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“Do they know? Your family?”
“Not yet. I hoped I could introduce them to Romina in person.”
“I get it, I do. We can make some type of arrangement so you can take her to New York for a while.”
It was like I was speaking with a brick wall. A sexy, spicy, unbelievably stubborn brick wall.
“It’s not only about her, Salva. I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“Roman, I have life here, a business, friends. I can’t just pack everything and leave.”
And that’s when she struck a nerve. I never intended to raise my voice, but there was a fucking line and she just jumped it.
“Why the fuck not, Salvatrice? You did it to me. I was out in town looking at venues for our wedding and you packed everything and left. It’s like shooting someone point blank between the eyes. If you did it once, you can do it again.” I’ve shocked her. Not only that, but I think I’ve scared her a little too. “Look, I shouldn’t have yelled, but you have to look at it from my perspective. I almost walked away from my life for you once and I got burned.”
“I know that, you don’t have to keep throwing it in my face, damn it!” There she was, my ballsy girl that takes no shit from anyone. Not even from me.
“Now I’m asking you to do it for me. Salvatrice, I will give you the world. I will open the biggest bakery in the damn city for you if that’s what you want, but you don’t need to think about work anymore.”
“And what do you expect me to do? Come back and be a…a…a…mafia wife?”
“Yes.” It was simple, actually. “I get it, ok. You saw your mother killed by a gun that was in the hands of a man who lived the life that I have. You’re scared, I get it, but it’s not the Wild West out there, Salvatrice. We’re a family who takes care of a lot of businesses. Bars, restaurants, shops, whatever you can think of. Are there times when the lines of the law are blurry? Yes, but that doesn’t concern you. You’ll never have to see it. More than that, I would expect you to not ask or care about my business, for legal reasons, of course.” She rolled her eyes. “We’ll make our life whatever we want it, baby.”
“Roman, this is why I left you. Because I couldn’t have a sound sleep at night thinking that you did something terrible the other day.”
“The Nucci family doesn’t hurt innocent people. What happened to your parents was a fucking disgrace to the mafioso code that I swore to respect. We live by a tradition, Salvatrice. Are my hands clean? No, no they aren’t, but I won’t explain that any further. I need you to understand that my work won’t affect you.”
“Roman.”
“You think that in the two years we were together I was an outstanding citizen who only went to law school and did his fucking taxes? No. What do you think happened to your foster dad?”
This got her attention. She looked at me like I grew another hand, and not knowing what else to do she drank her entire glass of water before speaking again.
“What do you mean?” Her words were shaky.
“He didn’t skip town, Salvatrice. I sent him swimming with the fishes.”
“What?”
“Do you really think that I would have let what he did to you go unpunished? That disgusting, filthy, motherfucker deserved to go to hell early, so I fucking helped him.” I caught her hand over the table before she got the chance to pull back. “I did it for you and I would do it again, but I would never bring it home to you and our daughter.”
~~~
Roman, 1993
When I got out of the shower, Salva was already buried in her favorite silky cover, her shoulders going up and down at a steady pace. She drifted to sleep again. This woman that I loved; she’d never pass up the opportunity to take a nap, even if we should be getting ready to go out for breakfast. She was off today, and I wanted her to catch some rest, since convincing her to just quit that damn job was out of the question.
I snuck next to her and molded my body to the sensual womanly curves, embracing the feeling of having her in my arms. We’d been living together only for a couple of weeks, but I loved every second of it. I knew very well that this is how I wanted to be when I’m old and senile – with her, in our home.
I smelled her hair and nibbled her shoulder, and I knew the exact moment she woke up and felt me next to her. I expected her to moan and turn to me, but instead she got stiff under my touch.
“Stop.” What the hell? “Please stop.”
The moment I released her, she fully covered herself with the sheet and got up.
“I’m sorry, amore mio. I should have let you sleep.” But she didn’t look inconvenienced – no, she looked fucking terrified. “Baby, are you ok?”
“Yeah, I…I’m gonna go make some tea.”
