“Papi, please. Just go. I’m fine. I’ll speak to you tomorrow. I promise.” Aria jumped between us, pushing her father away from me. Very wise.
Callum grabbed Piero and forced them both back into the hotel lobby, with a swarm of security circling them. Aria twisted towards me, her face thunderous.
“You’re such an asshole! Are you pleased with yourself?”
“I think that went better than expected. Yes.Everyone is still breathing.”
“I’m going home,” she snapped, bunching her wedding dress into her little fists. “I’m so over this day!”
I gave a sideways smirk at those words, even though I knew she didn’t mean our home but hers. I played dumb anyway. “Perfect. Let’s go.”
“Not with you!” she hissed over her shoulder as she stormed towards her friend. “Allegra, come on, we are leaving.”
Her friend stood up from the table, where she’d been enjoying herself, talking to Olivia and Liliana.
“She’s staying. My family will ensure she gets home safely.”
Allegra lingered, unsure whose wrath she feared more—mine or Aria’s—until I shot her a sit-the-fuck-down look. She dropped back into her chair with an apologetic shrug. I turned to my brother. “GetMammaand Raya home,si?”
“Of course. We need to speak tomorrow about… all of this.” He waved his hand around the room to indicate the chaotic way I lived my life. “But I’ll let you enjoy your wedding night. That’s if she even lets you within ten feet of her.”
I smirked. “She may hate me, scream at me, and throw shit my way, but I’ll still have her moaning my name tonight.”
“Always an overachiever,” he chuckled, looking thoroughly amused. “She’s already gone.”
I snapped my head toward the empty doorway and groaned. I knew two of my soldiers would tail her, but fuck me, she loved keeping me on my toes. Sprinting out after her, I found her on the street, trying to squeeze her arm through the body wall of my soldiers and flag down a taxi.
“No need for that. We’re walking. We live just over there.”
She was back to ignoring me. I really couldn’t stand that. I preferred her screaming, cursing, smacking me with flowers, or threatening me with her shoe than the detached silence. I stepped in front of her, and my men moved away to give us some space.
“Aria,” I warned. “Can one thing today not be a battle?”
“When you go to war,SignorBuccini, expect a battle. I’m going home. To my flat. Alone. Away from you.”
I didn’t miss the deliberate use ofSignorBuccini to rile me up, but I was just happy she was giving me sass again.
“Except you’re not, because you don’t live there anymore. You can rent it out or sell it. I’ve already moved all your belongings to our home.”
Her glare sharpened. If looks could kill, she would have just become a widow.
“You can’t do that!”
“I already did. Those rings on your fingers aren’t decorative,Bella Ribelle. You live with me now.”
She turned away briefly, staring down the street with a clenched jaw and unsteady breaths, as if fighting to keep herself from falling apart. She looked so incredibly beautiful when she was mad. But furious in this dress? She was edible. The lace bodice accentuated her curves perfectly and was just sheer enough against her golden skin to give a teasing glimpse of the beauty beneath. I had to dig my hands into my pockets to stop myself from reaching for her. Instead, I waited and watched as she came to terms with her new reality. There was nowhere she could run that I wouldn’t find her, and she knew it, too. It would be stupid to even try. She pushed back her shoulders on a deep exhale, smoothed her expression into one of coldness, and glanced back at me.
“Fine.”
My lips twitched at the corners, but I bit back a smile. It may have looked like surrender, but I knew better. She still had plenty of fight left in her.
She pushed past me, heading down the street with no idea where she was going. I matched her steps, taking a slight lead until we rounded a corner and turned down the affluent road where the historic building I’d had converted into stylish apartments was nestled. It was one of the most sought-after areas in Rome, yet no one lived in the building but me, on the premise that it was still being remodelled. In reality, I just liked my privacy and security to be airtight. I expected she’d walked past this building many times over the years, with no idea it would become her future home.
I had my answer when her big, blue eyes widened with awe and disbelief as I grabbed her wrist and led her up the steps towards the front doors.
“You live here?”
“We live here.”
