Ever since we’d gotten together, we’d rarely spent an evening apart. The only time we did was when he had to work. But he never wanted time to himself. Never wanted to return to Palermo to spend time with the people he left behind. Sometimes it felt like we already lived together.
His words broke the long silence. “Once the last funeral is over, I’m going to tell him.”
“Wolfe—”
“I warned you.”
My plate was half eaten, but I set my fork on the edge. “I don’t understand the rush.”
“Because this is the real fucking deal,” he snapped. “I’m tired of sneaking around. I’m tired of lying. That’s not who I am, Francesca. I look someone in the face and show them exactly who I am, even if it makes them hate me. Even if your father thinks I’m not good enough for you, he’ll at least respect me for being straight with him.”
“I’ve thought a lot about it, and I think I should tell him.”
He stilled as he stared me down.
“I just think it would be better coming from me instead of you.”
“And why’s that?” He dropped his fork onto the plate, and it clattered loudly.
I took a breath as I stared at him, feeling the flames from his rage across the table. “Don’t take this the wrong way?—”
“Just give it to me straight.” His eyes were so wide, and it didn’t seem like he would ever blink again.
“You’re just…a little rough around the edges sometimes. And I think coming at my father head on with this isn’t the best course of action.”
“I don’t do bullshit.”
“I understand that, but telling my father I’m your woman whether he likes it or not won’t get you very far. I know how you are, and you don’t have an ounce of diplomacy in your body. And that hardheadedness is going to get you shot. This will all be for nothing if you get shot, Wolfe.”
His anger flickered—but only slightly.
“So I think I should be the one to speak to him. When the time is right.”
He issued a low growl.
“Coming at him when he’s grieving and pissed off won’t get us the response we want. I know how to talk to him. I know how to handle him. Just the way I know how to handle you…for the most part.”
He drew in a slow breath before he released it as a quiet sigh. “I don’t want to look like a coward hiding behind you. I want to face him like a man. I’ve never had anyone speak on my behalf, and I’m not going to start now.”
“Stop being so damn stubborn.”
“We talk to him together. That’s my best offer.” He crossed his arms over his chest, food still on his plate. He always devoured everything I put in front of him, so it was a testament to how ticked off he was that he ignored his dinner. “You can be delicate with him, and I can look him in the eye and say my piece.”
That was a reasonable compromise. If Wolfe flew off the handle and started making threats, I’d be there to neutralize things before they went too far south. “Alright.”
“When the dust has settled, we make our move.”
“Alright,” I said in agreement. “That’s fair.”
He stared at me for a moment longer, the short sleeves of his gray shirt hugging the thick muscles in his arms. His head was slightly cocked, his eyes less angry than they’d been a few minutes ago. “I’ve never done this before, but I know what kind of relationship I want to have. I want to grab you and kiss you anytime I want, in front of anyone I want, because you’re mine and I can do whatever the hell I want. This clandestine affair was fine in the beginning, but everything is different now.”
“It is?” I asked quietly.
All he did was stare at me.
I didn’t press him again. Just let the tension in the air fill my lungs.
“If everyone knew you were my woman, Lombardi wouldn’t have come for you. No one would.” He cocked his head the other way as he continued to stare me down, a hint of aggression in his expression like we were enemies about to forge a truce. “No one in their right fucking mind would dare cross me by even looking at you.”
