“Is he dead?” I whispered as he was carried away.
“Better not be,” Sani growled, glaring at him and pulling me closer into his chest. “I have plans.”
I had no doubt. A fire flickered in Sani’s eyes, sharp and piercing, promising a storm of violence. Callum had better hope he died from his wounds before Sani had him tied up in his sanctuary.
“I’ll make sure he stays alive until you get there. Take your time,” Gio said, gripping Sani’s shoulder. His eyes moved to my face, and he offered me a smile. The first one I’d ever seen on the mafia boss. “Are you sure you’re okay, Aria? Do you need a doctor?”
“I-I’m okay,” I choked, nodding. “Really.”
“Good. You’re a brave woman. You handled all of that like a true Buccini. Thetracker?Bravo,” he praised, making me smile and my chest to inflate. “Are you sure you’re not mafia?”
He chuckled, stood up, and walked away from us, but his joke hadn’t landed as he expected. My stomach clenched with an uneasy feeling because of all the ominous things Callum had said about me.
You’ve spent your whole life not knowing what you are. For that you should be grateful.Some people are born into wars they never asked for.
What did that mean? Who the hell was I?
“You’re shivering,” Sani said, pulling me out of my spiral as he stood up and lifted me in his arms. “Let’s get you home.”
When we approached the cars, I deliberately kept my gaze from straying to the bodies being loaded into the back of the transit van and focused on the man waiting for us with a large blanket.
“Big-T!” Oh, thank goodness he was alive. I’d grown fond of my big, burly bodyguard. “Are you alright?”
He blinked at me, dried blood splattered across half his face, with a swollen cheek and a split lip. “Si, Signora. Are you okay?”
“Si,”I said, offering him a reassuring smile. His wary eyes darted to Sani as he placed me carefully back on my feet, and I watched the shame and apology shadow Belio’s expression. I peered up to find Sani glaring at my bodyguard, as if his eyes alone could put him six feet under.
“Hey!” I snapped, grabbing Sani’s wet shirt as he snatched the blanket from Belio. “It wasn’t his fault. He protected me the best he could and would have given his life to save me.”
“If that were true, he’d be dead right now,” Sani growled, his eyes still fixed on the man in front, who stared at his shoes.
“And then I would have been taken anyway! He needed to survive to be able to help you find me.”
“I still deserve to be punished,Signora,”Big-T muttered, without looking up. “You were taken under my supervision.”
“See. He understands. It’s code,” Sani said, rubbing my arms over the blanket as my eyes widened.
“No.” I looked between them both. “No way! I won’t let you punish him, Santino! He’s my bodyguard so he works for me, and I am not allowing it! As your wife…” I hesitated, but I’d already started, so I had to finish. “I’m putting my foot down.”
Sani’s dark eyes flicked across my face as a slow smile spread on his own. His eyes twinkled with amusement when my frown deepened.
“Well, you heard my wife. Belio, leave us,” Sani ordered, never taking his eyes off mine. Belio shuffled to the front of the car and climbed in.
Sani moved closer, pressing my back against the car door and trapping me in. The heat and firmness of his body, seeping through our wet clothes and the blanket, caused a delightful shudder to run down my spine. I lifted my chin, my lips parting as he brushed a strand of my damp hair from my face.
His voice dropped an octave as he leaned in closer and husked, “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Make me fall more and more in love with you every damn day?”
My breath hitched, the world tilting as the ground shifted beneath my feet because those words had just rocked my goddamn world, leaving me utterly speechless. His smile widened when I stared at him like a startled doe.
“You love me?” I whispered, my fingers threading through his hair.
“Since the moment I laid eyes on you,” he said, flashing me that devastating, dimpled smile. “And then every day since, I’ve discovered something new that makes me love you even more. Imagine how hopelessly besotted and devoted I’ll be when we’re old and wrinkly, and I’ve loved you for an entire lifetime?”
I leaned my head back against the car window and ran my fingertips over his face, smiling foolishly because… “I’m madly in love with you, Santino Buccini.”
