She hesitated. “There’s still a lot of time between that and actually marrying?—”
“Let me save us both some time.” I set down my fork. “I want you to live with me. I don’t want you to work. I want us to be together like this forever. Alright? Anything else I can clarify?”
Her eyes flicked back and forth between mine again, and a noticeable softness entered her gaze. “No.”
“Good.” I focused on my dinner again.
A long silence stretched between us, and I’d give anything to know her thoughts. If she was still thinking about our future or if her thoughts had moved on to other things. She served herself a much smaller portion than mine, chunks of tomatoes visible in the sauce.
I knew the subject of her thoughts when she spoke.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” She spun her fork in her noodles while her eyes remained down.
“No, but it sounds like you do.”
Her eyes flicked back up to mine. “I obviously don’t know Don Russo, but he seemed genuine to me.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s genuine.”
“And you aren’t receptive at all?”
“He’s genuine because he needs me to deal with Icarus. He didn’t feel my absence because I left a gaping hole in his heart.”
She gave a slight nod. “But he asked for your friendship, not your employment.”
“I don’t believe that.”
She was quiet for a while as she considered what to say. “People make mistakes. And when they do, it doesn’t mean?—”
“You weren’t there. You didn’t hear the shit he said to me. I know you mean well, baby. But you don’t understand.”
She was quiet again, turning her attention to her food. “I think the reason you’re so hostile is because…he really hurt you.”
I rejected her words. “I don’t get hurt.”
She looked like she didn’t believe me at all. “They were your family your whole life. They were there when you lost your mother. I know I would be devastated?—”
“I don’t appreciate being analyzed?—”
“And I don’t appreciate your guard,” she said. “Because you can put up a front with everyone else, but you don’t need to put one up with me.”
I rested my fork on the edge of my plate before I stared at her, my hands coming together and my fingers interlocking.
I was torn. I didn’t appreciate her forwardness, but I respected it at the same time. I’d tried to cut her off, but she wouldn’t have it. Irritating…but sexy at the same time.
She held my stare with equal ferocity. “I’m not encouraging you to return to Cosa Nostra. But not everything needs to be permanent. Not everything needs to be irrevocable. Sometimes people fuck up, and that’s okay.”
“You don’t know what they did,” I said calmly. “If you did, I don’t think Don Russo would pull at your heartstrings.”
“What did he do?”
I’d never told her because I wasn’t a snitch. Wouldn’t rat out Cosa Nostra even though I’d lost my respect for them. But she’d left her father’s employ, and even if she hadn’t, I trusted her to keep this to herself. “Business had taken a couple hits, and to compensate for those losses, Don Russo came up with thisbrilliantidea…”
She listened, still wearing the apron that barely covered her body. She abandoned her food and only focused on me.
“That we would traffic young women and force them to work in our brothels. The girls don’t get paid, and we keep all the proceeds.”
She didn’t overtly react, but a sadness entered her gaze.
