One of the whores came over with our drinks. She put them down on the low table, giving us a prime view of her ass, then she straightened and touched my shoulder with a flirtatious hand.
“Did I give you permission to touch me?” My eyes flashed up to hers and she quickly dropped her hand before she rushed back to the bar. I wouldn’t break the promise I’d given to Aria, not even in that small way.
“What’s crawled up your ass?” Matteo asked after he’d taken a sip from his Negroni.
“Do you think I’m growing soft?”
I leaned back and watched through narrowed eyes as my fucking brother almost pissed himself from laughing.
“Gi---give me a moment,” Matteo bit out.
“Know what?” I muttered. “Maybe I should beat some sense into you to test my theory.”
Matteo grinned, eyes teary. “Oh, Luca. This was good.” He shook his head with another fucking chuckle. “You’re many things, but soft? Come on, what’s wrong with you?”
I considered not saying anything. Making myself vulnerable in front of others, even my brother, wasn’t something I ever did.
Matteo’s smile slipped off. “It’s because of Aria?”
Fuck, I trusted the asshole, so fuck it all. “I still haven’t fucked her, and I promised her never to touch another woman either. What does that make me?”
Matteo shrugged. “A good husband by normal standards, I suppose.”
“As if we give a fuck about normal standards. Those aren’t the rules we play by.”
“You will be Capo as soon as our father dies. You’ll make the rules soon enough.”
“Some traditions can’t be shaken, and our father is still Capo. If he knew that I haven’t fucked my wife yet…” I trailed off.
“He’d probably do it himself,” Matteo said. And I lost it.
“He touches a fucking hair on her body, and I’ll end him, that’s a fucking promise,” I growled.
Matteo nodded. “One word from you, and I’m in on it. You know that, right?”
“I know,” I said quietly. Matteo and I had been entertaining thoughts of how to kill our father for years. “But the Famiglia won’t accept a Capo who killed his father.”
Matteo sighed. “Why can’t the old sadist just die?”
“Maybe Nina finds the courage to slip poison in his food at some point. How much longer can she or anyone bear the humiliation and beatings he gives her?”
“Maybe she’ll kill herself instead of him,” Matteo muttered. Not voicing the “like our mother” that we were both thinking. “And you’d have to kill her if she killed our father.”
“She’d run off to Europe, and I won’t have time to hunt down a woman,” I said. If Nina ended our father, I definitely wouldn’t punish her for it. I hated her but, compared to my father, she was a victim.
“You know,” Matteo said in a low voice, “I knew you wouldn’t force Aria.”
I regarded him, not liking the heavy note underplaying his words.
“You still hear our mother’s begging in your nightmares?” he continued in a whisper.
My stomach twisted. “Too often.”
Matteo took out his knife, his eyes focusing on the gleaming blade as he turned it slowly. It was his favorite. The knife our mother had used to cut her wrists with. “A woman shouldn’t have to beg her husband not to rape, beat and humiliate her. I’m a cruel fucker, but even I know that.”
I nodded. I remembered only too well how our mother had looked in the mornings after those nights. Bruised, with a look in her eyes like a beaten dog. The idea that Aria could ever look like that made me want to kill everyone around me. Aria would never look like that. She’d never suffer violence through mine or anyone else’s hands. I’d cut my fucking fingers off before I’d hit her, and I’d chop my dick into pieces before I’d ever rape my wife. She would be safe with me, in bed and anywhere else.
“You’ve got your Aria expression on again.”
I frowned. “What the hell is that supposed to be?”
Matteo smirked. “It’s a mix of protectively murderous and dreamily reverent.”
I pushed into a standing position. “Fuck you, Matteo.”
His smile widened. “I have enough women to fuck, but thank you.”
I gave him the finger and turned on my heel, heading for the bathroom to take a piss.
A few minutes before seven, we pulled up in front of the Vitiello townhouse. The drive had passed in silence; neither Matteo nor I felt like chatting before a dinner with our father and Nina, and Aria hadn’t tried to make conversation either.
Nina opened the door before we could even ring the bell. Seeing her so eager to have us over wasn’t a good sign. My hand on Aria’s hip tightened, and she gave me a curious look, but then she greeted my stepmother with an awkward hug. Aria’s eyes lingered on Nina’s face, which was covered in a thick layer of makeup, but it didn’t hide her swollen lip despite the dark lipstick she wore. Aria’s expression remained perfectly polite. She’d probably seen more than enough bruises in her life.
Nina smiled her fake smile. “Good to have you over. Dinner’s about to be served.”
She led us into the dining room where Father waited in his usual chair at the head of the table. He didn’t stand, only nodded, but his eyes latched onto Aria.
I took the seat beside him before he could offer it to her and gave him a tight smile.
Nina sat on Father’s other side and Matteo across from Aria. My stepmother snapped her fingers and, at
once, the maid rushed in with the starters. Father’s favorite: liver paté.
I ate a bite while Aria peered down at her food then at me. It took me a moment to realize why. She didn’t like liver. She’d mentioned it to me on our first date.
“Don’t you like your food?” Nina asked with pursed lips, her gaze darting from Father to Aria.
He regarded Aria in a way I didn’t like one bit.
Aria gave an embarrassed smile. “I’m not very fond of liver. It looks delicious, though.”
“Luca eats liver,” Father said disapprovingly.
Aria glanced at me, obviously not sure where my father was going with his comment. She couldn’t know that Nina had to like what my father liked or face the consequences. I opened my mouth to tell him that I didn’t give a fuck if Aria ate liver or not, but Matteo was quicker.
“Luca also likes torturing and killing, that doesn’t mean his wife has to like it.” He sent our father his fake smile.
A muscle in Father’s cheek twitched. “I don’t appreciate good food going to waste, Aria,” he said to my wife.
“I’ll eat it,” I gritted out, reaching for the plate.
“Your wife will eat it,” Father ordered.
Aria froze.
“She won’t,” I growled. “Aria’s my wife. She won’t answer to your demands, Father.”
Nina had become perfectly still in her seat, clutching her knife.
Matteo’s hand had slipped off the table. I didn’t reach for my own gun and gave him a warning glance.
Not like this. Not today.
“So possessive!” Father laughed, throwing his head back as if I’d told a fucking joke, as if the whole situation was funny. Nina fell in at once.
I forced a smile and so did Matteo. Aria laughed uncertainly. She didn’t know my father well enough. Maybe she really thought it had been his twisted way of making a joke. I hoped it for her sake.
The second we were back in the car, away from my father, Matteo leaned forward with a grin, but it was off. “I hear your sister comes to visit us.”
At once, the tension slipped out of Aria and she nodded with a smile. “Yes.” She narrowed her eyes after a moment. “Why do you care?”
The protective note in her voice was unmistakable and might have made me laugh if I wasn’t still so fucking tense from the dinner with Father. It was a good thing that Matteo managed to distract her from it. Aria didn’t need to know that today could very well mark the date when I gave up my life, and any chance at a united Famiglia. Even without saying a word to him, Matteo knew, and he’d be at my side, no questions asked.
The moment Aria joined me in bed, I pushed her on her back and moved down her body, dragging her panties down her legs before I settled between her parted thighs. Aria was still mine, would always be mine. I made her come twice with my tongue before I laid down beside her. She kissed me softly, her fingers caressing my chest. It felt good on so many levels. She always got through my walls. I wasn’t even sure how she did it. I pulled out of the kiss. “I want your mouth.”
Aria paused. Even without seeing her expression, I knew she was confused by my harsh tone. She moved down and then I felt her lips around my tip. I relaxed, letting my father’s words drift away, enjoying the moment, my wife, the only way that was safe.
I came on my stomach like last time, then cleaned myself roughly before I settled on my back with Aria pressed up against my side. “Is everything okay?” she whispered.
“Yes.” She stiffened at my clipped reply but nodded after a moment. It took a long time before she fell asleep. I knew I wouldn’t get any sleep tonight, not when I kept thinking of ways to dispose of my father without anyone finding out.
CHAPTER 16
Aria kept throwing glances my way as we pulled up in front of JFK Airport. I’d barely talked to her all day, and it was obviously bothering her. But this was for the best. Despite my resolve to keep a safe distance from Aria, my hand found its way to her back as we walked into the arrivals hall of the airport. I couldn’t stop touching her. It was maddening.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay with Gianna staying with us for the next few days?” she asked.
“Yes. And I promised your father to protect her. It’s easier when she’s living in our apartment.” Scuderi had made it clear that Gianna needed close supervision, and I didn’t doubt it. The girl was trouble.
Aria smiled apologetically. “She will provoke you.”
“I can handle a little girl.”
“She’s not that little. She’s barely younger than me.”
I regarded my wife. Sometimes I forgot how young she was. When I’d been her age, I’d already been a Made Man for seven years, had slept with countless women, had done and seen so much shit, but Aria was young and sheltered, and so was her sister. “I can handle her.”
“Luca, Gianna knows how to push people’s buttons. If you aren’t absolutely sure that you can control yourself, I won’t let her near you.”
What did she think I’d do? Gianna was a seventeen-year-old girl. “Don’t worry. I won’t kill her or you in the next few days.”
“Aria!” Gianna’s screech rang through the hall.
The redhead stormed in our direction and collided with Aria. They hugged each other as if they hadn’t seen each other in months.
When they finally pulled away from each other, Gianna made a show out of checking Aria’s body. “No visible bruises. You only hit places that are covered by clothes?” She narrowed her eyes at me and I gave her a cold smile. I didn’t give the slightest fuck what she thought. Aria, on the other hand, looked worried.
“Get your luggage. I don’t want to stand here all night,” I said.
Gianna turned around and grabbed her suitcase from where she’d dropped it. “A gentleman would have got it for me.”
“A gentleman, yes.” Gianna definitely didn’t bring out anything gentle in me. It was a good thing that my father hadn’t chosen her for me.
I turned and began walking back to the car, only occasionally making sure that Aria and Gianna were close behind in case something happened.
Aria and Gianna actually both wanted to sit in the backseat.
I gave my wife a scowl. “I’m not your driver. Get in the front with me.”
She flinched at my tone, and again I wanted to find a way to get rid of my father. I hated keeping Aria at arm’s length until he was out of the way.
“You shouldn’t talk to her like that,” Gianna butted in.
Aria slid into the seat beside me. “She’s my wife. I can do and say to her what I want,” I told Gianna.
Aria regarded me with furrowed brows, hurt and confusion swirling in her eyes. I almost reached out to stroke her cheek. Fuck, keeping my distance was impossible.
Turning my attention back to the street and away from Aria’s reproachful expression, I started the car and pulled away from the airport.
“How are Lily and Fabi?” Aria asked, turning around in her seat to look at her sister.
“Annoying as hell. Especially Lily. She doesn’t stop talking about Romero. She’s in love with him.”
Aria let out her bell-like laugh, carefree and unguarded. I felt the treacherous twitching of my own stomach, then mouth, but I held back.
Aria put her hand on my thigh with a soft smile. My eyes darted to hers and, without thinking about it, I covered her small hand with my big one. Keeping my distance was a losing game.
When we stepped into the apartment, the smell of roasted lamb and rosemary wafted over to us.
“I told Marianna to prepare a nice dinner,” I said casually. If I really wanted to succeed in pushing my young wife away, I was definitely using the wrong approach. Fuck it.
Aria gave me that smile, that goddamn smile. “Thank you.”
I resisted the urge to dip my head to kiss that sweet mouth. “Show your sister to her room, and then we can eat.” I didn’t wait for her reaction. Instead, I moved into the kitchen area where Marianna was wi
elding her cooking magic.
“Luca,” she said with a brisk smile, then checked on the lamb.
I reached for one of the roasted potato halves swimming in a sea of olive oil and rosemary. Marianna swatted my hand away, clucking her tongue. “Not before dinner,” she chided in Italian.
My eyebrows rose and, holding her gaze, I took a potato and put it in my mouth. She shook her head. The fucking thing burnt my tongue, but the delicious taste was worth the pain.
“How’s your girl?”
“Good,” I said.
She shook her head. “She’s too beautiful to be alone so often.”
“Marianna,” I warned. I liked Marianna, and I’d known her all my life, but I wouldn’t let her meddle.
She sighed and turned back to the lamb.
The elevator began its ascent, then paused on this floor. I hit the button that unlocked the door and they slid open a moment later. Matteo strode out like a fucking runway model. His eyes scanned the penthouse and, when he didn’t spot his new obsession, his annoying smile dropped. He came toward me and snatched a rosemary potato in passing. Marianna tried hitting him with the wooden spoon, something she didn’t try with me, but Matteo spun around and out of her reach.
“I don’t know why I’m putting up with you two insolent boys.”
“Because you can’t resist our charm like the rest of the ladies,” Matteo said with a cocky grin. “Though Luca’s rough charm really leaves something to be desired.”
Marianna muttered something under her breath. She had been grateful when I’d asked my father that she be mine and Matteo’s maid. Marianna had always been terrified of Father, but she could never have stopped working for him. He wouldn’t have let her.
“Why don’t you sit down at the table and not stand in my way?” Marianna said.
Matteo and I moved toward the dining area. “And?”
“And what?”
“How does she look?”
I raised my eyebrows at him when we arrived at the table. “She’s got her bitch face in place.”
