Maximo began swearing in Italian. “What the fuck were you thinking, Aria? For fuck sakes!”
I shrugged, even though it burned, and Maximo was holding his large hands on my arms near my elbows.
“Theputtanawas targeting Nino.”
He stared at me. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
I glared at him. “Like it would have made a difference?”
“I wouldn’t have let you get near her.” His voice was rising.
“I took care of thestronza pazza, didn’t I?”
“You could have got fucking killed!” He roared at me.
“I bet you would have liked that, wouldn’t you?” I yelled back at him.
Something flickered in his expression. His voice dropped considerably. “No Aria. No, I would not want that.”
He stared hard at me for a moment, then turned and stormed away.
“Aria….” There was something in Lorenzo’s tone.
“No Lorenzo. Not now.”
I glanced up at him, as he was looking back at me. He nodded slightly. His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” He glanced at my arm.
I nodded back. “I really am okay. It really is just a scratch.”
He turned back around to look around the empty room with tables overturned, a mess everywhere. I seemed to have missed that action. Tania’s bloody body remained on the floor in front of us.
“I need to get laid.”
He laughed. “You and me both, babe.”
I had an appointment to keep.
Chapter 8
Maximo’s POV
I had to watch my wife leave and go to one of her lovers. I found out some information on them. There were two of them now. There had been a third, but apparently he got married and moved out of the country. Lucky bastard, or I would have had to cut him down too. I had learned Aria went to her lovers after high-stress situations. She had gone the day after we got back from our wedding and the day after she killed the Black Widow. I would allow it. For now. But after this time, I would make sure they wouldn’t touch her again.
They were both soldiers. One was in Sanchez’s clan. The soldier would never admit to it or he would lose more than his head. The other one was in the Bianchi clan. Again, the soldier wasn’t stupid enough to say anything though. For the same reasons obviously. The fact Aria was actually messing around with mafia men was actually pretty ballsy. But I would never tell her that.
It was a week after the incident with the Black Widow, and I had walked into my mansion to hear yelling. Several of my men were glancing away from me.
Who the fuck was yelling at who inmyfucking house?
When I came around the corner to the main living room in the middle of the house, I saw Aria standing straight, tense, but not backing down. Her father was only a couple of feet away from her.
Aria was staring him straight in the eyes, hands crossed in front, resting on her legs.
“You bring shame to ourfamiglia,bambina!” He was shouting at her, spittle flying out of his mouth. To some people, Giuseppe was a scary looking man. He was about 5’10” but had a large frame, mostly muscle, but a small gut as well. His face was contorted and angry, flushed red with anger.
Up to this point I had a basic respect for Giuseppe, but watching how he treated Aria, and the words he was using, disgusted me.
Giuseppe continued to yell at her. “That was disgusting behavior of you! Maximo will throw you out, and then no one will want you. You’re aspateticaas your mother.”
