My fist clenched, and my head began to shake as I tried to keep the violence in check.
“He also said that if Sani refused to sign, my father would be in serious danger. I thought he meant danger from Santino, but now… I’m starting to wonder if that’s not what he meant at all. He suggested that, to keep mypapisafe, I should…” She hesitated, glancing between us all, fear in her eyes. I cupped her face in my hands because I didn’t ever want her to think my anger was directed at her.
“You can tell us, Ribelle.”
“He told me to spy on you. To take pictures or recordings of anything that might help him get you arrested, and to send them to him.” She worried her lip between her teeth, and her blue eyes shone with unshed emotion. “I nearly did, Sani. I recorded our dinner conversation because I was worried about what you might do to my father and I wanted security. I was never going to send it to Callum.” I dropped my hands from her face and stared. My chest ached at the betrayal. She reached for me. “I’m so sorry. I deleted it last night. As soon as I knew I couldn’t leave you, I deleted it.”
The room fell into a heavy silence as a tear slipped down her face. I closed my eyes, inhaled, and pinched the bridge of my nose. I needed Cher. I needed a punching bag. I needed…
Her arms locked around my waist, and she buried her face in my chest, squeezing me tight.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, kissing my chest and pressing her cheek against it so she could listen to my pounding heart. “It was when I didn’t know who or what to trust. Please forgive me. I’ll fight for us over everything. I’ll never go againstyou again. You can trust me.”
The tension ebbed from my body, and I wrapped my arms around her, lowering my mouth to the top of her head and breathing her in. It was easy for me to get caught up in my own emotions and forget that until last night she wasn’t on the same page as me. She was confused and unsure of who she could trust. But just hearing her admit the truth and say she would fight for us now settled me enough that I could breathe normally again.
“It’s okay,” I whispered into her hair. “I get it.”
“Holy shit,” Max laughed, making us both open our eyes and look over at him. “He didn’t go into Hulk mode, needing violence or corny pop songs to calm him down.”
“They are not corny,” I growled. “They are classics.”
“I don’t understand,” Aria mumbled as everyone started laughing. “What’s happening?”
Max stood up and whacked me on the back, then smirked at Aria. “You mean he hasn’t shared his love of Cher with you yet?”
“Cher?” she frowned, then a memory sparkled in her eyes, and she smiled. “Oh.”
“No one can keep him calm and contained more than the Queen of Pop,” Elle laughed, pulling Alessio down beside her. “Except you, it seems. You are the cure for my brother’s lunacy.”
Aria giggled as I collapsed onto the sofa and pulled her down by the hips until she was sitting on my lap.
“Can we get back to D'Ardenzi?” Alessio interrupted. “It definitely sounds like he’s pulling Piero’s strings, but how? What does he have on him that would make him do whatever he says? And why would D'Ardenzi agree to Piero dropping the investigation for a divorce?”
“How about you agree to me torturing him to find out? Or… poof, let’s make the bastard disappear and solve all our problems with one bullet.”
Alessio’s eyes narrowed. “You won’t touch him until we have evidence. He’s a public figure with friends in high places. We can’t risk getting this wrong.”
I groaned, throwing my head back against the sofa.
“Is he in love with Aria?”
My nostrils flared at the thought, but Aria shook her head, threading her fingers through my hair to keep me calm.
“No, I don’t think so,” she answered. “We didn’t spend that much time together. I always thought it was odd that he was so quick to offer to marry me to ‘protect’ me from Santino. But he made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal. He didn’t have time to date, but he wanted to settle down and start a family. That’s what he said.”
“And with the mayor’s daughter, which would keep Piero on an even tighter leash,” Alessio added. I closed my eyes and clicked my neck. All this talk of another man coming so close to takingmy wifehad me walking a very thin line on the morality tightrope. “But there has to be more to this than business competition and jealousy.”
“I’m going to visit Piero today,” I said, prompting Aria to spin around on my lap and gape at me.
Alessio nodded. “Good. Max can go with you.”
“No. I don’t want to intimidate him. I’ll go alone.”
“Alone? Let me come with you,” Aria begged.
“No,Ribelle,” I answered, squeezing her thigh. “If Piero is being blackmailed, he won’t admit it in front of you. He’s clearly worried about his safety and yours. I can protect you both.”
Her eyes widened. “You’ll protect my father?”
