“Don’t get smart with me, Buccini. This is an offer you should take.”
“Probably. But the answer is still no.”
“Why?” I asked, leaning over the table to stare at him. “Didn’t you hear him? He’ll call off the investigation.”
“I heard him perfectly.”
“Then what do you want, Buccini?”Papi’svoice was laced with desperation, and my chest tightened as I saw the raw panic in his eyes. “What will it take?”
“There’s nothing you can offer me that will make me walk away from my marriage, Piero. Believe it or not, I want to be her husband.” My heart flipped as he looked at me. “You’ll have to take everything from me before I give Aria up, and even then I’d hope she’d stay.”
“That is ludicrous!”Papislammed his hand on the table, drawing a few couples’ attention our way. What was Santino doing? What was his long game? Or did he not have one? Was he truly willing to put everything on the line just to stay married to me? My father was right. It was ludicrous.
“I’m not known for my rationality. Ask my family, who will be as upset as you are that I turned this down.”
Papi’sface was turning a darker shade of red by the second, and I squeezed his hand to comfort him.“Papi,look at me. I’m fine. Santino isn’t going to hurt me. I believe that. You don’t need to worry about me so much, okay?”
“Aria, you don’t understand—” he choked, then ripped his hand from mine and rubbed his face. “Make him see sense. Please. For all our sakes.” He stood up, kissed me on the head, and tore out of the restaurant.
We both stared after him, Santino’s narrowed gaze showing he was deeply suspicious of something, but I couldn’t get my husband’s words out of my mind. What he did tonight made zero sense unless… he was really telling the truth about how he felt about me. But that was scarier than anything else. What the hell was I supposed to do with that?
I couldn’t let myself fall in love with a man like him, a man who made a living by breaking the law, killing people without remorse, and who had blackmailed me into this marriage. Could I? What would that make me? His accomplice? A guilty bystander? An immoral person, definitely.
He turned back to me and smiled, reaching for my hand. “Shall we order food?”
My eyes nearly fell out of my head. “Are you seriously asking me that right now?”
His brows furrowed. “We are in a great restaurant with the best scallops in Italy. And I’m on a date with the most beautiful woman in the world, who so happens to be my wife. So yes, I am most definitely asking that right now.”
The waiter appeared at the flick of Santino’s wrist, and I let him order for us, unable to focus on anything but what would happen next. Would this war between my father and husband turn explosive, and would I be the one stuck in the middle? Santino could lose everything. He could end up in jail. God knows what could happen to mypapiif things escalated. He was at war with the damn mafia. Bile rose in my throat.
“You could have ended all of this tonight,” I whispered, lifting the divorce papers in my fingers.
I could feel his dark stare on my face, but I refused to look up.
“Is that what you wanted me to do?”
“It’s what you should have done.”
“I don’t agree,” he replied nonchalantly. “My first marriage will be my last, Aria. When I stood at that altar and took those vows, I meant every word.”
I met his unwavering gaze. “But you could lose everything you’ve built.”
“For richer or poorer, baby.”
I swallowed, shaking my head. “Are you seriously willing to let your Roman Empire burn just to keep me as your wife?”
He leaned back in his chair, cocky as ever, and smirked. “Just tell me which street to start with.”
Fuck, he was truly insane. But I think I believed him.
In Too Deep
“Yourpapiwill come around. As long as you do.” Santino cut into the delicate scallop, lifted it to his mouth, and closed his eyes, savouring the first taste. He shook his head slightly. “So fucking good.”
“As long as I do?”
He pointed his knife at the divorce papers on the table. “Keep them if it makes you feel better, but give this marriage a chance first. Stay in this with me. Listen to your heart and your needs. Ignore everyone else’s opinions. That’s all I’m asking for.”
